Africa Command Research Articles

Fighting Racism in the U.S. Military: Dismantling the United States Africa Command

Abstract This article reviews the teaching of international relations in relation to the deployment of racist tropes to understand the current war on terror. It elaborates on how the justification for the U.S. Africa Command changed over time from fighting terror to confronting Russia and China in the big power game. The paper argues that the rift in the U.S. military since the January 6, 2021 insurrection is only one manifestation of the coalescing of forces of conservatism who are opposed to the restructuring of the international political economy. The emergence of military forces in West Africa opposed to the U.S. has brought about a discussion about the U.S.A. being pushed to the margins in Africa. This racial project has created global chaos, and the task of scholars dedicated to peace is to push for the dismantling of the U.S. Africa Command as one component of the global anti racist project.

Between Containment and Degrading: Tracing U.S. Policy toward Africa through Strategic Transformations in AFRICOM’s Counter-Terrorism Approach

While the concepts of containment and degrading are distinct in their tactical implications, both have been integral to U.S Africa Command’s (AFRICOM) operational approach since its inception in 2007. This paper aims to elucidate this strategic transformation over the period of 2018 to 2023, employing an evaluative framework that incorporates threat assessment, strategic intent, and a cost-benefit analysis. By scrutinizing AFRICOM’s Situation Reports, this study establishes a correlation between the Flintlock military exercises in West Africa and the establishment of the Danab Special Commando Brigade in Somalia with the overarching containment and degrading strategies.

Understanding the Strengths andLimitations ofCurrent Methods forSurveying Partner Nation Medical Facilities.

During exercises or operations, there may be times when U.S. medical capabilities are not available and the next best or only option may be to use partner nation (PN) or host nation capabilities. Joint Publication 4-02 Joint Health Services states that "medical planners should always consider the quality, suitability, and availability of multinational and host-nation support." It is normal practice for medical planners to survey PN medical capabilities as part of the pre-deployment planning process. Currently, medical capability surveys are not conducted in a consistent and systematic manner across the DoD global health engagement enterprise. The lack of a systematic approach undermines medical operations planners' ability to conduct efficient and adequate pre-deployment surveys. The article presents the results of a descriptive analysis of 62 unclassified medical capability surveys of PN or host nation facilities from the U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) area of responsibility that were conducted by U.S. DoD personnel. The team characterized the content and formats of surveys with respect to what medical capabilities were described, how the capabilities were described, and how the information was presented. These analyses focused on determining if a surveyor obtained information about a capability, not whether or not the facility had a capability. Approximately 75-80% of surveys included information describing the presence or absence of five key capabilities: Emergency department/trauma care, surgical services, intensive care unit, laboratory, and imaging. Conversely, 30-50% of surveys did not include any information describing the presence or absence of five other key capabilities: Pharmacy, blood bank, mass casualty plans, land evacuation, or air evacuation. Information on key capabilities and administrative information was not consistently reported across the sample of surveys. There was substantial variation in how capabilities were characterized, including number of staff, staff training, and available equipment. Additionally, the order in which information was presented in surveys varied within and across components. There are significant inconsistencies in the types of capabilities and services documented and how the quality of the capabilities and services is characterized. These inconsistencies can be attributed, in part, to the absence of information that explicitly confirmed whether or not the facility had a capability. Such variation results in obscured or incomplete depictions of facility capabilities, thereby undermining the ability of medical planners to coordinate effective medical readiness for engagements, exercises, or real-life operations. Guidance and survey templates could support better-informed decision-making by including information about survey methods and documenting the lack of confirmatory information. The DoD enterprise should consider how guidance and a standard survey template could improve the relevance, accuracy, and efficiency of data collection and reporting.

Including Africa Threat Analysis in Force Design 2030

This article examines the threat analysis across Africa that should be included in Force Design 2030 for the United States Marine Corps to be deployed landward to Africa or seaward of the continent. It is a strategic guidance document examined from a threat analysis of China, Russia, Korea, Iran, and violent extremist organizations. Africa is not mentioned, and this is a notable omission given that high level interventions in the past to Africa have not been overtly successful. Given geostrategic significances and hot spots it is inevitable that the Marines will be deployed there again. This article examines lessons learned from failures in Somalia, Libya, and Lebanon and successes in Syria and Iraq as well as the experiences of others—France in Mali and Burkina Faso and United States Africa Command. Great power competition, violent extremist organizations, and the gray zone phenomena across Africa are examined as are security, intelligence, counterintelligence, and hybrid warfare.

