AFRICAN AIR CHIEFS SYMPOSIUM EMPLOYING THE NETWORK OF AFRICAN AIRMAN TO INCREASE AFRICAN AVIATION CAPACITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

14-17 September 2015 Nouakchott, Mauritania

United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) – United States Air Forces Africa (AFAFRICA) and the Etat Major de l’Armée de l’Air des Forces Aérienne de Mauritanie (Headquarters Mauritanian ) co-hosted the fifth annual African Air Chiefs Symposium. Air Force Chiefs of Staff and Deputy Chiefs of Staff from eighteen African countries1 participated in the event, which focused on continuing to build a network of airmen to increase the capabilities of airpower in Africa. The symposium goals included: improving air operations across the continent; identifying key policy, institutional, operational, and capacity challenges confronting African Air Chiefs; exchanging ideas on how to develop African airpower to effectively support the full range of military operations; providing a venue where African air force leaders can network, build trust, and define areas for future operational cooperation; laying the foundation to expand the forum into a decision-making organization; incorporating the African Union (AU) to address continental-wide air requirements; promoting the relevance of airpower in joint and multi-national operations using vignettes and examples of air force successes presented by Air Chiefs; and lastly, developing an action plan that outlines specific items to accomplish in the near-term.

Throughout the week, the air chiefs examined the role of airpower in providing security in their countries and regions, the challenges facing this objective, and the steps they must take to reach their goals. They specifically noted the importance of political will and the pervasive lack of familiarity with the role of air forces in providing security. They examined potential opportunities to

1 Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, , South Africa, Togo, and Tunisia.

pool resources through the regional economic communities’ military standby brigades to provide airpower. Lieutenant Colonel Harvey presented on Aviation Enterprise Development and was followed by Wing Commander Atiemo, who discussed AU air initiatives. During the symposium, the air chiefs learned about the Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE) and Lieutenant Colonel Ata indicated that this would be a potential model for pooling African airpower. General Badi, Commander, Moi Air Base in Kenya, provided background on the successes and challenges of employing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) in the fight against Al Shabab. Colonel McGee, the Director of Intelligence at USAFE-AFAFRICA Headquarters, discussed how ISR can be resourced, developed and utilized to meet strategic objectives (such as countering insurgency or countering violent extremist organizations). Major Saum, a mobility subject matter expert from the Operations Directorate at USAFE-AFAFRICA Headquarters, provided a case study of Operation UNITED ASSISTANCE, the US effort to support the fight against Ebola in West Africa. Next, General Diop, Chief of Staff of the Senegalese Air Force, led a discussion about air mobility and opportunities to work to better pool air mobility and support for national, regional and continental military objectives, especially deploying and supporting peacekeeping forces. Then, Col Hickman, Senior Air Battle Manager at USAFE-AFAFRICA, outlined some command and control principles. In an area of increasing importance, Commandant Abache, Deputy Chief of Operations of the Nigerien Air Force, provided a vignette on Casualty Evacuation (CASEVAC) operations followed by Lieutenant Colonel Estoup, a subject matter expert from Special Operations Command Africa Headquarters, who discussed air-to-ground coordination and provided a forum for expanding the capabilities to support operations in this domain. Finally, Mauritania, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and the United States of America signed the charter establishing the Association of African Air Forces during an official ceremony. The remaining delegations were supportive of the charter and were only awaiting approval from their leadership to sign the document.

