US
Africa Command theater entry requirements pertain to all DoD
military, civilian, and contractor personnel travelling in any capacity into
and within the US Africa Command Area of
Responsibility.
All DoD and DoD-sponsored travel in the U.S.
Africa Command Area of Responsibility requires Theater Clearance approval from
the Commander, U.S. Africa Command prior to travel. The security situation in
Africa can be very fluid. Travelers must track current events and should not
"fire and forget" after submitting APACS. If the situation deteriorates, clearance can be revoked.
Theater Clearance requests will be completed via
the Aircraft and Personnel Automated Clearance System (APACS). APACS allows
simultaneous processing of Country, Theater, and Special Area clearances. NIPR
APACS is the default submission mode unless
travel is classified or involves VIPs.
Unless traveling as part of a joint unit or
under the Force Protection Responsibility of the Embassy, travelers normally fall
under AFRICOM CDR FP responsibility exercised by the Service Component Command
Africa to which they belong, i.e.,. USARAF, NAVAF, AFAF, MARFORAF, SOCAF,
CJTF-HOA.
AFRICOM CDR requires Chain of Command review and
approval of all DOD travel to the AFRICOM AOR, whether official or
leave, and regardless of who holds FP Responsibility once in country.
The Review and Approval Statement from the
SENDING unit�s Chain of Command affirms to the AFRICOM CDR that the traveler is
prepared and briefed for medical, criminal, environmental and behavioral
threats. CDR AFRICOM never sees the
travelers or their preparations; he relies on the Chain of Command to conduct
this review and grants approval partially on that basis.
NOTE:
There are serious criminality and health
risks for which travelers must prepare prior to travel and which are not
reflected by the FPCON (terrorism) level.
Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP) Level 1
training within one (1) year of travel.
(Located on NIPR at:
https://atlevel1.dtic.mil/at)
Level A SERE training in support of the Code of Conduct (CoC" or Service Equivalent (initial or continuation
training) within 36 months prior to
entering the US Africa Command AOR.
SERE 100.1
computer-based training satisfies the level A
requirement. (This training can be found on Joint
Knowledge Online (JKO) page http://jko.jfcom.mil, course number "J3T A-US022".)
Electronic Digital Isolated Personnel Report
(ISOPREP) submitted via the SIPR based Personnel Recovery Mission Software
(PRMS) or Army Knowledge On-Line (AKO) "PRO-File" tool. Submitted or reviewed within one (1)
year of travel to ensure currency of information and familiarity with content.
Written Force Protection Plan (see
Formats below) for travelers under CDR AFRICOM and Service
Component Africa Force Protection Responsibility (enter FP Plan date in APACS)
Personnel
Recovery Plan (see Formats below) submitted
to your Component Personnel Recovery Control Center.
Purpose:
Personnel Recovery preparation is required to prepare for a situation when a
traveler needs to be located after they become isolated, whether through
accident (e.g., vehicle breaks down en route to a location), political turmoil
(e.g., riot) or criminal/terrorist action (e.g., kidnapping). Travelers should
prepare for self sustainment for 96 hours in case of isolation. All DoD
travelers need a communication capability to alert PR personnel to isolation, a
procedural check-in plan and emergency supplies/first aid kit/survival
gear.
Medical preparation for travel IAW travel checklist - current on vaccinations,
malaria meds if required, personal medications and first aid kit on hand. Africa Command Manual (ACM) 4200.03
Force Health Protection Procedures
for Deployment and Travel (See regulation
with focus on the Appendix B Extract in References
section below)
NOTE: Requirements for official and leave travel
are essentially identical. The threats do not differentiate who is on
which kind of travel either. MANDATORY
STATEMENTS in the Theater Required Information box on the Itinerary Tab of
APACS apply to both OFFICIAL and LEAVE
travelers. ALL travelers should
review FCG Section III.C. Content of Personnel Request for tab by tab instructions on
AFRICOM required content.
Downloadable Guides
AFRICOM Theater Entry Summary Guide - Downloadable Adobe PDF - (Training links, AT/FP, PR and Force
Health Protection, Contact info and APACS help)
Personnel Recovery - Example PR Plan
- Fillable Adobe PDF with 2d page example
Force Protection
Plan Info (Adobe PDF - copy and paste into a document so you can
edit with information)
NOTE:
Personnel under CDR AFRICOM FP Responsibility exercised by the Commander of one
of the Component Commands of Africa Command should follow FP Plan instructions
from the Component. This includes all
active duty LEAVE travelers (see FCG @ Section III.A.5. for Africa Component Command
instructions and contact information).
Plans
are not forwarded to AFRICOM or attached to the APACS,
they are maintained at the unit or submitted to the Service
Component Command for Africa. Your
statements within the Theater Required Info box on the APACS itinerary tab are
what Theater Clearance approvers review.
ACI 3200.11
Individual and Small Group Travel Instruction (Adobe PDF)
ACM
4200.03 (chg 2, 20 Sep 2011) Force Health Protection Procedures for
Deployment and Travel, Enclosure B
Extract (includes medical readiness
details, medical waiver process, prescription specifics among other information).
US AFRICOM Theater
Clearance Contact Information
Phone:
DSN: (314) 421-2866 /
9926 / 3789
COM from CONUS: 011-49-711- 729-2866 / 9926 / 3789
NOTE FOR DOD CIVILIAN
TRAVELERS:
MEDICAL EVACUATION NOTE: Federal civilian employees (including retired military)
on official travel within the US Africa Command (USAFRICOM) area of
responsibility (AOR) are not systemically covered by any form of guaranteed
medical evacuation plan in the event of a medical emergency. USAFRICOM is
currently working with USTRANSCOM to establish systematic medical evacuation coverage
for federal civilian employees, but until a standing AOR-wide contract is in
place there are risks for civilian personnel traveling without personal medical
evacuation coverage. Even in the event of an emergency, commercial medical
evacuation providers may require a guarantee of payment up front before moving
medical evacuation assets. Without medical evacuation coverage, employees could
incur significant (potentially $80,000+) initial out of pocket expenses without
a readily available mechanism for DoD to guarantee the expense.
(1) There is no formal USAFRICOM
policy requiring federal civilian employees to obtain medical evacuation
insurance coverage while traveling on official business within the AOR, and
reimbursement is not an authorized expense should they purchase coverage on
their own.
(2) If a DoD civilian employee
does not have personal medical evacuation coverage for countries of their
official travel, they should consider personally purchasing a temporary medical
evacuation policy at their own expense. Current guidance from DFAS is that
travel insurance expense is not reimbursable.
(3) Other federal government
civilian employees and contractors should check with their respective
agency/employer with regard to policies on medical evacuation coverage and
reimbursement.
(4) Unless the underlying cause
of the injury was due to willful misconduct, DoD civilian employees on official
orders that incur an illness or injury requiring medical evacuation are
entitled to DoD assistance for a medical evacuation, including reimbursement
for out of pocket expenses in most cases (after the initial expense for the
medical evacuation).
(5) This information will be
updated as it becomes available
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