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New Core Staff Deploys to Horn of Africa

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS080128-17
Release Date: 1/28/2008 3:43:00 PM

From Second Fleet Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) -- More than 80 sailors deployed Jan. 28, to take over the reins of key staff billets for Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA).

Most will be working out of Djibouti during their one-year deployment, while some will be stationed in partner nations and remote operating bases.

For the past four months, these sailors have gone through an exhaustive training cycle to prepare them for the challenges awaiting them in Africa.

"We learned about the cultural, religious and ethnic differences which are scattered throughout our area of operations," said Master Chief Operations Specialist Dennis J. Beetz, Senior Enlisted Advisor. "The lecture series we received examined every detail imaginable. I think this will give us great insight for the coming year and allow us to transition into our new positions faster and continue the great work the previous staff has accomplished last year."

The training included two weeks of individual augmentee training at Fort Jackson, S.C., as well as a comprehensive course in Mission Rehearsal Academics at U.S. Joint Forces Command's (USJFCOM) Joint Warfighting Center in Suffolk, Va. to prepare them for the weeklong Mission Rehearsal Exercise (MRX). The MRX offers a realistic joint context in which commanders and their staffs can sharpen their decision-making processes and help them to operate effectively with interagency, multinational and non-governmental agency partners.

All of this is important because of what the new commander, Rear Adm. Philip Greene, calls the three pillars of operations in the Horn of Africa -- defense, diplomacy and development.

"The three pillars are all served through military-to-military training engagements, cooperation efforts, (and) civil affairs programs there that add to our ability to build trust and confidence, develop capacity and capability and help forge relationships and partnerships with our African friends," Greene said. "It is all about Africans helping Africans with African solutions."

CJTF-HOA is a unit of U.S. Central Command. The organization conducts operations and training to assist partner nations to combat terrorism to establish a secure environment and enable regional stability. More than 1,500 people from each branch of the U.S. military, civilian employees, coalition forces and partner nations make up the CJTF-HOA organization. The area of responsibility for CJTF-HOA includes the countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

For more news from Second Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/c2f.