Characterizing Methods for Surveying Partner Nation Medical Capabilities.

Medical capability surveys provide information about how U.S. forces can coordinate with partner nations to leverage partners' capabilities to deliver care to sick or injured U.S. service members. Rotating forces routinely conduct these surveys. Currently, medical capability surveys are conducted based on individual unit requirements and personnel expertise and stored locally on component-specific sites or individual computers. The lack of a systematic approach and a centralized survey depot may undermine the ability to access previous surveys, leading to redundant surveys and conflicting information, and may have critical implications for force health protection. Partner nation facilities could have capabilities that may be leveraged to care for U.S. service members when U.S. medical care is unavailable. A lack of understanding of medical capabilities at partner nation facilities may undermine the ability to plan missions that mitigate risks. This paper presents the results of 12 semi-structured focus groups with representatives from the U.S. Africa Command Surgeon's office, the U.S. Transportation Command Patient Movement Requirements Center-East, and 9 U.S. Africa Command service components, sub-unified commands, and force providers. The focus group discussions considered questions on the following four topics: (1) methods for conducting surveys, (2) guidance about how to conduct surveys, (3) nodes of care and ancillary services included in surveys, and (4) how medical capability surveys are used to inform medical planning. The team conducted thematic analysis to identify emergent themes and subthemes. The team identified five primary, overarching themes: (1) guidance for conducting medical capability surveys, (2) methods and tools for conducting surveys, (3) content and focus of medical capability surveys, (4) archiving and sharing surveys, and (5) uses of medical capability surveys. Implementing guidance and standardized templates for conducting medical capability surveys could improve the accuracy and completeness of surveys. Templates would likely increase the likelihood that surveyors collect relevant information on key medical capabilities. Training, along with guidance and templates, would provide a common understanding of how to conduct surveys. The lack of a DoD Global Health Engagement collaborative depot for storing and sharing surveys may undermine the ability to access previous surveys to inform future surveys and, thereby, results in inefficiencies in how surveys are conducted. The DoD should consider establishing a collaborative depot for medical capability surveys along with guidance or requirements for uploading surveys. Guidance, templates, training, and a collaborative depot could improve the effectiveness and efficiency of medical planning and thereby increase mission readiness.

Security and Sustainable Development in Africa: What Role for AFRICOM in the Continent

Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, the United Nations has been actively disseminating seventeen (17) sustainable develop-ment goals (SDGs). The agenda calls for global partnerships for what it called “peace and prosperity for people and the planet”. SDG number sixteen (16) seeks to promote peace, justice and institutional effi-ciency. This seems to be a long and complex process when it comes to Africa. The African continent is the most fragile in terms of sustainable development given that most of its regions are conflict-torn. When it comes to peace and stability as a prerequisite to sustainable development, it is clear that the northern, western, and Horn regions are now the most unstable in the whole continent. Amidst all this, the United States Africa Command was created in 2007 to safe-guard peace, bring stability and provide prosperity in the region. Drawing on source materials, mainly from the US Department of Defense and its Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), along with the AFRICOM Posture Statements to Congress of 2018 through 2022, this paper argues that the creation of the US Africa Command did not achieve any of the set mission goals. To the contrary, it was an attrac-tion factor to terrorist groups which spread all over the region. Through several datasets, the paper also shows that more threats became imminent and more countries were plunged into bloodshed. More failed states in the region would make it impossible for the implementation of any of the 2030 Agenda’s SDGs

United States’ Africa Command and Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea, 2007 – 2020

This study examined the impact of US Africa Command on maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, between 2007 and 2020, with specific emphasis on the core maritime security challenges in West Africa. The study was anchored on the World Systems Theory, while data were generated using documentary and survey methods. Data collected were analysed using content analysis. The study found that maritime security challenges in West Africa include piracy, armed robbery, and drug trafficking. It also found that maritime insecurity has remained endemic in the Gulf of Guinea, despite the establishment of US Africa Command. The study locates the limited effectiveness of AFRICOM in mitigating maritime security challenges to its establishment without adequate consultation with West African leaders which triggered suspicion and resistance among countries in the Gulf of Guinea. The study posits that the geostrategic importance of the sub-regional maritime has remained the U.S government’s strategic interest. The study, therefore, recommends, among others, that the U.S. government should strengthen inter-state collaboration through existing security agencies in the sub-region.

