COVID-19 reminded the world of the danger unknown pathogens can present to the world, as the disease swept across the globe, shutting down entire societies in the early days of the pandemic. For many of us, pathogens are not a common consideration, or at least not at the microscopic level. There are however a select few people and organizations dedicated to identifying, observing, and analyzing this very topic. Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Pavlicek, U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. – 3 (NAMRU-3) director of the microbiology laboratory at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, is one of those people.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jami Shawley assumed command of Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa from U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Zana during a change of command ceremony May 14, 2022. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) presided.

More than 50 US government interagency officials working in more than 10 countries throughout East Africa met together at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti for the 2022 East Africa Security Forum May 11, 2022. The forum provided a face-to-face platform for representatives with the U.S. State Department, Department of Defense, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the National Security Council. The discussions ranged from overarching long-term strategy to specific security threats in the region.