Department of Defense’s Press Conference on Africa
United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) Commander General David M. Rodriguez and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs Amanda J. Dory gave a press conference last Tuesday, April 8, 2014, at the Pentagon briefing room, which included some noteworthy tidbits on U.S. security assistance.
U.S. troops and bases in Africa
- General Rodriguez on U.S. troops on the ground:
Day to day [the U.S. has] between 5,000 and 6,000 [forces in Africa.] And it fluctuates based on exercises and training and, you know, the time of year.
As far as capabilities and forces, we have several forces out there in the continent and in the region to support our efforts. We have the East African Response Force over in Djibouti, and we also have the special purpose MAFTF up in Moron, Spain. And then we also have the Special Forces – special operation forces commander's in-extremis force all forward.
We have a major forward operating site in Djibouti, where there are several thousand personnel, and then throughout the rest of the area, there are small pockets of temporarily placed organizations and people.
- General Rodriguez also affirmed that the United States is in the process of enhancing its presence in West Africa, either by establishing a base like the one in Djibouti or by creating multiple, small deployments throughout the region.
And we are looking hard at trying to improve our posture in West Africa, which is really the toughest challenge for security.
That process is going on right now. That's one of the options, a forward-operating site like Djibouti, but not -- not one of the primary ones. What we're really looking at doing is putting contingency locating sites, which really have some just expeditionary infrastructure that can be expanded with tents to put people in there temporarily to help support both response to crises, as well as protecting U.S. personnel facilities.
- General Rodriguez spoke to the growing role of special operations forces in U.S. military strategy in Africa:
We also have the Special Forces [on the ground] – special operation forces commander's in-extremis force all forward. Each of the combatant commands has one [such] commander’s in extremis force. . . . They're well trained and able to move quickly.
[Special forces are] a big part, obviously, of the small teams and the right places that have a tailored approach to what our partners need most.
DOD calls for more State Department funding for civic engagement
- Deputy Assistant Secretary Dory spoke emphatically on the need for more civic engagement, and more specifically, increased funding for the U.S. State Department:
The resources that State Department and USAID use for their democracy and governance programs. Those resources are minuscule. These are the types of resources that help in terms of promoting civic action, freedom of the press, independent electoral commissions in various countries . . . .
And I think from a DOD perspective, we understand that elections, good elections, serve as a conflict prevention mechanism . . . .
I would be advocating for additional resources for the democracy and governance accounts.
The solidifying relationship with France
- General Rodriguez addressed the growing partnership that developed since the Mali crisis last year:
We have people from -- we have French people in our headquarters as liaison officers, and we have French -- we have U.S. liaison officers in their operations center.
We work to combine planning efforts about once every month, and we continue to synchronize our efforts to best, you know, accomplish the overall common interests we both have.
We continue to support both the French and the U.N. in Mali, the French with airlift, air refueling, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. We have several small teams embedded at headquarters to help that effort.
Read our blog for previous noteworthy statements made by Gen. Rodriguez as well as AFRICOM statements regarding U.S. security policy in Africa.