As a member of a Civil Affairs team, you understand relationships are a fundamental piece to the mission. One of the best ways to enhance relationships is to participate in group physical training. Maintaining physical health is understood by all, no matter what part of the world you are from, as an essential part of our daily lives.
This holds true here in Comoros as well. When Joint Civil Affairs Team 101 with Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, invited the Comorian Coast Guar
CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti, Dec 24, 2010 —
Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Mark S. Ripka, U.S. Africa Command's (U.S. AFRICOM) senior enlisted leader, personally recognized several Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 74 during a visit to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti December 20-24.
Ripka met with many sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines attached to Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF)-HOA during his trip, including the Seabees of NMCB 74. “I always make time
KAMPALA, Uganda, Dec 13, 2010. While trips to a state capital or college visit are common occurrences for many high school students across the world, for some it can be a far-reaching concept only existing as visualizations created by stories they’ve heard from those who have traveled the distance.
However, with the help of the Uganda’s Peoples’ Defense Forces (UPDF), the U.S. Army 418th Civil Affairs Battalion, Delta Company, assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (
CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti – An officer on Camp Lemonnier uses a special skill to communicate with local Djiboutians as well as international partners throughout Eastern Africa.`
U.S. Air Force Captain Sylvia Kim speaks fluent French, one of the official languages of Djibouti and a dominant language throughout the African continent. Realizing her skill could benefit Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, Kim volunteered for her current position as medical planner for the Joint Operati
Four service members assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa and Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, recently returned from Burundi where they participated as Tactical Combat Casualty Care course instructors for Burundian National Defense Force combat medics as part of a U.S. State Department-sponsored program.
The BNDF is preparing for an upcoming peacekeeping mission where the lifesaving techniques of the course may become invaluable.
“We are preparing (the BNDF) combat medic
More than 300 service members and civilians attached to Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) and Camp Lemonnier participated in the 28th Annual Grand Bara 15k Race, sponsored by the French Foreign Legion, December 16, 2010.
International partners throughout the region participated in the event, including members of the French Foreign Legion, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Djiboutian nationals and runners from around East Africa. "It was an honor and a privilege to
CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti - Dec 15, 2010 –The Seabees assigned Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 74 Detail Horn of Africa (HOA) officially relieved NMCB 7 Det. HOA during a turnover ceremony on Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti, December 15, 2010. NMCB 7 Det. HOA has been deployed to assist Combined Joint Task Force- Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) in building partner nation capacity since February 2010. A small party of key personnel, assigned to NMCB-74 Det. HOA, arrived December 3 to begin miss
More than 300 service members and civilians attached to Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) and Camp Lemonnier participated in the 28th Annual Grand Bara 15k Race, sponsored by the French Foreign Legion, December 16.
International partners throughout the region participated in the event, including members of the French Foreign Legion, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Djiboutian nationals and runners from around East Africa. "It was an honor and a privilege to be
A three-officer team from the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 137 Infantry with Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa recently returned from Burundi where they worked alongside the Burundian National Defense Force in a command post exercise.
The exercise was the capstone of a U.S. Department of State-sponsored Command Staff Operations Course. The five-week course is where battalion commanders and staff learn the NATO military decision making process, according to James Cobb, U.S. State
U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Donald E. Booth dedicated a new well in the Adiga Falima area of Dire Dawa November 29, 2010.
Members of the U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7 (NMCB-7) completed the first of seven hand-pump-operated wells the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) committed to drill in the Dire Dawa region June 14. This is the only working well in a 10 kilometer radius and services two villages. Since then, another well was completed in Legota Mirg
The Tanzanian People's Defence Force (TPDF) held a dedication November 23, 2010 to accept two 27-foot defender class boats at the Tanzanian Navy Base in Kigamboni, Tanzania.
The boats were presented by Rear Admiral Brian Losey, Commander Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, on behalf of the American people and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).
The dedication ceremony highlighted the continuing partnership between the U.S. and Tanzanian militaries.
"On behalf of the
Leaders preparing to deploy to Djibouti in January as the next headquarters staff at Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa wrapped up the first phase of a new, four-part training program designed to prepare them as well as the follow-on task force for the unique, strategically important mission, November 22, 2010.
The core staff for the new headquarters spent last week with U.S. 2nd Fleet at Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia, where they focused on the academic, "big picture" is
U.S. Navy Maritime Civil Affairs Team (MCAT) 205 attended a dedication ceremony of 200 new desks at the Ziwani primary school in the Tana Delta District of Eastern Kenya, November 17, 2010.
According to U.S. Navy Chief Equipment Operator Matthew White, team engineer, the project was nominated in April 2010 by MCAT 205's predecessors, MCAT 115, when the team visited the school and found two expansion classrooms that had no desks and the students were sitting on the bare dirt floor.
It wasn't that long ago that four members of Maritime Civil Affairs Team 215 didn't know what their next career in the military was going to be, and if they would have the opportunity to work together again. The four Navy Reservists were members of Inshore Boat Unit 24 and had just learned their unit was being decommissioned.
As is often the case, when one door shuts, another door opens. Senior Chief Petty Officer Nick Dimatteo learned of an opportunity to start an MCAT detachm
The Djiboutian Red Crescent Society (DRCS) held a two-day Superadobe Training Seminar in partnership with a team from the U.S. Army 418th Civil Affairs Battalion, Charlie Company, October 28, 2010.
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Joshua Erickson, a graduate of The California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (Cal-Earth) Superadobe training course, led volunteers through step-by-step instruction, which provided students with the fundamental skills to build a dome. Each student worked on a
Service members aboard Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, were treated to a slice of home October 27, 2010, when Chicago-style pizzas were served up at the Camp dining facilities.