Differences in Disease Non-battle Injury Between Combatant Commands.

Disease and non-battle injury (DNBI) have historically been a major or primary medical burden in expeditionary military populations. The United States has multiple deployed populations conducting operations across the world. This study aims to determine if DNBI rates are different between military populations by comparing the United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) and United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) areas of responsibility. The study period was from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2021. Individual evacuation data including date, necessary specialty care, and combatant command (CCMD) were acquired via United States Transportation Command Regulating and Command & Control Evacuation System. Total population data was acquired from USAFRICOM and USCENTCOM headquarters. Total inpatient and outpatient encounters at each CCMD were acquired via Theater Medical Data Store. The proportions and evacuation rates of DNBI types within USAFRICOM and USCENTCOM were compared. USCENTCOM had significantly higher proportions of outpatient and inpatient services for mental disorders, musculoskeletal diseases, and neurologic conditions compared to USAFRICOM. USCENTCOM had a significantly lower evacuation rate compared to USAFRICOM for every year analyzed: 2017 (P-value < .0001; relative risk [RR] = 0.834; 95% CI = 0.80-0.87), 2018 (P-value < .0001; RR = 0.818; 95% CI = 0.78-0.85), 2019 (P-value < .0001; RR = 0.785; 95% CI = 0.75-0.82), 2020 (P-value < .0001; RR = 0.889; 95% CI = 0.84-0.94), and 2021 (P-value < .0001; RR = 0.868; 95% CI = 0.83-0.91). The evacuation rates of different categories of DNBI vary between CCMDs. There will be CCMD-specific factors that impact the effectiveness of initiatives to reduce the DNBI burden.

Infectious Disease Teleconsultation to the Deployed U.S. Military From 2017-2022.

The ADvanced VIrtual Support for OpeRational Forces (ADVISOR) program is a synchronous telemedicine system developed in 2017 to provide 24/7 remote expert support to U.S. Military and NATO clinicians engaged in medical care in austere locations. Infectious disease (ID) remains the highest consulted service since 2018 and is currently staffed by 10 adult and pediatric ID physicians within the Military Health System. We conducted a retrospective review of the ID ADVISOR calls between 2017 and 2022 to identify trends and better prepare military ID physicians to address urgent ID consultations in overseas settings. Health records of the ID consultations between July 2017 and January 2022 were reviewed for local caregiver and patient demographics, case descriptions, consultant recommendations, and outcomes. A "not research" determination was made by the Brooke Army Medical Center Human Research Protections Office. ID physicians received 57 calls for 60 urgent patient consultations. Most calls were from countries in the Middle East or in Southwest Asia (United States Central Command (USCENTCOM)), followed by countries in Africa (United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM)). The majority of patients were active duty U.S. Military and were generally male with median age of 25 years. All consults involved an initial phone consultation and 30% continued over email. Ninety percent of the calls were initiated by physicians, and the median time from injury or illness-onset to consult was 3 days. Seventy percent of the consult questions involved treatment and further diagnostics, but one-third of cases required assistance with management of disease prevention. Multidrug-resistant or nosocomial infections, animal or bite exposure, malaria and malaria prevention, febrile illness, and blood-borne pathogen exposure accounted for 63% of the consults. Collaboration with other specialties took place in a minority of cases, and follow-up contact was recommended 20% of the time. Most recommendations involved adjusting drug regimens or further testing. Medical evacuation was only recommended in five of the cases. Although there was limited ability for follow-up, no known deaths occurred. A high proportion of calls to the ID ADVISOR line are relevant to the overlapping content areas of infection prevention, force protection, and outbreak response. Most patients requiring urgent ID consultation were managed successfully without evacuation. The current military-unique ID fellowship curriculum is consistent with the encountered diagnoses per the ID ADVISOR line, and high-yield individual topics have been identified.

