From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed Jan 14 2009 - 09:30:32 EST
'Curveballs' are key to training for complexities of Africa duty From
natural disasters to political flash points, the Joint Warfighting Center is
taking the military to school. By HUGH LESSIG | 247-7821 January 14, 2009
SUFFOLK - A cyclone plows into Tanzania and the U.S. ambassador wants help.
Extremists threaten a well-drilling operation in Kenya. A border dispute
turns ugly and world attention focuses on tiny Eritrea, where the American
Embassy is in trouble.
These crises are on a computer screen — for now.
But inside the Joint Warfighting Center, the U.S. Joint Forces Command is
running these scenarios to train military personnel as real world
problem-solvers in the Horn of Africa, one of the more complex areas of the
world.
The training exercise began last week and ends Friday. It has been throwing
curveballs to 55 people who will head to Africa next month as the new
headquarters staff for the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa. Based
in Djibouti, the job is not exactly a cakewalk.
It wants to build cooperation in an area where political boundaries often
mean less than the location of various clans. It wants to maintain stability
in regions where border disputes are all too real. And it aims to protect
U.S. interests and people in the face of sudden trouble.
On Tuesday, leaders escorted reporters through the war-fighting center,
where banks of computers and flat-screen monitors speak to the complexities
of the exercise. Army Col. Michael S. Rose said the scenarios are based on
real-world events, from massive humanitarian operations like a cyclone to a
sensitive political crisis involving a small team like water well-drillers.
"I think we do a pretty good job of replicating what they're going to see,"
said Rose, the chief of operations.
The headquarters staff works with military forces under the U.S. Africa
Command to assess and develop responses to the wide range problems. The
staff draws from various disciplines, including Navy Capt. Mark Davis of
Virginia Beach, a former submarine commander.
Davis agreed that the computer exercise has a realistic flavor. Besides
being tactically complex, it requires the staff to consider the cultural and
political nuances of a situation, and how civilian media reports could alter
the landscape.
Here's one scenario.
A border clash erupts between the countries of Djibouti and Eritrea. Keep in
mind that the headquarters staff is based in the former country, but there
is a U.S. Embassy in the latter. The job is to develop a plan to evacuate
the embassy in Eritrea, which is threatened. Obviously, the embassy has
Americans, but Eritreans also work there. That involves bringing the
Eritreans into Djibouti, even though the two countries are fighting.
Now comes a news report that shots have been fired along the border.
"You react to that — oh my goodness, that changes everything," Davis said.
"What it really is, a couple Eritreans were trying to defect to the other
side, and their own guys were shooting at them."
It's a tough exercise, but it does wonders for the expectations of a former
sub commander who will soon find himself in strange surroundings.
"I'm very confident," he said, "that from day one on the ground, these guys
can do what is needed to do."