Kenyan-born Red Bull Soldier reflects on deployment journey to the Horn of Africa
7:12 AM2/3/2021
Spc. Abraham Kiplagat, a infantryman with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Regiment, immigrated to the United States at the age of 10-years-old. Kipligat has now returned to the region of his birth during his deployment to the Horn of Africa.
U.S. Army Soldiers from the East African Response Force (EARF) assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) board a C-130J Super Hercules Jan. 20, 2021, at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. The EARF exercise demonstrates the ability to respond across a wide range of military operations, including crisis response, protection of U.S. personnel and diplomatic facilities, disaster relief, personnel recovery, humanitarian assistance, and other missions as directed by U.S. Africa Command as well as a continued commitment to U.S. partners in Somalia. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Charles T. Fultz)
U.S. Army Soldiers from the East African Response Force (EARF) assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) board a C-130J Super Hercules Jan. 20, 2021, at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. The EARF exercise demonstrates the ability to respond across a wide range of military operations, including crisis response, protection of U.S. personnel and diplomatic facilities, disaster relief, personnel recovery, humanitarian assistance, and other missions as directed by U.S. Africa Command as well as a continued commitment to U.S. partners in Somalia. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Charles T. Fultz)
A U.S. Army soldier from the East African Response Force (EARF) assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) stands guard at a guard post with an Ugandan soldier Jan. 20, 2021 in Somalia. The EARF is a rapid deployment force with the ability to protect U.S. citizens and diplomatic facilities, provide non-combatant evacuation operations, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief operations, on the African continent. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Charles T. Fultz)
U.S. Army Soldiers from the East African Response Force (EARF) assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) board a C-130J Super Hercules Jan. 20, 2021, at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. The EARF exercise demonstrates the ability to respond across a wide range of military operations, including crisis response, protection of U.S. personnel and diplomatic facilities, disaster relief, personnel recovery, humanitarian assistance, and other missions as directed by U.S. Africa Command as well as a continued commitment to U.S. partners in Somalia. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Charles T. Fultz)
U.S. Army soldiers from the East African Response Force (EARF) assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) walk towards a C-130J Super Hercules Jan. 21, 2021, in Somalia. The EARF is a rapid deployment force with the ability to protect U.S. citizens and diplomatic facilities, provide non-combatant evacuation operations, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief operations, on the African continent. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Charles T. Fultz)
U.S. Army soldiers from the East African Response Force (EARF) assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) prepare to board a C-130J Super Hercules Jan. 21, 2021, in Somalia. The EARF exercise demonstrates the ability to respond across a wide range of military operations, including crisis response, protection of U.S. personnel and diplomatic facilities, disaster relief, personnel recovery, humanitarian assistance, and other missions as directed by U.S. Africa Command as well as a continued commitment to U.S. partners in Somalia. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Charles T. Fultz)
A U.S. Army Soldier from the East African Response Force (EARF) assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) exit a C-130J Super Hercules Jan. 20, 2021, in Somalia. The EARF exercise demonstrates the ability to respond across a wide range of military operations, including crisis response, protection of U.S. personnel and diplomatic facilities, disaster relief, personnel recovery, humanitarian assistance, and other missions as directed by U.S. Africa Command as well as a continued commitment to U.S. partners in Somalia. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Charles T. Fultz)
U.S. Army Soldiers from the East African Response Force (EARF) assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) walk off a C-130J Super Hercules Jan. 20, 2021, in Somalia. The EARF exercise demonstrates the ability to respond across a wide range of military operations, including crisis response, protection of U.S. personnel and diplomatic facilities, disaster relief, personnel recovery, humanitarian assistance, and other missions as directed by U.S. Africa Command as well as a continued commitment to U.S. partners in Somalia. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Charles T. Fultz)
A U.S. Army soldier from the East African Response Force (EARF) assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) creates a range card from a lookout point Jan. 21, 2021, in Somalia. The EARF exercise demonstrates the ability to respond across a wide range of military operations, including crisis response, protection of U.S. personnel and diplomatic facilities, disaster relief, personnel recovery, humanitarian assistance, and other missions as directed by U.S. Africa Command as well as a continued commitment to U.S. partners in Somalia. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Charles T. Fultz)
U.S. Army Soldiers from the East African Response Force (EARF) assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) exit a C-130J Super Hercules Jan. 20, 2021, in Somalia. The EARF exercise demonstrates the ability to respond across a wide range of military operations, including crisis response, protection of U.S. personnel and diplomatic facilities, disaster relief, personnel recovery, humanitarian assistance, and other missions as directed by U.S. Africa Command as well as a continued commitment to U.S. partners in Somalia. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Charles T. Fultz)
U.S. Army Soldiers from Task Force Bayonet, assigned to the East Africa Response Force (EARF) in support of Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), alongside Soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based out of Vicenza, Italy, traveled to Somalia as part of a security exercise to Mogadishu International Airport (MIA), Jan. 20-21.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Lapthe Flora, commanding general, Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), and members of the CJTF-HOA staff virtually attend the 2021 African Chiefs of Defense Conference hosted by U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander, U.S. Africa Command, Jan. 27, 2021. The purpose of the conference was to discuss key security challenges and opportunities and to work together to improve security, stability, and prosperity in Africa.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Lapthe Flora, commanding general, Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), and members of the CJTF-HOA staff virtually attend the 2021 African Chiefs of Defense Conference hosted by U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander, U.S. Africa Command, Jan. 27, 2021. The purpose of the conference was to discuss key security challenges and opportunities and to work together to improve security, stability, and prosperity in Africa. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Dana J. Cable)
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Lapthe Flora, commanding general, Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), Rolf Olson, Foreign Policy Advisor (POLAD), CJTF-HOA, U.S Army Maj. Raffi Mnatzakanian, campaign planner, Uganda Army Lt. Col. Alex Namara, foreign liaison officer (FLO) and Kenyan Air Force Lt. Col. Irene Machangoh, FLO, virtually attend the 2021 African Chiefs of Defense Conference hosted by U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander, U.S. Africa Command, Jan. 27, 2021. The purpose of the conference was to discuss key security challenges and opportunities and to work together to improve security, stability, and prosperity in Africa. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Dana J. Cable)
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Lapthe Flora, commanding general, Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), and members of the CJTF-HOA staff virtually attend the 2021 African Chiefs of Defense Conference hosted by U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander, U.S. Africa Command, Jan. 27, 2021. The purpose of the conference was to discuss key security challenges and opportunities and to work together to improve security, stability, and prosperity in Africa. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Dana J. Cable)
Leaders from the US Embassy in Djibouti, Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), and Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti (CLDJ), toured the USS Hershel "Woody" Williams (USS HWW), Jan. 22, 2021, at Port de Djibouti, Djibouti. The tour gave them an opportunity to learn about the history of its namesake, the capabilities of the ship, as well as the day-to-day operations.