Aid, Securitization, and Defense Agreements “Securitization is not something that the West has done to Africa, but rather a set of policy imperatives that some African governments have actively pursued. African governments are thus not victims of securiti

What makes African nations reach out to make pacts with their neighbors and the international community, or to militarize? Fisher and Anderson (2015) claim that African governments readily embrace militarization after internal strife and civil wars and that after 9/11, security agreements with the United States re-enforce this already occurring ‘illiberal’ state building phenomena in Africa; encouraging military security regimes. The cause de jour of this predicament from the US side being fear of terrorist elements spreading across the African continent from Asia and the Middle East all the way to Europe and the United States.[1] A nascent study by Le Van (2010) implies that countries in Africa receiving higher aid packages from the U.S. might be more likely to react positively to the presence of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM)—the US’s newest theater command—and to be more likely to cooperate in international agreements on security and trade.[2]&#x0D; &#x0D;

AFRICOM and the Burdens of Securitisation in Africa

This article aims at analyzing the nature and role of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) in the governance security in Africa. It depended on secondary data, which were obtained from journals, newspapers, books, and annual reports on the activities of the Command. A combination of thematic, content and historical methods of data analysis was used to interpret and explain the nature, role, and challenges of AFRICOM in the governance of security in Africa. Guided by the theory of securitization, the results indicate that the nature of AFRICOM’s security governance reflects continuity and change in the United States' militarism in Africa and the evolving character of the securitization order in the continent since the events of 9/11. The analysis shows that the securitization role of AFRICOM involves competitive militarisation strategically designed to contain the rising economic and political influence of China on the continent. Yet, its counterterrorism operations fall short of addressing the structural sources of Africa’s security predicaments. In these contexts, AFRICOM’s activities have had little or any significant impact on the protection of life and property in Africa. In fact, by articulating and reproducing Africa as security deficient and security dependent on the West, the concept and activities of AFRICOM broadly constitute a phase in the genealogies of coloniality of Western militarism and securitization in the continent.

United States Africa Command – Balance of Activities during the Presidencies of George H. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump

The article aims at analyzing the development of the U.S. Africa Command during the three presidential administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. According to the author, the attitude of individual American presidents and their administration to the U.S. AFRICOM is an accurate reflection of the approach to both the problems of African states and the place of Africa in the foreign and security policy of the United States. Since the foundation of the U.S. AFRICOM by the administration of G.W. Bush to D. Trump’s desire to liquidate the command. Trump’s attitude to Africa is also illustrated by the fact that he was the first American president since Ronald Reagan who did not visit any of the 54 African states. His two predecessors paid nine such official visits to African countries in total. It seems that despite many myths and fears that accompanied the birth of AFRICOM and during its first years of existence, the worst scenarios have not come to fruition. AFRICOM has not militarized Africa, it has not caused the drastic exacerbation of the rivalry with China in the region, and it has not become the military arm of US expansionism on the continent. What is more, even many skeptics among African state leaders have noted that it has thus far played and continues to play a positive role in counteracting terrorism, therefore, it has supported the stability of African countries.

4 - The Quagmire of US Militarism in Africa

In the period of the so-called War on Terror, US militarism in Africa has intensified to include the weaponisation of finance, the weaponisation of trade, psychological warfare, information warfare and the deployment of private military contractors in the so-called ‘security sector reform’. In the face of African resistance, the deployment of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) has unleashed disaster after disaster, from the catastrophic failures in Libya to the sequences of failure in the Sahel region. The death of four US service personnel in Niger in 2017 along with the killing of non-white soldiers in Africa by white supremacists in the US military have similarly exposed the deficiencies and racism inherent in the US security establishment. In the context of US military involvement in the Middle East, currency wars and capital flight from Africa, the US travel ban on Muslims exposed the contradictions of African allies and sharpened their clear alliance with the empire despite the overt racism of Making America Great Again. The quagmire of US militarism is now exposing the current manifestations of white supremacy. In addition to contextualising and accounting for these developments across the continent, this article argues that progressive scholars cannot be bystanders in the struggles against militarised global apartheid. Africans must grasp the lessons of global racism to re-ignite the progressive pan-African traditions that were able to roll back apartheid in its crude form. Horace G. Campbell, International Peace and Justice Scholar and Professor of African American Studies and Political Science, Syracuse University, New York, USA. Email: hcmombara@gmail.com

Qualitative Evaluation of the Africa Malaria Task Force Symposia Effectiveness on African Partner Nations' Malaria Vector Management Capacity.

