{"id":11873,"date":"2020-02-12T19:15:17","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T19:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/12\/us-army-africa-commander-were-not-walking-away-from-africa\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:15:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:15:52","slug":"us-army-africa-commander-were-not-walking-away-from-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2020\/02\/12\/us-army-africa-commander-were-not-walking-away-from-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"US Army Africa commander: \u2018We\u2019re not walking away\u2019 from Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Despite reports<\/a> U.S. troops could be reduced in Africa, U.S. Army Africa commander Maj. Gen. Roger L. Cloutier Jr. said African partners can remain confident the U.S. will not abandon Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe message I\u2019m relaying to my [African] partners is we\u2019re not walking away,\u201d Cloutier told reporters Feb. 12. \u201cWe are still engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To back this up, Cloutier cited the upcoming African Land Forces Summit that kicks off on Feb. 18 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. There, the U.S. will meet with land force chiefs from various African countries<\/a> and other allies to \u201ctalk about issues and let them know that the United States and the U.S. military is still committed to being great partners,\u201d Cloutier said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Cloutier said another demonstration of U.S. engagement on the continent is African Lion<\/a>, a multinational exercise U.S. Army Africa leads that involves forces from countries including Senegal and Tunisia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exercise is slated for the spring and will involve a total of 9,000 troops, including more than 4,000 U.S. service members the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, Cloutier said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the largest exercise that we\u2019re doing and so we are showing commitment in that regard,\u201d Cloutier said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cloutier\u2019s remarks come as the Pentagon is conducting a review of combatant commands to determine if troops need to be redistributed around the globe. Although Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Jan. 30 that the U.S. would not completely withdraw<\/a> U.S. troops from the continent<\/a>, he didn\u2019t rule out some changes to troop presence in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know the inclination is whenever someone says \u2018review,\u2019 the word that automatically pops up in their head is \u2018reduction,\u2019\u201d Esper said. \u201cIt is a rebalancing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn some cases we will increase, in some cases we won\u2019t change, and in some cases we will decrease,\u201d Esper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Esper also said the top priority \u2014 after ensuring commands are well equipped to carry out their missions \u2014 is to devote attention to near-peer adversaries like Russia and China and guarantee the U.S. is \u201cwell-postured to deal with them\u201d if necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\t