United States Africa Command

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United States Africa Command
- AFRICOM -

Seal of the United States Africa Command.svg


United States Africa Command emblem
Lineup October 1, 2007
Country United States
Armed forces United States Armed Forces
Armed forces Cross-armed regional command ( Unified Combatant Command )
Subordinate troops

s. u.

Strength ~ 2,000
Insinuation United States Department of Defense
Kelley Barracks Stuttgart - Möhringen
Butcher International military operation in Libya 2011
Commander
Commander US-O10 insignia.svg General Stephen J. Townsend ( United States Army )
Deputy to the Commander for Military Operations: Lieutenant General James C. Vechery, ( USAF )
Representatives of the Commander for Civil-Military Cooperation (Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military Engagement) Ambassador Alexander M. Laskaris ( US Department of State )

The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM; German African Command of the United States ) is one of eleven Unified Combatant Commands of the US armed forces that was set up in October 2007. Since full operational capability was established in October 2008, AFRICOM has been the supreme command of US military operations on the African continent with the exception of Egypt , which remains part of the US Central Command .

history

The establishment of a US regional command for the African continent was speculated as early as 2003. Africa came more and more into the attention spectrum of the government of the United States , for example in 2005 an anti-terrorism drill by the US armed forces took place in the Sahara . In addition, US units in the Horn of Africa are involved in Operation Enduring Freedom off Djibouti . Since it is estimated that around 25% of US oil will come from Africa by 2015, lobbyists have been working since 2002 to persuade the United States government to set up a military presence in Africa, especially in the Gulf of Guinea , to counter Economic opponents - above all China - to gain an advantage or to secure new oil production areas for the US oil industry.

The debate about the establishment of the Africa Command therefore revolved in the run-up to whether the estimated 5 billion US dollars that are spent annually on this command facility are justified. The think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies attested that the Ministry of Defense had insufficient public relations work, as the Ministry had not succeeded in emphasizing the actual interest of the USA in solving various African problems. On February 6, 2007, President GW Bush instructed the US Secretary of Defense (then Robert Michael Gates ) to set up the US Africa Command for the end of fiscal year 2008.

Since the African Union and its members mistrusted the goals of AFRICOM according to Foreign Policy , the United States allegedly did not find a host country for the agency, whereupon it settled it in Europe ( Kelley Barracks , Stuttgart ). US President George W. Bush said on February 21, 2008, ahead of a state visit, that the United States was not planning any new US military bases in Africa; the Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf had campaigned for the headquarters of the US Africa Military Command to be set up in Liberia .

From 19 March 2011, the Regional Command led the command of the US attacks on Libya as part of the multi-phase military operation in Libya ( Operation Odyssey Dawn ) to which the US and the UK by means of a targeted use of Tomahawk - cruise missiles involved. The aim of the operation was to enable the establishment of a no-fly zone .

Mission and responsibility

AFRICOM's area of ​​responsibility (green)
Development of the area of ​​responsibility of AFRICOM.

The command should primarily be entrusted with humanitarian aid operations , disaster management and crisis response operations.

AFRICOM is to coordinate and bundle the activities of the US Department of Defense and other US departments and agencies in the Africa area in order to stabilize and intensify the political stability and economic growth of the 56 countries in the command area. The decoupling of this territorial area of ​​responsibility from the EUCOM and transferring it to an independent regional command for the African continent should enable an even more effective concentration on the specific political, economic and social problems. Another reason for the spin-off was the enormously increased area of ​​responsibility of EUCOM, which also includes the territory of almost all former Soviet states and thus extends to the Kamchatka peninsula .

Atypically, the focus should be less on the willingness to wage war than on war prevention. It is intended to use military and security advice to establish independent national military and law enforcement agencies in order to create an effective crisis response capacity that supports and secures the promotion of democratic systems.

Development programs of the State Department, the support and implementation of which is currently still carried out by three different regional commands, EUCOM, US Central Command (CENTCOM) and US Pacific Command (PACOM), are to be bundled in Africa Command in order to allow overlap and parallel work avoid.

From the point of view of the US government, the region is becoming increasingly important due to its resources and often unstable power structures. The establishment of a separate regional command takes this development into account.

Task:

“United States Africa Command, in concert with other US government agencies and international partners, conducts sustained security engagement through military-to-military programs, military-sponsored activities, and other military operations as directed to promote a stable and secure African environment in support of US foreign policy. "

"The United States Africa Command AFRICOM operates, in cooperation with other US government agencies and international partners, a continuous security policy engagement, including, according to the US foreign policy doctrine: military aid programs and development programs as well as military operations to secure and stabilize Africa."

