News From USJFCOM: Personnel preparing to take over Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa


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Personnel preparing to take over Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa

Warfighters and civilians who will serve as the headquarters for Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa are training to assume those duties at the Joint Warfighting Center.

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By Jacob Boyer
USJFCOM Public Affairs

(SUFFOLK, Va., - Jan. 9, 2010) -- U.S. Joint Forces Command’s (USJFCOM) joint trainers are preparing warfighters and civilians to assume responsibility for military operations in the Horn of Africa during a mission rehearsal exercise (MRX) here Jan. 9-15.

The Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) MRX 10-1, held at the Joint Warfighting Center (JWFC), will put Navy Rear Adm. Brian L. Losey and his staff through their paces before they deploy to the CJTF-HOA headquarters on Camp Lemonier in Djibouti this spring. Trainers from the JWFC, interagency and coalition partners, and current and former CJTF-HOA staff members are conducting the training.

Approximately 50 members of CJTF-HOA’s staff reported to U.S. 2nd Fleet in Norfolk in October and have been training for the MRX since then, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nicholas Mungas, AFRICOM lead planner in JWFC’s Joint Exercise Division.

“The training culminates with this mission rehearsal exercise that basically prepares them for day-to-day staff operations in theater and gets them familiar with the functions, procedures, and battle rhythm,” he said. “It prepares them for what their day-to-day life is going to be like as a staff on the ground.”

The JWFC prepares warfighters to run combined and joint task force headquarters worldwide, including headquarters staffs in Afghanistan and Iraq. Mungas said preparing a headquarters for operations in the Horn of Africa is different than preparing one going to a combat zone and has its own unique set of challenges. While all headquarters deal with civil affairs and nation building as part of their missions, these are the primary focus areas for CJTF-HOA.

“If you read [U.S. Africa Command’s] mission statement and Gen. [William] Ward’s guidance, they are much more focused on stability operations and building partner nation capacity than combat operations like the units going to Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said. “CJTF-HOA is AFRICOM’s only enduring presence on the continent of Africa.

“[With] AFRICOM as a whole, the mission set is much more interagency focused than a lot of the [combatant commands] are,” Mungas continued. “If you look at the command structure, they have a lot of civilians and interagency personnel. One of the challenges for their mission rehearsal exercise is preparing the predominantly military CJTF-HOA staff to deal with a variety of embassies through the country coordination elements that are their military representation in those embassies.”

Mungas said in addition to civil affairs missions, CJTF-HOA acts as a support base for the U.S. military missions in Africa. The task force hosts military units deployed to the continent for civil affairs missions, training missions with African militaries, and other purposes. It also serves as a host for U.S. government organizations and arranges diplomatic clearances for incoming flights and overflight clearances for other missions.

Once CJTF-HOA completes its training, it will deploy to Djibouti and relieve the staff in place. After a few months on the ground, the JWFC will deploy a team there to conduct a staff visit to receive feedback on the relevance of the training they received based on their operational experience on the ground. This feedback is invaluable for updating and making the training more relevant for subsequent CJTF-HOA MRX.

“We’ll conduct a review with them of how the training worked,” Mungas said. “What was useful? What wasn’t? How can we do it better? That’s our opportunity to influence the next event and improve in all facets.”

Mungas said that by the end of the MRX, the staff should be as prepared as possible for the challenges they will face once they take over.

“The goal of the exercise is we want these guys to experience staff life as close to reality as we can here, so when they’re sitting in their seat in Djibouti, it looks and feels just like their interaction did here,” Mungas said.