Key Themes and Recommendations a. The importance of emphasizing the role of aviation in economic development Throughout the symposium the challenges of economic development were raised as not only one of the factors influencing violent extremists, but also as an area hindering the development of air power. However, as a method of communicating the value of airpower from a security perspective, its role in developing national industries and transportation is also important to highlight. As an example of how this can play out positively, several countries have achieved some small successes in this important role. One area that was discussed is how military training of pilots eventually flows into the civilian industry (which can also create retention problems) and serves an overall catalyst. The same is true for aircraft maintainers or airfield operators when they leave the military. The development of aviation infrastructure and institutions supports more than just defense and is a key component for development writ large and is an important point of emphasis when communicating requirements to political or military leadership who often lack an airman’s perspective. b. The transnational problems of Africa demand air power and international cooperation Following the brief by Mr. Dahane Ahmed Mahmoud of the Mauritanian Institute for Strategic Studies, there was a significant discussion on the causes of violent extremism and terrorism and the needs to confront them. The air chiefs noted the transnational nature of the current security challenges and argued that they require continental, regional, bilateral, and multilateral cooperation for effective responses. They also stressed the advanced preparation and planning that are key to successful collaboration. This is specifically true for airborne ISR to help leaders make informed decisions. However, it’s also important for rapid mobility, transportation and lift

to get troops where they need to be in a timely manner, and air interdiction and close air support to aid ground forces. Not every country will be able to support all of these mission sets and the pooling of resources seems a promising compromise in order to confront broad transnational challenges. Aviation is critical to the entire problem set because of the scale of logistical support as well as medical evacuation requirements for those injured while executing the missions. c. The increasingly critical role that regional groups play in building airpower While initially the Chiefs expressed much frustration with the actual capabilities of some of the regional bodies (i.e. regional standby brigades), after considerable discussion, the group by and large agreed that the military standby component of the RECs are very important vehicles for building airpower. Every group is different however. For example, the South African Development Cooperative (SADC) conducts an annual air exercise – Exercise Blue. SADC is an example of how southern states are working at the regional level to examine how best to pool different national contributions to satisfy the various scenarios that their militaries are tasked to support (e.g. floods in Mozambique). Interoperability remains a significant stumbling block as the funding challenges of the past few decades have left most nations with small fleets of disparate aircraft and supply chains. In general, the AU believes that capabilities exist on the continent that could be used and have had several meetings and discussions with the MCCE and others on potential models to leverage these capabilities. However, neither the AU nor the RECs have yet determined a plan to move forward. d. Building air power in Africa requires creative solutions Several vignettes were presented that show ways to build capabilities in a political environment where the positive effects aren’t always well understood and budgets are always tight. One area that has shown significant success is in Public Private Partnerships (PPP). Another example was working with other regional or international organizations such as the UN. The Ghanaian Air Force (GAF) discussed how the Ghanaians have embarked upon the laudable goal of building their Air Force capabilities by supporting peace keeping operations on behalf of the UN in Mali. This is providing the GAF the distinctive opportunity to build Air Force expeditionary capabilities with its Casa 295. They are currently under contract to have one aircraft available in Mali for a variety of missions. This has resulted in an agreement to purchase a third Casa 295 and consideration to purchase another. They are growing significant capability that will support the UN as well as potentially the AU and ECOWAS Brigade (ECOBRIG) in addition to the government of Ghana. Other nations have similar endeavors with respect to rotatory programs; however, there are significant gaps between the requirements for medium and strategic airlift and the ability of African air forces to meet these requirements. Leveraging these non-traditional roles to gain experience and funding is something that can benefit all of these growing Air Forces. e. Efforts to build infrastructure requires more funding and attention than is often given Airmen need to think about more than just the hardware they buy to support aviation capabilities. Far too often young air forces will purchase aircraft that they do not have the requisite institutional capacities to support, quickly leading to grounded aircraft. Competence in maintenance, logistics, and standardization and evaluation all take time to develop and require significant investment and commitment. To request necessary funding as well as the resources necessary for the new aircraft, air forces must articulate how airpower can support the various instruments of national power. Many nations are beginning to see the benefits of this approach for the civil sector. For example, training military pilots supports civil aviation as they transition

