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Around, and Over, the Horn

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Around, and Over, the Horn Around, and Over, USAF photo by MSgt. Jeremiah Erickson the Horn ir Forces Africa, the air com- Air Forces Africa has picked up ponent for the new US Africa Command, has begun solidi- the pace of air operations in the fying its nascent command continent’s most restive region. Aand control capabilities and boosting its “soft power” efforts, especially in By Marc V. Schanz, Senior Editor the restive Horn of Africa and its im- mediate environs. USAF pararescuemen practice combat search and rescue from a Marine Corps CH- The Horn of Africa—Djibouti, Soma- 53 helicopter in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa. lia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea—is wracked by security dangers. The diverse prob- to the Darfur region. This took place From its headquarters at Ramstein lems include rampant piracy in the over the course of a few weeks, to sup- AB, Germany, AFAFRICA has pushed Gulf of Aden and a sputtering civil ply troops assigned to a joint African to improve command and control activi- war in Somalia, which has not enjoyed Union-United Nations peacekeeping ties in Africa, the better to keep track a functioning government since 1991. mission. of threatening developments. The 617th Somalia, in particular, is a concern The US government is taking an ac- Air and Space Operations Center (AOC) for AFRICOM’s leadership. It is a tive approach to regional concerns, and at Ramstein is crucial to continuous nonfunctioning state rife with militias USAF has a hand in much of this. There air command and control capability and terrorist elements. are no permanently assigned forces on for all theater security cooperation “I don’t think that it is a secret” that the continent, or even a headquarters, exercises, engagement activities, and Somalia is “generally an ungoverned but that does not mean the Air Force crisis response operations. state,” said Maj. Tony Carr, a division isn’t active. With the AOC now at full operational chief in AFAFRICA’s operational plans Partnerships with neighboring coun- capability, it can provide a common shop. tries and the various security organiza- operating picture of all air and space Somalia is not the only concern. To tions in the region are vital to the success missions over Africa from its Ramstein the west lies southern Sudan where of AFRICOM’s mission—particularly location. AFAFRICA (also known as 17th Air in humanitarian assistance and contin- Wrapping up a $6.3 million effort Force) carried out its first major air gency operations. “It’s an area where that began in October 2008, upgrades operation in January 2009. That was we are thinking about a wide range of to the AOC went through while 17th when two C-17s transported vehicles scenarios where we might help people Air Force staff conducted opera- and special equipment from Rwanda respond,” Carr said. tions, officials said. This was done 36 AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2010 with around a third of the building that you’ve planned out might have the region is home not only to a range undergoing modification at any given to change,” he said. of peacekeeping operations but also time. The center experienced major East Africa is a focal point for US the multinational anti-piracy effort in reconfiguration, carving out classified concerns on the continent. There the waters off Somalia. work areas, installing new fiber optics, is instability in the Horn, unrest in Air Forces Africa took over airspace and upgrading the electrical capacity southern Sudan, and the presence of authority from Air Forces Central, of the facility. yet another al Qaeda franchise. and has responsibility to build a daily “We’re housed, processes are built, air tasking order for the region. This and we’re up and running 100 percent,” Al Qaeda in Somalia authority helps tremendously to le- said Maj. Gen. Ronald R. Ladnier, Daniel Benjamin, the State Depart- gitimize cooperative efforts with other commander of Air Forces Africa. ment’s coordinator for counterterror- nations in the region, Brooks said. AFAFRICA has spent a good chunk ism activities, said he is working with The work of the 617th is somewhat of time since 2008 playing catch-up “local players” along with allies to dissimilar to other AOCs, Brooks as its taskings have grown steadily. ensure governance returns to areas notes—especially on the Horn. It does Its 404th Air Expeditionary Group such as Somalia. “Obviously, the not compile a targeting list daily, like routinely flies three- to four-day airlift [Transitional Federal Government] US Central Command does, he said. missions from Ramstein, across Africa, in Somalia is not in a position yet to “What we do is a lot of airlift missions, transporting medical groups, security be a really aggressive counterterror- so