BAFUMAR Bataillon des Fusiliers Marins
Forces Fusiliers Marins et Palmeurs de Combat FORFUMAPCO
US Marines, along with Dutch, British and Spanish counterparts, conducted a military-to-military engagement with Cameroonian defense forces from in Limbe, Cameroon from 18 to 26 October 2013 as part of Africa Partnership Station (APS) 2013. The Marines will start the exercise from the Royal Netherlands Navy landing platform dock, the HNLMS Rotterdam, and conduct training engagements with their Cameroonian counterparts, the Bataillon Fusiliers Marins (BAFUMAR) and the Bataillon Special Amphibie (BSA), in a broad range of military operations, including combat marksmanship, company assault, and platoon attacks. Cameroon’s participating ground forces will also have the opportunity to conduct basic infantry tactics and military capacity building with the international force of Marines.
In August 2015 Cameroon mobilized about 500 men from its navy to Lake Chad to stop growing threats from the Boko Haram terrorist group. The men were mobilized less than a week after Cameroon announced it was contributing 2,450 troops to the Ndjamena-based multi-national joint forces to fight Boko Haram. Navy chief of staff Rear Admiral Mendoua Jean said Boko Haram fighters may be using Lake Chad and its basin to prepare attacks on states in the region after they were dislodged from their Sambisa Forest hideout in raids by the Nigerian army. He said the troops in the field and those joining them will spare no effort and neglect no details in their mission to crush the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram. Rear Admiral Mendoua Jean said the navy will share information and coordinate intelligence to keep watch over Lake Chad shared by Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad, Benin and Niger, all of them countries that have been suffering from the Boko Haram insurgency. The violence had displaced about 2 million people and killed about 20,000 in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
In March 2016 US Marines and Sailors worked with Cameroon’s Fusiliers Marins (FUMA -Naval Infantry) and Compagnie des Palmeurs de Combat (COPALCO - Combat Divers) to increase their capabilities to combat illicit activity and improve maritime security in Cameroon. At the request of the Cameroonian government and through coordination with the U.S. Embassy in Yaounde, Marines and sailors with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa, are partnering with their military counterparts in infantry tactics in support of their maritime security force capabilities. The small team of Marines were attached to Africa Partnership Station, which is an international security cooperation initiative sponsored by US Africa Command and facilitated by US Naval Forces Africa (NAVAF), aimed at strengthening global maritime partnerships through training and other collaborative activities in order to improve maritime security and safety in Africa.
The Marines and sailors conducted training in combat marksmanship, patrolling, ambush techniques, close-quarters combat, tactical questioning and operations orders. Though the APS mission is to train the Cameroonians to protect their borders and inland waterways, the waterways lead to the Lake Chad Basin, one of the areas where the COPALCO and FUMA work together, an area where Boko Haram was known to operate.
In the humid, lush jungle of Cameroon, 18 Marines with Special Purpose Marine-Air Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa shared tactics and skills with more than 80 soldier’s part of the Forces Fusiliers Marins et Palmeurs de Combat Cameroonian Armed Forces, June 6 – July 8, 2016. The mission supported the preventing of illicit activity in the Central African region, ranging from human trafficking, drugs and weapon trafficking. Marines spent time with partner forces building their skills in weapon safety, fire team formations, patrolling tactics and techniques, and fire and movement drills on a live-fire range.
Elements of the 11th Battalion of the Cameroon armed forces stationed at Campo (Bafumar), supported by the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR Coast) arrested a group of traffickers in the Atlantic Ocean 13 June 2016 with 41 points of ivory. The boat reportedly ran out of gas on the high seas in the Ebondjé area, a few kilometers from Campo. Cameroon Intelligence Report gathered that the ship’s captain, a Nigerian national made an emergency stop to buy fuel in the village. The suspicion generated prompted the Gendarmerie Commander to order an inspection of the boat. The vessel was carrying 42 people of various nationalities. A total of 41 elephant tusks were buried under luggage. The 42 occupants of the boat were taken to the Gendarmerie post for investigation.
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