out of the military. The Mauritanian Air Force has successfully applied this approach to simultaneously improve its national economy and Air Force capabilities. Air Forces should advocate for government investment in aviation to grow a workforce. The Mauritanian Air Force is young and dealing with many problems in all of its major functional areas, but it is already providing important capabilities to its nation. Just five years ago the Air Force was active in many areas, but not considered indispensable. The addition of MEDEVAC was one of the driving requirements changing this paradigm, along with ISR. Starting with these capabilities, national decision makers learned the value other aviation areas could provide. All of these functional capabilities require the institutional foundations that Professional Military Education (PME) and training of aviators and maintenance/support personnel provide. Overcoming these issues is one of the greatest challenges facing air forces. f. Importance of focusing on achievable steps rather than solving entire problem at once Throughout the forum, air chiefs and leaders offered encouragement when others expressed frustration or were overwhelmed with the size or significance of the challenges. It takes time and money to develop the capabilities that the national leaders are looking to achieve. This concept is equally valid at the regional level. They cannot merely highlight the challenges facing regional institutions; but need to lay out the regional programs that help drive progress. The focus needs to be on a small list of achievable tasks that can be accomplished vice a large list. To support this goal the delegation agreed to create working groups to develop specific achievable tasks.

Formalizing a Network of African Airmen

At the conclusion of the symposium, several members signed the Charter for the Association of African Air Forces. Many of the Chiefs or representatives were unable to sign, but intend to sign in the future with approval from their national leadership. There was unanimous support for the charter and no significant criticism of the plan. Also building on the momentum from last year’s symposium, many new accounts were created for the All Partner’s Access Network (APAN) to continue enhancing collaboration.

Another important task was the provisioning of liaison officers. At the time of writing this report there were 14 liaison officers. Coordination with the air chiefs through these individuals will be key to the success of this endeavor. They also agreed that membership in the network should remain open in order to ensure participation and representation by all regions, and that the charter should be supported by the military and political leadership of each nation.

Also, during the symposium, there were daily breakout sessions where various regional working groups met to discuss issues peculiar to their problem sets. The breakouts were organized by RECs and included a special breakout for the Lake Chad Basin countries. These discussions were very fruitful and should be expanded in the future to provide more time to focus on these topics.

The symposium included the following sessions: Session 1: Aviation Enterprise Development (Roundtable) Session 2: African Union Air Initiatives (Plenary Presentation/Discussion) Session 3: Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE) (Plenary Presentation/Discussion) Session 4: Air Strategy Discussion (Plenary Presentation/Discussion) Session 5: ISR – Fusion & Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (Roundtable)

Session 6: Air Mobility: Case Study (Roundtable) Session 7: Command and Control (Roundtable) Session 8: Air-to-Ground Integration/Force Protection (Roundtable) Session 9: Organization/Charter Discussion (Roundtable)

As this year’s co-host, Mauritania will serve as the secretariat through African Air Chiefs Symposium 2016 with the expectation that the secretariat will rotate among member states on an annual basis.

Conclusion and the Way Forward The 2015 African Air Chiefs Symposium reinforced the overarching goals of supporting efforts to enhance security outcomes across Africa and African capabilities to respond to crises on the continent. The objectives of the seminar were met. Specifically, the 2015 symposium:

i. Established the Association of African Air Forces through the signing of the charter ceremony to close the symposium ii. Made significant progress in the institutionalization of a “Network of African Airmen”; through the charter, expanding assigned liaison officers, and the increased use of web-based tools to share information iii. Identified opportunities to increase the role of regional bodies, such as the RECs, in growing aviation capabilities in exercises, symposia and other venues iv. Shared best practices and challenges confronting African air forces and discussed methods and opportunities to solve them v. Worked to engage RECs on opportunities for regional and sub-regional exercises and activities that help build cooperation across the regions

