{"id":47119,"date":"2022-03-10T19:59:21","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T19:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/03\/10\/new-security-training-and-oversight-after-2020-manda-bay-attack\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:51:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:51:45","slug":"new-security-training-and-oversight-after-2020-manda-bay-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2022\/03\/10\/new-security-training-and-oversight-after-2020-manda-bay-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"New security training and oversight after 2020 Manda Bay attack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

All troops deploying to U.S. Africa Command<\/a> now have to complete a 27-day security training course, officials said Thursday during a Pentagon briefing, as part of a response to the early 2020 al-Shabab attack on Naval Base Manda Bay, Kenya, which left three Americans dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The course is one of the recommendations to come out of the initial AFRICOM investigation<\/a> and a subsequent, Army-led review<\/a> of that investigation, the results of which were first released on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The training \u201cgreatly exceeds the previous pre-deployment courses and focuses on providing the base-defense mindset and force-protection posture needed to operate in a hostile environment,\u201d Air Force Brig. Gen. Roy Collins, the director of Air Force security forces, said Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collins described it as \u201ca robust, mission-focused rehearsal training course designed to close the gaps identified with collective training, team cohesion and leadership core skill training rehearsals, battle drills and mission preparation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The course, implemented in fall 2020, was one of the immediate responses after the initial investigation by AFRICOM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the attack, 30 to 40 al-Shabab militants overran the base\u2019s airfield and nearby Camp Simba, where U.S. forces are housed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attack killed three Americans \u2015 including one soldier and two Defense Department contractors \u2015 and injured three more, while destroying seven aircraft, provoking a firefight and a daylong scramble to re-secure the base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After reading the initial AFRICOM investigation in April 2021, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for another, independent review, headed up by Army Gen. Paul Funk II, who leads Army Training and Doctrine Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation and the review found that while no specific service member actions caused the Manda Bay attack or its casualties, the overall security posture at the base had been deeply inadequate.<\/p>\n\n\n