By Jaime L. Wood
U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs  Print     Share  

BAMAKO, Mali — U.S. Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward (left), Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure and U.S. Ambassador to Mali Terence McCulley share a moment at the presidential palace here February 26. The three leaders met while Ward was in the capital city to attend a seminar, sponsored by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, for members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). (Department of Defense photo by Jaime L. Wood, U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs)

STUTTGART, Germany, 

Feb 29, 2008 — U.S. Army Gen. William E. "Kip" Ward, commander for U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), visited Bamako, Mali, February 25-27.

The trip was Ward's first to the country's capital city, where he met with Malian officials including President Amadou Toumani Toure to review the bilateral military relations between the U.S. and Mali, and to explain the overall mission of AFRICOM.

During the visit, the general also was a guest speaker at a seminar, sponsored by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), for members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The seminar focused on the training needs of ECOWAS member states in the area of peace support operations.

"This trip allows us all to build working relationships, trust and confidence between AFRICOM and partners -- it's important to create and foster personal connections," Gen. Ward said. "I want to personally thank the country of Mali for their work in regional peace and security. Our common goal is to enhance the capacity of Africans to care for their stability so that development can take place and Africans can prosper."

In addition, Ward toured the Bamako Peace Keeping School and the Military Intelligence Basic Officer's Course - Africa. The course, which is the first of its kind for the region, is an example of partner nation capacity building under the State Department's Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Program and the Defense Department's Operation Enduring Freedom Trans-Sahara (OEF-TS) and included students from seven of nine OEF-TS nations. While U.S. European Command remains responsible for U.S.-funded military activity within the Trans-Sahara region until October this year, the visit gave the general a chance to witness military enhancement training AFRICOM will ultimately be responsible for when the command is fully operational.

"Preventing conflict is really what we see as the ultimate purpose of our programs and activities," Gen. Ward said. "We will continue existing capacity building efforts and look for opportunities to engage with African militaries to enhance regional security, assuring friends and deterring the enemies of peace."

AFRICOM, a regional headquarters currently forming in Stuttgart, Germany, is intended to provide African nations and regional organizations like ECOWAS an integrated U.S. Defense Department entry point to coordinate U.S. security assistance programs and activities. In the past, three different U.S. regional headquarters provided security assistance in Africa.

The Africa Center for Strategic Studies is funded by the U.S. Defense Department. It supports the development of U.S. strategic policy towards Africa by providing high quality, relevant academic programs, fostering awareness of and dialogue on U.S. strategic priorities and African security issues. The center also focuses on building networks of African, American, European and international military and civilian leaders, assisting U.S. policymakers in formulating effective African policy, and articulating African perspectives to U.S. policymakers.