Next steps: 1. Brief senior national military and political leadership on Symposium outcomes • Proposed timeline: within 1 month • POC: Air Chiefs 2. Designate a liaison officer to the Association of African Air Forces, if not already named • Proposed timeline: 1 month • POC Air Chiefs 3. Join APAN to enable and maintain communications, if not already joined • Proposed timeline: within 1 month • POC: Air Chiefs 4. Circulate report and recommendations to Air Chiefs and participants • Proposed timeline: within 1 month • POC: AFAFRICA 5. Establish regional working groups in APAN to discuss items of mutual concern and share experiences • Proposed timeline: within 45 days of the Symposium • POC: Air Chiefs 6. Request AU and REC involvement at next Symposium • Proposed timeline: within 2 months • POC: AFAFRICA and Air Chiefs 7. Organize annual African Air Chiefs Symposium for 2016 (at Ramstein Airbase, Germany) • Proposed Date: May 2016 • POC: AFAFRICA

Annex A - SPEAKER LIST

The Honorable Mr. Mamadou Bathia DIALLO, Minister of Defense, Mauritania

Ambassador Larry ANDRÉ, United States Ambassador to Mauritania

Lieutenant General Timothy RAY, Commander, 3rd Air Force and 17th Expeditionary Air Force, United States

Colonel Mohamed LEHREITANI, Chief of Air Staff, Mauritania

Brigadier General Mohamed Abdalla BADI, Base Commander, Moi Air Base; Kenya

Brigadier General Birame DIOP, Chief of Air Staff, Senegal

Commandant Souleymane David ABACHE, Deputy Chief of Operations, Niger

Colonel Jenny MCGEE, Director of Intelligence, USAFE-AFAFRICA

Colonel Stephen HUGHES, Chief, International Affairs Division, USAFE-AFAFRICA

Colonel Justin HICKMAN, Senior Air Battle Manager, USAFE-AFAFRICA

Wing Commander Kwabena Kissiedu Manukure-ATIEMO for Group Captain David AKRONG, Aviation Planner for African Union Commission, Peace Support Operations Division (PSOD) Air Advisor,

Lieutenant Colonel Craig HARVEY, Air Advisor, Headquarters Air Force

Lieutenant Colonel Mert ATA, Chief of Operations, Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE), North Atlantic Treaty Organization,

Lieutenant Colonel Matthew ESTOUP, Special Plans, SOCAFRICA

Major Shane SAUM, Command C-130J Evaluator Pilot, USAFE-AFAFRICA

Annex B - PARTICIPANT LIST

General Francisco Lopes Gonçalves AFONSO, Chief of Staff, Angola Air Force

Colonel António JOAQUIM, Deputy Chief, Commander’s Staff, Angola Air Force

Major General Innocent Seleka PHATSHWANE, Air Arm Commander, Botswana Defence Force

Major Dabilo HLABANO, Military Assistant to the Air Arm Commander, Botswana Defense Force

Lieutenant Colonel Trudy CASSEN, Air Attaché, US Embassy Gaborone

Colonel-Major Kounsaouma Gustave PALENFO, Chief of Staff, Burkina Faso Air Force

Lieutenant Colonel Stephane KAMBOU, Airbase 511 Commander, Burkina Faso Air Force

Colonel Bernard NKOUNKOU, Deputy Chief of Staff, Republic of Congo Air Force

Colonel Seraphin KANGALA, AFB 02/20 Pointe Noire Chief, Republic of Congo Air Force

Brigadier General Jean-Jacques René OUEGININ, Chief of Staff, Ivoirian Air Force

Lieutenant Colonel Dominique AOUSSOU, Chief of Education & Training; AACS Liaison Officer, Ivoirian Air Force

Lieutenant Commander Emir SIRKER, Chief, Office of Security Cooperation, US Embassy Abijan

General de Brigade Enoch NUMBI NGOIE, Chief of Staff, Democratic Republic of Congo Air Force

General de Brigade Maurica DIASUKA DIA KAYANA, Deputy Chief of Staff and Chef d'Etat- Major Adjoint Chargés des Opérations et de Renseignement de la Force Aérienne, Democratic Republic of Congo Air Force