Creating health alliances to build meaningful networks is critical to combating regional and global burdens of disease. These alliances work by uniting support for elimination efforts through cooperative engagement at the national and international levels. The reduction in malaria-related morbidity and mortality in Africa since 2001 is in part because of investments of international organizations and governments in national level malaria control and prevention-related programs and research. Investment in malaria reduction networks has contributed to this success by strengthening support to overcome the conditions that restrict or prevent change through local laboratory and epidemiological capacity building, thereby resulting in a decrease in burden of disease, increase in economic prosperity, and improvements in stability worldwide.The reformation of local military efforts to combat disease through incorporation into health security alliance networks by the provision of training and financial support is key to reinforcing this success at the national level. One such example of this is the U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) established and partner nation (PN) led Africa Malaria Task Force (AMTF) program. USAFRICOM's mission for AMTF as a health security alliance was to develop sustainable African-led malaria diagnostic, vector surveillance and control capabilities, and to increase collaborations among AMTF military PNs by enabling national and international-level network capacity. The overall objective of this evaluation of the AMTF program was to assess the implementation effectiveness of two AMTF supported symposia in improving the individual, organizational, and institutional diagnostic capacity of the Ghanaian, Ivorian, and Senegalese armed forces. The specific aims of this process evaluation were to identify procedural, contextual, and capacity-related factors that influence the effect of the symposia events on laboratory capabilities at the individual, organizational, and institutional levels through a two-phased formative evaluation approach utilizing qualitative methodologies. Findings indicate that the AMTF program symposia positively encouraged malaria prevention and control efforts in all three countries included in the evaluation. Conclusions suggest that learning about the different types of malaria prevention and control efforts underway in other countries helped to contextualize the burden of malaria-related morbidity and mortality not only within their respective countries, but also across the African continent. Participation in the AMTF Symposia and Key Leader Events helped military leadership clarify the purpose and intention of their military objectives related to systemic malaria prevention and control while purposefully contributing to national land international-level malaria reduction capacity.

A Sub-Analysis of U.S. Africa Command Area of Operations Transportations for Ophthalmic Concerns, 2008-2018.

American military personnel in U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) operate in a continent triple the size of the USA without mature medical facilities, requiring a substantial transportation network for medical evacuation. We describe medical transportation based on ophthalmic complaints analyzed from the U.S. Transportation Command Regulating and Command and Control Evacuation System (TRAC2ES) database from 2008 to 2018. We conducted a retrospective review of all TRAC2ES records for medical evacuations for ophthalmic complaints from the AFRICOM theater of operations conducted between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2018. We analyzed free-text data in TRAC2ES for ophthalmic diagnostic and therapeutic interventions performed before established patient movement requests. An expert panel analyzed evacuations for their indications and interventions. Nine hundred and sixty-one total records originating within AFRICOM were identified in TRAC2ES. Forty-three cases (4%) had ophthalmic complaints. The majority of transports were routine (72%) and originated in Djibouti (83%), and all were transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. The majority of patients were evacuated without a definitive diagnosis (60%). Leading ophthalmic diagnoses were chalazion (14%), corneal abrasion/ulcer (14%), and posterior vitreous detachment (12%). More than one-quarter of patients were transported without recorded evaluation and approximately half (51%) did not receive any intervention before evacuation. Consultation with an ophthalmologist occurred in only 16 (37%) cases. By majority, the expert panel deemed 12 evacuations (28%) potentially unnecessary. Evacuations were primarily routine often for disease etiology and further diagnostic evaluation. These findings support opportunities for telemedicine consultation to avoid potentially unnecessary transportation. Increased ophthalmic care and enhanced data collection on transports would support process improvement, optimize ophthalmic care by ensuring proper disposition of patients thus limiting unnecessary evacuations, and ultimately strengthen the entire fighting force.

