Eastern Accord

Eastern Accord is an annual military exercise focusing on humanitarian aid/disaster response with East African nations that began in 2012. The 10-day training exercise, which helps build partnerships with US Army Africa (USARAF) and the East African military forces, is designed to help USARAF and East African participants improve their capability to respond to regional security threats posed by Violent Extremist Groups and to more effectively counter the associated Violent Extremist Ideology.

The 2012 exercise took place in Tanzania, with the objective of building partnerships with Tanzania and other East African military forces to increase interoperability within East Africa, increase African partner nations' ability to counter violent extremism and to increase the readiness of U.S. forces to operate in austere conditions.

Members from the Missouri Army National Guard's 110th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, based in Kansas City, and representatives from 7 East African countries began US Army Africa sponsored Eastern Accord 2012 Counter Violent Extremism Exercise. Participants in Eastern Accord 2012 would conduct an academic program from 6 to 9 September 2012, with speakers that included Brigadier General (R) Meir Elran, Director of Homeland Security Program, Tel Aviv University; Brett Lovegrove, former head of counter-terrorism in the city of London, and many other professional speakers. The culminating event was a Table Top Exercise that would take place from 10 to 13 September 2012. The TTX would take all lessons learned during the academic portion of the exercise and apply them to the real world efforts for each country in attendance. The knowledge gained from this exercise would continue to enhance the relationships between the US and African Nations.

The TTX provided a unique forum for participants to gain awareness of regional issues, exchange ideas and share initiatives and lessons learned. Members from the 110th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade led the TTX portion and captured the important outcomes from the exercise. The TTX included the Diplomatic, Information Operations/Strategic Communications, Military and Economics (DIME) elements of national power, which was a strategic approach to address strategic problems.