STUTTGART, Germany - U.S. Africa Command’s engineer division co-hosted an engineer workshop with the U.S. European Command in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany Feb. 22-26.
The workshop brought together stakeholders to address programmatic and emerging problems, exchange information and network. The participants also addressed defined challenges and assigned milestones for resolution.
The workshop kicked off with an orientation of the AFRICOM’s area of operations, priorities and mission, and the command’s governance structure for engineer issues. More than 70 stakeholders participated in the workshop, including engineering representatives from several combatant commands, component commands, The Joint Staff, and supporting agencies, as well as Major General Mark Yenter, the Deputy Commanding General for Military and International Operations, Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In addition to facilitated discussions, the workshop included presentations on various programs including contracting, military construction, environmental security, and exercise related construction. Component engineers and supporting commands also briefed their capabilities, current initiatives, and challenges. These presentations led to breakout sessions and teaming discussions where action plans were developed on how engineers can provide better support to the warfighter.
Based on the evaluation comments received the workshop was a resounding success and an annual event has been requested.
“It was a great opportunity to meet my component counterparts and share best practices,” said Maj. Stephen Cook, U.S. Marine Forces Europe and Africa. “I learned about several assets I had not been leveraging."
The AFRICOM engineer division in concert with component engineers provide coordination and integration for engineer contingency planning, force management, infrastructure construction, environmental and operational energy initiatives, and policy development for all engineering matters. The team continually looks for ways to partner with the broad spectrum of stakeholders to synchronize and optimize logistics in order to achieve AFRICOM’s objectives and enterprise logistical goals.