(credit: africom.mil / staff Sgt. Daniel Garcia)    U.S. forces met with French forces stationed in Djibouti Horn of Africa. U.S. troops received interoperability training from the French, including military operations on urbanized terrain (MOUT) training March 19, 2021.

By Gary Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

U.S. Africa Command forces stationed in Djibouti conducted their second operational assessment in Mali this month, according to AFRICOM.  The initial assessment was March 3 in Gao, Mali.  While on the ground in Timbuktu in the latest AFRICOM  assessment last week,    U.S. forces  met with French forces stationed in the area. U.S. troops received interoperability training from the French, including military operations on urbanized terrain (MOUT) training. According to AFRICOM,  U.S. forces routinely conduct operational and logistics assessments across regions to prepare for contingencies, exercise readiness, and identify areas for improvement.  

“The ability to exercise our response over long distances to remote locations provides valuable insight to the most junior Soldier all the way up to our senior commanders. Although we are trained and ready to deploy at any time to anywhere, getting the opportunity to exercise our ability to deploy across the continent and train alongside our French partners clearly demonstrates our ability to respond when the need arises.”

-said U.S. Army Col. Jennifer Mykins, Combined Joint Task Force- Horn of Africa director of operations

U.S., French Troops Moved Approximately 5,000 kilometers (2,900 miles) across Africa during Exercise 

U.S. Africa Command forces stationed in Djibouti conducted an operational and logistics assessment in Gao, Mali, March 3, 2021 (credit: africom.mil) 

This assessment follows last week’s visit to Mali by Special Operations Command Africa’s commander, Maj. Gen. Dagvin Anderson, who visited the U.S. Embassy in Bamako, where he met with AMB Dennis Hankins. Anderson also met with the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) Sector West commander in Timbuktu.  During the exercise, troops moved approximately 5,000 kilometers (2,900 miles) across Africa, testing their ability to transport troops and equipment long distances on short notice to demonstrate operational capabilities. Africa poses unique challenges in terms of distance, terrain, environment, and logistics complexity, according to AFRICOM.