{"id":40683,"date":"2017-11-19T15:07:08","date_gmt":"2017-11-19T15:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/11\/19\/us-troops-lack-support-despite-expanding-mission-in-africa\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:55:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:55:24","slug":"us-troops-lack-support-despite-expanding-mission-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/11\/19\/us-troops-lack-support-despite-expanding-mission-in-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"US troops lack support despite expanding mission in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A once shadowy mission in the Sahel region of western and north-central Africa has been illuminated since the attack that killed four U.S. soldiers in Niger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has been revealed is that U.S. troops operating in advisory roles across Africa lack the level of support they have received in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon is still investigating the Oct. 4 ambush of a joint U.S.-Nigerien patrol to determine what happened and why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the mission in Africa is focused on training and advising the host nations\u2019 partner forces, the incident in Niger has highlighted the considerable risk faced by participating U.S. troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military officials suspect the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, or ISGS, as the culprit behind the deadly ambush, but West Africa is dotted with various terrorist groups, including Boko Haram, Jama\u2019a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, al-Shabab and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the influx of terror groups and instability in the Sahel over the past several years, Libya and Somalia remain the only two regions where U.S. warplanes and drones have authorities to launch deadly kinetic strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been no U.S. airstrikes and drone strikes anywhere in Africa besides Libya and Somali, Samantha Reho, a spokeswoman for U.S. Africa Command, told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Devan Feeney\/Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Though U.S. forces training and advising partner forces in places like Niger still conduct operations that closely mirror more robust counterterror missions \u2014 to include surveillance, intelligence collection and dissemination, and reconnaissance operations \u2014 those forces operate without much of the support that would come with a combat-oriented mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, commander of U.S. AFRICOM, tried to address those concerns before lawmakers earlier this year when he presented his posture statement for the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor personnel recovery, Africa Command relies heavily on contract Search and Rescue assets due to lack of dedicated assets to support operations,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfrican partners lack the capability and capacity to assist with personnel recovery missions. Integrating personnel recovery and surgical stabilization\/medical sustainment capabilities are a moral obligation and essential for the proper care of U.S. service members who risk their lives to protect our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the U.S. mission in AFRICOM has grown steadily over the past several years, AFRICOM is no closer to closing the gap to ensure U.S. forces are fully supported in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are currently 6,000 U.S. troops in the region, spread over 53 countries, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But only a handful of U.S. forces are actually conducting civil affairs missions and training and advising host nation forces, meaning providing support to those forces is a complicated task that may require a much larger footprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfrica lacks a theater distribution network to support our forces,\u201d according to the AFRICOM 2017 posture statement. \u201cThis capability gap forces our personnel to revert to costly and ineffective ad hoc solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The majority of U.S. troops are in Niger and Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, Reho explained to Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe maintain 15 enduring locations (2 Forward Operating Sites and 13 Cooperative Security Locations) on the African continent, which give the United States options in the event of crisis and enable partner capacity building, Reho said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdditionally, the command has designated 31 contingency locations \u2026 focused on access to support partners, counter threats and protect U.S. interests in East, North and West Africa,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hub of bases, temporary locations and airstrips is designed to help AFRICOM address what Reho calls the \u201ctyranny of distance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t