Colonel Jean Claude MOUGNANGUI, Deputy Chief, Gabon Air Force

Lieutenant Colonel Theodore CONKLIN, SDO/DATT, US Embassy Libreville

Lieutenant Colonel Louis Michel Leford M’BOUKOU, Gabon

Air Commodore Morgan NYADOUDUI, Chief Staff Officer, Ghana Air Force

Wing Commander Kwabena ATIEMO, Officer Commander, 4 Squadron, Ghana Air Force

Major Natalia MERCEDES, Deputy Chief of Security Cooperation, US Embassy Accra

Colonel-Major Souleymane BAMBA, Chief of Staff, Mali Air Force

Lieutenant Colonel Islmael DIARRA, Chief of Cabinet, Mali Air Force

Lieutenant Colonel Doug BROCK, SDO/DATT, US Embassy Bamako

Colonel Zana Boukar BOULAMA ISSA, Chief of Air Staff, Niger

Commandant Souleymane David ABACHE, Deputy Chief of Operations, Niger Air Force

Ms. Elizabeth HULL, Defense Liaison Officer, US Embassy Niamey

Brigadier General Mohamed ABDALLA BADI, Base Commander, Moi Air Base, Kenyan Air Force

Lieutenant Colonel Silas Mwiti MAGIRI, 2 I/C Tactical Transport Wing/Pilot, Kenyan Air Force

Lieutenant Colonel Abderrahmane Sidi EBDEMEL, Deputy Air Chief, Mauritanian Air Force

Lieutenant Colonel Clement KETCHUM, SDO/DATT, US Embassy Nouakchott

Major Jennifer WARREN, OSC Chief, US Embassy Nouakchott

Air Vice Marshal Nurudeen Abiodun BALOGUN, Air Officer Commanding, Tactical Air Command, Nigeria Air Force

Major Andrew BRUCE, Deputy Chief, Office of Security Cooperation, US Embassy Abuja

Major Luis GARCIA, Air Attaché, US Embassy Abuja

Colonel Emmanuel RUGAZORA, Air Force Base Commander, Rwanda Air Force

Major Christopher SEMUHUNGU, Squadron Commander, Rwanda Air Force

Mr. Serge SHEV, Defense Liaison Officer, US Embassy Niamey

General de Brigade Birame DIOP, Chief of Staff, Senegal Air Force

Captain Momar Khary NDIAYE, Chief of Operations Center, Senegal Air Force

Mr. Roger GANT, Defense Liaison Officer, US Embassy Dakar

Major General Gerald MALINGA, Deputy Chief of the Air Force, South Africa

Lieutenant Colonel Mduduzi Joseph SIMELANE, Personal Staff Officer, South Africa Air Force

Major Andrew CUNNAR, Air Attaché, US Embassy Pretoria, South Africa

Colonel Kodjo Messan Attiogbe ATTIPOU, Chief of Staff, Togo Air Force

Captain Atafeiname AWILI, Aide to Chief of Staff, Togo Air Force

General de Brigade Mohamed Foued ALOUI, Chief of Staff, Tunisian Air Force

Colonel Mohamed HAJJEM, Installation Security Officer

Commander Marcelle MOLETT, Air and Naval Attaché, US Embassy Tunisia

Major General Eric VOLLMECKE, Air National Guard Mobilization Assistant to the Commander, USAFE-AFAFRICA

Brigadier General Mark CAMERER, Director of Plans, Programs and Analyses, United States Air Forces Europe and Africa, United States

Brigadier General Billy THOMPSON, Director, Regional Affairs, Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs

Colonel Jenny MCGEE, Director of Intelligence, United States Air Forces Europe and Africa, United States

Colonel Stephen HUGHES, Division Chief, International Affairs, United States Air Forces Europe and Africa, United States

Douglas WEAVER, Political & Foreign Policy Advisor, USAFE-AFAFRICA

Dahane Ahmed MAHMOUD, Executive Director of the Mauritanian Institute for Strategic Studies

Annex C - MODERATORS

Dr. Stephen Burgess, Professor of International Security Studies, US Air War College, Air University

Mrs. Janet Beilstein, International Education Program Specialist, International Officer School, Air University