Image taken by Douglas Parker shows a A Ghanaian soldier greeting his U.S. counterpart from the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, during a field training exercise for the United Accord exercise at the Bundase Training Camp in Ghana, July 16, 2018 (Source: U.S. DoD)
Brig. Gen. Eugene J. LeBoeuf of the United States has described Ghana as a major power in the West African region, citing the country’s solid military and economic backgrounds.
Both Ghana and the U.S. engaged their European allies, U.S. Army Africa and participants from other African countries, in a military exercise which kicked off on 16 July at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center.
The military drills tagged United Accord 2018 is hosted by the Ghanaian armed forces and U.S. Army Africa. Activities at the event consist of four combined, joint components (a command post exercise, field training exercise, jungle warfare school and medical readiness training exercise), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) explained.
Speaking from experience at the event in Ghana, Brig. Gen. LeBoeuf, who holds position as the Acting Commander (U.S. Army Africa), expressed thanked the organizers and hosts for what he described as a “wonderful experience.”
His words: ‘I am grateful to our Ghanaian counterparts for their kindness, respect, quality and commitment during the 2-week exercise.
‘After such a world-class performance,’ Brig. Gen. LeBoeuf continued, ‘We look forward to conducting this mission and returning home to share the lessons learned and new knowledge with our home station.’
More than 800 military personnel are participating in UA18.
According to the DoD, this 2-week programme includes “a command post exercise, company field training exercise focused on peacekeeping operations, a medical readiness exercise and Ghanaian-led jungle warfare school training”.
Image: Brig. Gen. Eugene J. LeBoeuf
The major segment is the command post exercise which is designed to increase the planning capacity of UN’s Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali. Another motive is to improve the organization’s ability to deploy, sustain and redeploy a combined joint task force that supports peacekeeping operations mandated by the UN and African Union (AU).
Other objectives of UA18 is to promote interoperability between U.S. and partner forces and organizations, advance troop contributing countries capacity to support MINUSMA and similar operations and increase exercise participants’ abilities to execute MINUSMA sector headquarter tasks, while enhancing positive multilateral relationships.
‘Ghana is a defense and economic leader in the region and a valued partner,’ LeBoeuf said. ‘It is because of these strengths that Ghana is an ideal host for an exercise like United Accord.’
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