Ugandan troops back from AMANI AFRICA II Training
Nov 13, 2015
Uganda’s army contingent to the AMANI AFRICA II Field Training exercise that concluded in South Africa on Sunday, returned home last night.
By Cecilia Okoth, Ajar Adamz and Agencies
Uganda’s army contingent to the AMANI AFRICA II Field Training exercise that concluded in South Africa on Sunday, returned home last night.
Maj.Gen Wilson Mbadi , the Joint Chief of Staff of the UPDF (Uganda People’s Defence Forces) welcomed 108 of them back. They travelled to Entebbe together with the Rwanda troops.
Soldiers from 22 African nations had exercises as part of the African Union's African Standby Force (ASF) at the South Africa National Defence Force's Lohatla training area. AMANIAFRICA II was the first ever field Exercise undertaken by the African Union Commission at continental level .
Ugandan troops back home at Entebbe. They were received by Maj.Gen Wilson Mbadi , the Joint Chief of Staff of the UPDF. Photos by Cecilia Okoth, Ajar Adamz and AU. Photo/Hajara Nalwadda
Ugandan troops on arrival at Entebbe. Photos/Hajara Nalwadda
Backed by tanks, armoured vehicles and financial support of the EU, thousands of African soldiers took on an imaginary enemy in the arid heart of South Africa on Sunday, the last joint exercises before a homegrown continental strike force goes live.
Standing on far-away hilltops, commanders peered through night vision goggles and issued orders through helmet-mounted radios to the 5,400 troops simulating a dawn assault on rebels in the fictitious city of Kalasi marked out in the bush.
The orderly manoeuvres and high-tech kit elicited purrs of approval from military chiefs who tout the rapid-reaction battalion - a key part of a long-awaited African Standby Force - as the antidote to insurrections spiralling into civil war or even genocide.
There was a remarkable display of solidarity among the standby brigades that constitute the African Standby Force (ASF).
Zuma watched as African troops showed their capabilities on Sunday. Photos by AU and agencies
Presiding over the Closing Ceremony, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa stressed that the exercise was a turning point in Africa’s collective quest for peace and security.
“Today is a historic day in the quest for peace and security in Africa. It demonstrates the positive relationships between African military, police and civilians and, more importantly, the collaboration between the respective home countries of these forces. Today marks an important step towards improved relations between the African regional blocks and the African Union at continental level,” said President Zuma.
Speaking at the same function, the African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security, Ambassador Smail Chergui, thanked the host nation, South Africa, and the regional standby brigades for availing their capacities and resources for the Exercise. “Over 6,000 military, police and civilian officers from across all five standby brigades participated in the Exercise at both the strategic headquarters, in Addis Ababa, and here in South Africa,” he added.
In his remarks, the Chair of the Southern African Development Community Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, Mozambique’s Defence Minister Atanásio M'tumuke, said the Exercise would go a long way towards enhancing the understanding and practice of multidimensional and multinational peace support operation and improving interoperability among the regional brigades of the ASF.
The closing ceremony witnessed a spectacular array of demonstrations, including a march out parade, displays by police and civilian components, a simulated air strike and artillery bombardment, as well as a simulated attack by the ASF and parachute jumps.
The ASF successfully tested its Rapid Deployment Capability (RDC) as a start up operation and its capacity to transition into a full multidimensional peace support operation. The Exercise further tested the ASF’s level of readiness for Full Operational Capability (FOC) based on the African Union training doctrine and objectives.
This first ever AUC Field Exercise at continental level was designed to address gaps identified during the AMANI AFRICA Command Post-Exercise (CPX), conducted in October 2010 in Addis Ababa.
The Southern African Development Community, the East Africa Standby Force, North Africa Regional Command, Economic Community of West African States, and the volunteering nations of the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises had all participated in the exercise, which was the first of its kind.
The Amani Africa II field training exercise is seen as the final step in operationalisation of the AU African Standby Force (ASF) and its rapid deployment capability. It was originally scheduled to be held in Lesotho last October but political events in the landlocked country saw it moved 12 months on to the SA Army’ Combat Training Centre (CTC) at Lohathla in the Northern Cape.