By Dr. Ray Kirkland, deputy director for programs, Strategy Plans and Programs, U.S. Africa Command
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GABORONE, Botswana, 

Mar 2, 2009 — Dr. Ray Kirkland, director of programs for Strategy Plans and Programs, U.S. Africa Command, addressed an audience of approximately 150 participants from 26 African countries and 18 local and international non-governmental organizations at the Military HIV/AIDS Prevention Conference, March 2-5, 2009 in Gaborone, Botswana.

Speaking on the importance of HIV/AIDS prevention programs in militaries, Kirkland said that unchecked spread of HIV can degrade a nation's military capability to defend. ". Not only does HIV/AIDS impact operational effectiveness in the field, but its effects continue long after service members return from deployments, and extend well beyond the confines of the military into their home communities."

Following is a full transcript of Kirkland's remarks:

On behalf of General Ward, commander, United States Africa Command, who could not be here today due to prior commitments, I want to thank the U.S. Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP) and the Botswana Defence Force for co-hosting this very important conference.

This is my second visit to Botswana but my first official visit in southern Africa representing the Commander, U.S. Africa Command. Having an extensive professional background in health and development, including helping to design and implement HIV/AIDS programs in Africa -- where I have worked for 13 years -- I am especially pleased to be able to discuss a topic of utmost importance for US Africa Command, for the continent of Africa and for African militaries -- that of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

Let me make one point right up front as it pertains to most of my remarks. HIV/AIDS is not simply a health problem with social and economic implications. It also is a national security concern. The U.S. recognized this about a decade ago, and this recognition has helped to lead to the tremendous resources the U.S. has and is continuing to provide to fight this epidemic. Still, we cannot take future support for granted. Strong political will and leadership remain essential to ensure that the needed steps are taken to prevent infection and to treat military forces and their family members, as well as the general population, from now and into the future.

Before discussing this topic, however, let me say a little about the new U.S. Africa Command.

As most of you already know, the Command was officially "stood up" as a Geographic Unified Command on October 1, 2008. Previous to this, three different commands oversaw U.S. military programs in Africa, resulting in far less focus and attention than this important continent deserved. Besides pulling all of these programs into one command, U.S. Africa Command's primary emphasis is on conducting programs of "persistent security engagement" that increase the security capacity of our African partners. We also hope this will contribute to African leaders' stated intentions of bolstering and promoting legitimate and professional security institutions on the continent that have the will and means to dissuade, deter and defeat transnational threats both from within and across national borders, and whose militaries and governments are increasingly prepared to participate in and support international peace efforts.

This is a very different approach for a U.S. geographic command, but one we feel will be mutually beneficial over the long term. Nevertheless, we are still a very young command and one that, as General Ward constantly stresses, must continue to evolve through listening and learning from the kinds of discussions we will have this week.

The means by which U.S. Africa Command will attempt to achieve these goals is quite straightforward. We will conduct military activities requested by our partners that help build their security capacity and the types of professional institutions that they want. We will also support the efforts of others in both development and stability operations. We will work with our U.S. embassies, with Africa's regional economic communities, and with African national governments to support their own capacity building efforts. Our Africa Command points of contact on the continent are the chiefs of our Offices of Security Cooperation and the Defense Attaches working in our U.S. Embassies. In all cases, however, these officers work under the guidance of our U.S. ambassadors. Let me emphasize that these U.S. Defense representatives are here to work with their African counterparts, with U.S. Africa Command and with the U.S. embassies where they serve to determine how best to support the needs of their host nations' militaries.

U.S. Africa Command already conducts a wide range of activities on the continent, including joint military exercises and training, military-to-military events, providing funds to assist in purchasing equipment, small-scale activities to provide simple infrastructure to needy civilian populations, and medical and veterinary outreach among others. Recently, in order to maximize the impact of our very limited assistance, we have begun focusing to a greater extent than in the past on the supporting roles that African militaries can play in the event of natural disasters or health pandemics and on environmental security issues. It also is our intent to ensure that everything we do in a partner nation is supportive of, or integrated with, the efforts of all other U.S. government agencies and other organizations working to build capacity which can contribute to long term stability.

The single largest, and therefore one of our most important security cooperation programs, is our Partner Military HIV/AIDS Program (PMHAP), overseen by the Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program Office and funded by the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief and from the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

I imagine I do not have to stress to this audience that the Department of Defense's HIV/AIDS program is about "defense," as the unchecked spread of HIV can seriously degrade a nation's military capability to defend. Militaries are no stranger to infectious diseases. Over the centuries, bubonic plague, influenza, typhus, malaria and many other diseases have ravaged armies in the field. In recent years, much progress has been made to reduce the incidence and tactical effects of these traditional killers. HIV/AIDS, however, continues to present us with new and far greater challenges. Not only does HIV/AIDS impact operational effectiveness in the field, but its effects continue long after service members return from deployments, and extend well beyond the confines of the military into their home communities.

I mentioned earlier that the command's goal is to help foster stability on the continent. I also stated that the U.S. sees HIV/AIDS as a clear threat to our own national security. It is not yet clear that this degree of concern is shared by all of our African partners. If a country's military forces are hollowed out by this killer disease, it becomes much harder to protect and defend one's homeland and borders against foreign enemies and to serve as a bulwark for maintaining security and stability in the region. More broadly, of course, by adversely affecting the current and future productivity of the general population, HIV/AIDS leads to diminished economic growth and potentially to a less stable sociopolitical environment.

So how does having an Africa Command make a difference for our HIV/AIDS program? I have already mentioned that it should allow us to focus our efforts much more strategically with African militaries both bilaterally and regionally. Over time, this should lead to greater program effectiveness and reduced costs associated with treatment and long-term care. As a unified command, we also feel we are now in a better position to support higher level efforts to convince both defense and civilian leadership in Africa that HIV prevention must be a priority for Africa's Defense Forces.

African leaders and the African Union have committed themselves to providing and increasing the numbers of African peacekeeping troops throughout the continent as a means of enhancing regional stability. We recognize, however, that high HIV/AIDS prevalence among military members can jeopardize deployment missions as well as lead to the spread of the disease in the host nations. Africa Command will therefore continue to work closely with its African partners to develop and implement strong policies and programs for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and will increase its efforts to share best practices and approaches to enhance the effectiveness of these programs on the continent.

In closing, I want to emphasize again that lowering HIV/AIDS infection rates is not simply a factor of resources -- it also takes high level political will and commitment. U.S. Africa Command remains committed to supporting all efforts to help acquire increased resources to assist our African partners with their HIV/AIDS programs, and we stand ready to help our partners in any way we can to make the case to their decision makers and leaders that increasing investments in prevention and care programs for their militaries - out of their own national budgets -- will be funds well spent. While our Department of Defense HIV/AIDS programs in Africa already reach hundreds of thousands of military members and their families each year it still is not enough, especially if we are ever to achieve the ultimate goal of having sustainable, comprehensive prevention, care and treatment programs available for the militaries of our African partner nations.

Thank you.

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