A thunderous explosion and the roar of soldiers in battle shatters the calm of the Kenyan savannah, but it’s not a Hollywood movie set: it’s the biggest US military exercise in East Africa.
Facing a hill in the arid county of Isiolo, at the very geographic center of Kenya, stands a camp surrounded by barbed wire that seems to rival the thorns of the surrounding acacia trees.
The perimeter is home to two long rows of military green tents aligned to the millimeter and separated by a path of reddish earth, in an area of savannah with undergrowth where animals such as lions or hyenas have been sighted.
A small Maasai handicraft shop – the kind that tourists come across on game drives – has been cheerfully set up at the entrance, but a sign warns of restricted access to the compound.
It is the base camp of “Justified Accord 2023” (JA23) (“Justified Agreement 2023”), the most important military maneuvers of the American military command in Africa (AFRICOM) in East Africa, the zone in which they are deployed “More than two thousand American soldiers”, specifies the American captain Joe Legros to GLM.
The exercise, which runs from February 13 to 23, involves more than twenty countries from four continents and promotes cooperation with African nations in the region in peacekeeping and counterterrorism missions, response to crises and humanitarian aid.
Isiolo, the epicenter of the exercise (which includes activities in Uganda, Djibouti and Somalia), hosts some 600 soldiers – out of the nearly 1,000 participating in JA23 – including 300 Americans; as well as Kenyans, Rwandans, Djiboutians and Ugandans.
“The overall goal is to train together and develop interoperability between our forces. If we ever have to work together, let it not be the first time we interact,” said Lt. Col. Eladio Medrano, the Dominican-American officer in charge of operations.
A vision shared by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Mukasa Kyolaba, head of the Ugandan contingent. “Different forces, with different doctrines, but working together. That’s very important,” Mukasa told GLM.
Maneuvers include battlefield first aid, platoon drills, detection of improvised explosives, vehicle search, patrols, and counter-terrorism tactics.
“The Kenyan Defense Forces have been actively involved in counter-terrorism operations along the border with Somalia. Their forces have a lot of experience. They have been of great help to us. are facing,” said Medrano. in reference to the fight against the Somali jihadist group Al Shabab.
Musaka believes that this “multinational exercise” helps to deal with dangers such as “suicide bombings” in Somalia, where Uganda is fighting Al Shabab as part of the African Union mission, and adds a “block ” to the wall of “regional stability”.
SHOOT TO “BE LETHAL”
Near the camp, a fictional town stands on rugged terrain with degraded shipping containers simulating buildings.
Kenyan and Djiboutian soldiers armed with American-made M4 carbine-style automatic assault rifles fire blanks and search, corridor by corridor, the supposed buildings in pursuit of an imaginary enemy.
“I like the energy I saw. You take this training seriously,” says an American instructor, to which the sweaty African troops respond in chorus with a resounding “Yes, sir!”
“A fraction of a second is the difference between life and death”, warns an American officer, while another advises them to “shoot with determination” because it is not a question of “making noise ” but to “be mortal”.
A few miles away on a mound, a pile of green bags becomes a bunker that wants to storm a small unit of American infantry between deafening bursts of shrapnel.
“They are going to throw a grenade,” alerted EFE Steve Domingos, ex-soldier in charge of the security of this maneuver.
A few seconds later, a “boom!” rumbles in the middle of a cloud of dust. “It was a real grenade,” says Domingos.
Some Kenyan soldiers are integrated with their American colleagues in these squads. “It’s fantastic. I’m learning a lot,” one of them, Lieutenant Steven Wainaina, told GLM.
In its seven-year history, Justified Accord introduces in this edition, for the first time, cyber defense courses from the US Army, which created a command of cyber soldiers in 2010.
“We want all our allies to be ready to respond to cyberattacks,” Captain Legros told GLM.
The exercise comes as the navies of South Africa, China and Russia conduct joint exercises in South African waters, coinciding with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which falls on the 24th FEBRUARY.
“We usually do this exercise in February. It’s a pure coincidence” that it happens shortly before the anniversary of the war, assures Legros to EFE, adding that JA23 does not pretend to be a “show of force”.