- AFRICOM mission

According to research by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the NDR, the Africom headquarters in Stuttgart are commanding drone attacks in Africa.

organization

headquarters

Headquarters of the US Africa Command: Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart- Möhringen

A transitional command group for the deployment was under the command of Rear Adm . Robert T. Moeller . The headquarters are currently based in the Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart . According to the US Department of Defense, the later headquarters of the command could be stationed in Africa. Liberia applied as a candidate in 2008 after other African countries had ruled out a station. Relocation to the USA was considered for cost reasons. At the beginning of 2013, President Obama decided to stay in Stuttgart. The decisive factors were operational advantages due to the same time zone, stable political conditions and the high quality of life for the staff. There are numerous airlines between Europe and Africa (see also the list of commercial airports in Africa ).

Subordinate commands and units

On October 1, 2008, the 17th US Air Force was reactivated to function as the air component of AFRICOM.

From March 31, 2009, the US Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA) should be operational, which will then lead all special operations forces of AFRICOM as a composite command .

Rod

Two deputies are subordinate to the US Africa Command . On the one hand a Lieutenant General of the US Air Force , responsible for military operations, and on the other hand an ambassador , responsible for civil-military cooperation .

Commander

No. Surname image Beginning of the appointment End of appointment
1 William E. Ward ( USA ) General Kip Ward November 2009.jpg October 1, 2007 March 8, 2011
2 Carter F. Ham (USA) GEN Carter F.Ham 2011.jpg March 8, 2011 April 5, 2013
3 David M. Rodriguez (USA) General David M Rodriguez USAFRICOM.jpg April 5, 2013 18th July 2016
4th Thomas D. Waldhauser ( USMC ) Waldhauser Africom 2.jpg 18th July 2016 26th July 2019
5 Stephen J. Townsend (USA) Townsend Africom.jpg 26th July 2019 ---

Web links

Commons : United States Africa Command  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.africom.mil/about-the-command
  2. ↑ www.africom.mil , Leadership> Commander, United States Africa Command. (Last accessed on August 6, 2019)
  3. ↑ www.africom.mil , Leadership> Deputy to the Commander for Military Operations, United States Africa Command. (Last accessed on August 31, 2017)
  4. ↑ www.africom.mil ( Memento of the original from July 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Leadership> Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military Engagement, United States Africa Command. (Last accessed on June 19, 2016)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.africom.mil
  5. ↑ US targets Sahara 'terrorist haven' ( BBC , August 8, 2005; English)
  6. ↑ With Mideast uncertainty, US turns to Africa for oil ( Christian Science Monitor , May 23, 2002; English)
  7. ↑ www.georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov The White House, Office of the Press Secretary: President Bush Creates a Department of Defense Unified Combatant Command for Africa , February 6, 2007. Accessed March 20, 2011.
  8. ↑ cf. Stevenson, Jonathan: America's Best Worst Partner in Africa ( Memento of the original from April 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in: Foreign Policy , April 20, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.foreignpolicy.com
  9. ^ Liberia Welcomes President Bush Thursday. In: Voice of America , online portal, archive. Retrieved October 16, 2010 . (jpg, English, 0.25 MB)
  10. ^ The Los Angeles Times
  11. ↑ CNN
  12. ↑ a b Report on the installation plans (DoD.mil of February 6, 2007; English)
  13. ↑ www.africom.mil ( Memento of the original dated December 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. About the Command - FACT SHEET: United States Africa Command (US AFRICOM Public Affairs Office). Accessed January 8, 2011.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.africom.mil
  14. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung (John Goetz, Hans Leyendecker, Frederik Obermaier, Bastian Obermayer and Niklas Schenck): Drone death from Germany
  15. ↑ Bastian Obermayer, Frederik Obermaier, Hans Leyendecker: Federal government asks USA not to announce Africa command in Stuttgart. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung (sueddeutsche.de). November 28, 2013, accessed October 17, 2014 .
  16. ↑ Liberia's President Johnson-Sirleaf, US General Ward Attend Historic Activation of Liberian Military Unit. (No longer available online.) In: US Africa Command Public Affairs (Sep 2, 2008). Archived from the original on September 12, 2008 ; Retrieved January 8, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.africom.mil
  17. ↑ Mag. Phil. Manjola Raich, MA: DISSERTATION 'NEW SCRAMBLE' FOR AFRICA? AN ANALYSIS OF US AND EU 21ST CENTURY AGENDAS IN AFRICA CASE STUDIES: US AFRICOM AND JAES P&S .