MNJTF Force Commander At African Land Forces Summit in Columbus, Georgia USA.

The Force Commander, Multinational Joint Task Force (FC MNJTF) Major General Abdul Khalifah Ibrahim attended the African Land Forces Summit in Columbus Georgia on the invitation of the United States Army from 21 to 25 Mar 22.

The Summit with the theme: “Resilient Institutions Build Resilient Leaders”, had in attendance delegates from over forty (40) mainly African countries and other organizations like the United Nations and the African Union.

Other non African countries that attended include Brazil, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The summit started with opening remarks from Maj Gen Andrew M Rohling, the Commanding General United States Army Southern European Task Force Africa and Ms Chidi Blyden, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for African Affairs.

In their opening remarks, the purpose of the summit was stated which was to bring land force chiefs from across Africa and other partner nations to observe military institutions and discuss how to build leaders that can resolve complex trans-regional threats.

 The summit was also to enable senior military Leaders from across Africa have the opportunity to solidify relationships, exchange information on current topics of mutual interest and encourage cooperation in addressing challenges.

 It was to also allow for discussion on various aspects of Defence leadership including security concerns and partnership building.

The summit included plenary sessions on Overview of the US Army’s approach to training, Training and Doctrine Command, Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) Capabilities brief, and Army Futures Command.

There were breakout sessions where the participants were divided into different discussion groups to share ideas on various topics.

 There were daily visits to Fort Benning (Manouver Centre of Excellence) where participants were shown the training facility and also shown the US Army’s basic training and Airborne training which included helicopter flights for all participants. Participants were treated to demonstrations and saw the Rangers in action.