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    Port Elizabeth ceremony kicks off largest ever joint U.S.-South African military exercise

    Shared Accord 2011

    Photo By Cpl. Jad Sleiman | U.S. service members and South African National Defense Force soldiers stand in...... read more read more

    PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA

    07.22.2011

    Story by Cpl. Jad Sleiman 

    Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES)

    PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa - U.S. service members and South African National Defense Force soldiers came together July 22 to mark the opening of Exercise Shared Accord 2011 with a brief ceremony.

    Shared Accord is a bi-lateral military training and civil assistance mission held annually throughout Africa. This year’s evolution represents the first joint U.S.-South African military exercise of significant size held in over a decade and the largest to date.

    “We’re making a bit of history here,” South African Navy Rear Adm. Hanno Teuteberg, commander of Exercise Shared Accord, told the American and South African troops.

    Approximately 700 U.S. service members, composed mainly of members of the Marine Corps Reserve along with a number of Guard and Reserve soldiers, sailors and airmen, have joined more than 1,400 SANDF troops for the event. Over the next week, the forces will engage in live-fire exercises at a training center in Grahamstown and civil assistance programs across the Eastern Cape before the exercise concludes early next month.

    “I look forward to sharing and learning from each other,” U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Sam Strotman, the task force commander, told the formations, adding that both nations “value individual freedom and equality.”

    Scheduled are medical, dental and veterinary service programs as well as the refurbishing of a South African animal shelter.

    “We can show that we don’t just do combat,” said Teuteberg, referring to the humanitarian services. “We also look after our people."

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 07.22.2011
    Date Posted: 07.22.2011 10:49
    Story ID: 74133
    Location: PORT ELIZABETH, ZA

    Web Views: 380
    Downloads: 1

    PUBLIC DOMAIN