The non-profit organization Pizza 4 Patriots sent 1,000 pizzas to honor the service of the men and women of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa and Camp Lemonnier. The organization has sent more than 46,000 pizzas to U.S. military personnel overseas.
"Our service members are making a huge difference in promo
Nursing students of the Arts Medical College of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia with assistance from the U.S. Army 418th Civil Function Specialty Team (Fx SP), Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), distributed medications to more than 900 children in seven remote villages during the second phase of a Medical Civic Action Program (MEDCAP) to improve health conditions in the Shinile Zone (Woreda).
Medications distributed in the second phase were tailored to the results of parasitolo
Over the past several months, members of the Moroto District Veterinary Office (DVO), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Makerere University, Uganda's Peoples Defence Force - Civil Military Coordination Center (UPDF-CMCC), the U.S. Army's 418th Civil Affairs Battalion Functional Specialty Team (FxSP) and Delta Company, as well as various other non-governmental organizations (NGO's) worked together to conduct Veterinary Civic Action Programs in conjunction with valu
U.S. Navy Maritime Civil Affairs Team 205, currently assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, joined hands with the local Kenyan host nation government, the head teachers of Kiunga Primary School and Secondary School, and local parents and students of Kiunga in the dedication of the schools, October 15, 2010. The dedication ceremony was a formal handing over of the newly-constructed and renovated schools to the village of Kiunga, Kenya. The projects included the following:
Leadership of the 449th Air Expeditionary Group, attached to Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, met with members of the Djiboutian Air Force for breakfast to exchange ideas on aircraft maintenance September 22, 2010. This is the first interaction between the maintenance crews of the two nations' air forces.
"We talked about how we maintain aircraft in unfriendly conditions," said Chief Master Sergeant Randall Becker, 81st Expeditionary Rescue Squadron maintenance superintenda
Nurses of the Dil Chora Hospital in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, attended the first week-long emergency medical technician (EMT) course, October 15, 2010.
The course is a partnership between Dr. Manyazewal Dessie, senior orthopedic surgeon at Dil Chora Hospital, soldiers of the U.S. Army 418th Civil Affairs Battalion, Charlie Company, and Seabees of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7 (NMCB 7).
The curriculum for the 23 students, approved by the hospital to meet their standards, consist
Alongside their Djiboutian counterparts, members of the U.S. Army's 418th Civil Affairs Battalion, Charlie Company and the Army National Guard 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 137th Infantry Regiment, helped construct the Djibouti National Police Academy K-9 obstacle course. They attended a ceremony to dedicate the obstacle course on October 11, 2010.
In the past month, the teams leveled the surface of the training area, welded fence gates and corner pole braces, then built and placed
The chief master sergeant of the U.S. Air Force spent a day in Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti to see firsthand the role Airmen play in the mission of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa and throughout the U.S. Africa Command theater.
During the October 13, 2010 visit, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force James Roy visited Airmen in various work centers around the camp.
"What Airmen are doing here is important," the chief said. "You have to understand your presence here has an imp
A U.S. Army 418th Civil Affairs Team (Charlie Company) was invited by the tribal Chief (Ugaas) of Issa, Mustafe Maxamed Ibraahim, to attend his wedding celebration September 23, 2010.
Through meetings with tribal elders and advisors, the team learned Issa is one of the major tribes in the Horn of Africa. The Ugaas is the chosen king of the Somali Issa people (approximately 2.5 million reside in Northeast Ethiopia, Southern Djibouti, and Northern Somaliland, as well as a large expatriat
Men and women of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa and Camp Lemonnier came together with a surprise of new shoes for the children of the National Center for the Protection of Juvenile Boys September 16, 2010. The idea for the drop came from the camp's Community Assistance Volunteers (CAV).
"There is a constant need for clothing and shoes," said Electronic Technician 1st Class David Corbin, CAV acting president. "If you look around the community there are always c
For most people, getting a glass of water or taking a shower requires a simple turn of a knob. For the residents of Fundo Island, a small islet that is part of Pemba Island, the act of getting water can involve a 16 mile round trip boat ride to Pemba and back, followed by an overland trek of up to 5 miles to get the water back to their villages.
Maritime Civil Affairs Team (MCAT) 115, based out of Little Creek, Virginia, and deployed to Tanzania as part of Combined Joint Task Force -
The Community Development Center (CDC) 5 stairwell in downtown Djibouti City was packed tight as more than 180 children rushed out of the building, each carrying a bundle of school supplies, a t-shirt and a smile passed on to them by the U.S. Army 418th Civil Affairs Battalion (CA BN) September 13, 2010.
The effort for the distribution was a close collaboration between U.S. Army Major Michael Guiles, 418th CA BN, and the director of School District 5, Mariam Youssouf.
"The people
The U.S. Army 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion took over as the battalion headquarters for the Horn of Africa in a transfer of authority flag unfurling ceremony September 14, 2010, at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti.
The 418th Civil Affairs Battalion, the outgoing unit, was the first battalion headquarters to stand up on the African continent, according to U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Michael Hert, 418th Civil Affairs Battalion commander. The battalion also managed 12 civil affairs teams in seven
Five Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa coalition officers visited the Spanish Naval amphibious assault ship SPS Galicia September 1, 2010 to connect with their foreign counterparts and learn the mission.
The purpose of the coalition officer ship visit is to show the importance of the missions of other military branches and to see how similar they are, said Army Specialist Melissa Ortiz, CJTF-HOA assistant coalition officer coordinator. "It's a great chance for officers