Foreword by Guest Editor LTC James H. Schreiner, PhD, PMP, CPEM

FOREWORD&#x0D; This special issue of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Review highlights top papers from the 2020 annual General Donald R. Keith memorial capstone conference held at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. The conference was certainly a first of its kind virtual conference including asynchronous delivery of paper presentations followed by synchronous question and answer sessions with evaluation panels. Following a careful review of 63 total submissions, eleven were selected for publication in this journal. Unique to this year’s special edition is the mixed selection of seven project team capstone papers, and four honors research papers. Each paper incorporated features of systems or industrial engineering and presented detailed and reflective analysis on the topic. Although there are many elements which cut across the works, three general bodies of knowledge emerged in the papers including: systems engineering and decision analysis, systems design, modeling and simulation, and system dynamics.&#x0D; Systems Engineering and Decision Analysis topics included three unique contributions. Recognized as ‘best paper’ at the 2020 virtual conference, the work of Robinson et al. designed a multi-year predictive cost engineering model enabled through an MS O365 Power BI decision support interface to support U.S. Army Corps of Engineer (USACE) inland waterway national investment strategies. Schloo and Mittal’s work presents research in testing and evaluation of the Engagement Skills Trainer (EST) 2000 towards improving real-world soldier performance. Gerlica et al. employs a robust and scalable K-means clustering methodology to improve decision making in defensive shift schemes for Air Force Baseball outfield personnel.&#x0D; Systems Design works included three unique contributions. Binney et al. worked to design evaluation criteria for military occupational specialties associated with open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysts for the Army’s OSINT Office. Hales et al. interdisciplinary work aided in the design of search and identification systems to be incorporated on autonomous robotics to enable survivability improvements for the Army’s chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives (CBRNE) units. Burke and Connell evaluated and designed a performance measurement-based assessment methodology for U.S. Pacific Command’s Key Leader Engagement process.&#x0D; System modeling and simulation included three unique contributions: Arderi et al. simulated and assessed how the Hyper-Enabled Operator (HEO) project improves situational awareness for U.S. Special Forces using the Infantry Warrior Simulation (IWARS). Blanks et al. employed a VBA module and Xpress software for a scheduling optimization model for enhancement of final exam scheduling at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Kelley and Mittal utilized a Batch Run Analysis and Simulation Studio (BRASS) program to batch multiple iterations of IWARS scenarios to study the integration of autonomous systems alongside military units.&#x0D; Finally, two unique contributions utilizing system dynamics (SD) modeling is presented: Dixon and Krueger developed a Vensim SD model to examine how policy recommendations across Central America could restrict gang activities while positively promoting women’s involvement in society. Cromer et al. utilized systems design approaches and a K-means clustering machine learning techniques to develop SD models in support of the U.S. Africa Command and Defense Threat Reduction Agency to examine the interdependence of threats across the Horn of Africa.&#x0D; Thank you and congratulations to the 2020 undergraduate scholars and all authors who provided meaningful contributions through steadfast intellectual efforts in their fields of study! Well done!&#x0D; &#x0D; LTC James H. Schreiner, PhD, PMP, CPEM&#x0D; Program Director, Systems and Decision Sciences (SDS)&#x0D; Department of Systems Engineering&#x0D; United States Military Academy&#x0D; Mahan Hall, Bldg 752, Room 423&#x0D; West Point, NY 10996, USA&#x0D; james.schreiner@westpoint.edu

Blood Product Administration During Transport Throughout the US Africa Command Theater of Operation.

