Coronavirus strikes US Africa Command
It is coronavirus and its rage is
currently unabated.
Though Africa hasn’t really felt
its brunt like Asia, Europe and America, it’s affecting it too so much so that
many events have been postponed, international flights banned, the economy is on
the downturn and people are cowering in fear.
So it’s no surprise that after
careful consideration, US Africa Command’s exercise, Obangame Express, has been
canceled.
Obangame Express is designed to
improve regional cooperation, maritime domain awareness, information-sharing practices
and tactical interdiction expertise to enhance the collective capabilities of
participating nations to counter sea-based illicit activity.
The decision not to proceed with
the exercise comes in response to the global effort to contain the spread of the
novel coronavirus (COVID-19) while minimizing exposure of US and partner nation
service members to it.
"We continue to remain on
top of the COVID-19 situation and take appropriate action to protect our troops
and African partners," said General Stephen J. Townsend, Commander, US
Africa Command. "We may reduce in scope the size or cancel an exercise,
but we will continue to lean forward to make sure troops in Africa have what
they need."
US Africa Command will continue
to evaluate and adjust the scope of its activities as necessary to ensure force
health protection and prevent the virus’ spread.
The US routinely exercises with
partners in Africa to build enduring relationships and combined capacity to
ensure the safety and security of the regional maritime environment.
Exercise Obangame Express is one
of three African regional ‘Express’ series exercises sponsored by US Africa
Command and conducted annually by US Naval Forces Europe-Africa/US 6th Fleet.
While this year’s exercise has
been canceled, planning continues for a senior leader seminar and Obangame
Express 2021.
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