we work over vast distances,” he training teams, and supplies. ism force, and so to a certain extent, said. They build engagement lists. “We Now with a full-up AOC, 17th we need to continue building up the have to take things [in the AOC] and Air Force’s engagement activities TFG’s capabilities,” he said in January. tweak them so they fit our mission and will decidedly increase, Ladnier said. Col. Todd Brooks, the division chief what we’re asked to do.” He noted that back in early 2009, of the 617th AOC’s strategy and combat Military strikes in Africa on ter- AFAFRICA routinely had six to eight plans division, said 17th Air Force’s rorist elements are rare, and AFRI- security cooperation events going on nerve center has stepped up to play a COM downplays them, but US forces, at any given time on the continent. larger role in Horn operations. This is particularly special operators, have These taskings have blossomed by 300 primarily by assisting the Combined featured in several limited strikes in percent from last fiscal year. Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, based the region. Staff and planners at 17th Air Force at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, in its For example, US and Ethiopian are already assembling plans for the security partnership work. forces have sought out key al Qaeda 2011-12 fiscal years, as several offi- “We’ve been getting personnel, try- militants, who reportedly took shel- cials anticipate even more expansion. ing to put a plan together to train folks ter in Somalia. In January 2007, the “Our objective is sustained engage- and get our feet wet with operations on Pentagon confirmed an AC-130 strike ment. We don’t just want to roll into the continent,” Brooks said. When he in the southern part of the country, town. We want to engage with forces arrived at Ramstein in June 2009, the targeting al Qaeda leadership involved but continue to help develop relation- AOC had about 50 personnel. Today, in the 1998 attacks on US embassies ships,” Ladnier said. the number is around 130. in Kenya and Tanzania. The work is challenging and often As of Jan. 5, 17th Air Force assumed Last September, a senior al Qaeda complicated, working with foreign responsibility as the joint force air operative was killed in a special opera- governments, the US State Department, component commander for CJTF- tions raid in southern Somalia. Saleh and nongovernmental entities such as HOA. In this role, it helps deconflict Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan tied to the United Nations and African Union. the busy airspace around the Horn, as the bombing of the embassies in 1998 One of the sayings at the command is, “He who plans early in Africa plans often.” So quipped Col. John Yocum, chief of the regional engagement division at 17th Air Force, where the command’s security cooperation events are assembled. “We have about a six-month lead time,” he said. “With no assigned forces, we have to lever- age the Total Force to get the people we need, the subject matter experts. We have to work the same process as DOD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Bruns other [combatant commanders] to get forces,” he said. “We’ve seen entire governments come and go. ... Now, all the stuff Ethiopian Air Force Capt. Hailu Teklu observes as TSgt. Darryl Woodruff and SrA. Jacob Dattage perform a pre- flight inspection at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. AIR FORCE Magazine / July 2010 37 USAF photo by MSgt. ScottWagers A C-130 lands on a dirt landing strip in Ethiopia. The aircraft and crew come and other attacks, was traveling in over again, we’ve found the Guard has from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. a car near Barawe, Somalia, when provided us a key [for] the long term.” special operations forces helicopters Frequently, events involve multiple descended on the convoy, killing him services, Guardsmen, and Reservists. since many airlift missions to locations in the assault. The military had long Last August, a team of airmen from such as Somalia and Sudan transit sought Nabhan, believing him closely Ramstein’s 37th Airlift Squadron, Ugandan bases. But the Ugandans involved in al Qaeda’s East African along with two Army Reservists, also have needs of their own, with operations. He also had links to al traveled to Entebbe, Uganda, to train seasonal major flooding and a need to Shabaab, a militant wing of Islamic members of the country’s defense get relief supplies to isolated villages Courts Union which took over most force to improve operations on their along the Nile River. of southern Somalia in 2006 and uses L-100 aircraft, a civilian version of Engagement goes the other way as terror attacks and guerilla warfare the C-130. well. In February, six Ethiopian Air against the US-backed transitional Force officers visited the 449th Air Ex- government.
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