United States Africa Command (US AFRICOM) is one of six US Defense Department's geographic combatant commands and is responsible to the Secretary of Defense for military relations with African nations, the African Union, and African regional security organizations. A full-spectrum combatant command, US AFRICOM is responsible for all US Department of Defense operations, exercises, and security cooperation on the African continent, its island nations, and surrounding waters. We seek to characterize blood product administration within AFRICOM using the in-transit visibility tracking tool known as TRAC2ES (TRANSCOM Regulating and Command & Control Evacuation System). We performed a retrospective review of TRAC2ES medical evacuations from the AFRICOM theater of operations conducted between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2018. During this time, there were 963 cases recorded in TRAC2ES originating within AFRICOM, of which 10 (1%) cases received blood products. All patients were males. One was a Department of State employee, one was a military working dog, and the remainder were military personnel. Of the ten humans, seven were the result of trauma, most by way of gunshot wound, and three were due to medical causes. Among human subjects receiving blood products for traumatic injuries, a total of 5 units of type O negative whole blood, 29 units of packed red blood cells (pRBCs), and 9 units of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) were transfused. No subjects underwent massive transfusion of blood products, and only one subject received pRBCs and FFP in 1:1 fashion. All subjects survived until evacuation. Within the TRAC2ES database, blood product administration within AFRICOM was infrequent, with some cases highlighting lack of access to adequate blood products. Furthermore, the limitations within this database highlight the need for systems designed to capture medical care performance improvement, as this database is not designed to support such analyses. A mandate for performance improvement within AFRICOM that is similar to that of the US Central Command would be beneficial if major improvements are to occur.

British Visions, African Voices: The “Imperial” and the “Colonial” in World War II

AbstractThis article is focused on a magazine calledJambo, which was published by the British East Africa Command for troops in its employ between 1942 and 1945.Jambowas an agglomeration of political articles, general interest stories, propaganda, cartoons, crosswords, and more, with many of its contributions authored (or drawn) by men serving in the Allied forces. Here, I useJamboto consider notions of the “colonial” and “imperial” during the Second World War, exploring how the realities of racial segregation in the colonies fit awkwardly with imperial service.Jamboalso permits us a window into the views of some hundreds of British servicemen, who wrote extensively about the Africans with whom they served, revealing the complexities and shifts in British perceptions of African peoples during the conflict.Jambois unique in another respect: it also provided a forum for African troops. In few other publications—and even fewer with such wide circulation—could educated (but nonelite) African peoples reach thousands of British readers. Though their published letters and articles were few compared to those written byJambo's British authors, African writers used the venue to critique the conditions of their military service, argue about the sort of social ordering they desired in their home communities, and create an alternate narrative of the war. Like most colonial publications,Jambohad intended audiences, but also voracious, additional, alternate publics that mediated the articles which appeared in its pages. All this suggests that we might think of the colonial public sphere as both local and global, inward and outward looking, personal and communal, and situated along a continuum between colonial and imperial contexts.

The War on Terror as a Business: Lessons from Kenya and the Somalia Interventions

Abstract The documented evidence of the Kenyan military collaborating with the so-called forces of terror in Somalia to maintain their accumulation of approximately $400 million every year hardly made the international headlines as the leaders of Kenya have been rehabilitated into the ranks of those allied to US imperialism in waging a war on terror. There is an examination of the links between the US intelligence forces and the Kenyan cartels in keeping alive the terror threat in Somalia. Very few scholars have followed up on the revelations of the role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in funding those who matured into what is now called terror groups in Somalia through the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism. The challenge for scholars for peace will be to penetrate the US Africa Command shibboleths on ‘failed states’ in order to work for a program of peace and reconstruction in Africa. In the conclusion, the paper will argue that the withdrawal of the Kenyan troops from Somalia and demilitarization of security will be a concrete step to break up the cartels that are in the business of terror.

Redesigning the Senior Leader Engagement Program of the United States Africa Command

AFRICOM conducts hundreds of senior leader engagements (SLEs) each year throughout the African continent in order to create strategic partnerships and military relationships that preserve American interests abroad. While AFRICOM has been planning and executing these engagements since the inception of the organization in 2008, it lacks a well-defined method to systemize its SLE process. As a result, SLE development is largely ad hoc, potentially decreasing the strategic effectiveness of the engagements and increasing their cost. This paper delineates a decision-making framework to redesign and enhance AFRICOM’s SLE program. In particular, it posits a multiple objective decision analysis model that quantifies key stakeholder values and develops several alternatives for future evaluation. Of note, potential solutions imagine a more expansive system where subsets of Senior Leaders (SLs) are assigned to clusters of African countries based on the SLs’ similarity to countries within each cluster, providing a basis for relationship ownership and mutual trust.