New friends [Image 7 of 8]

THIES, SENEGAL

07.13.2012

Photo by Sgt. Tatum Vayavananda 

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe and Africa     

Lance Cpl. Mane A. Gatti, a Marine from 3rd Battalion 25th Marine Regiment and Buffalo, N.Y., native, is picked up by his newly acquainted Gambian friends to celebrate a hard day of training with song and dance. For the multi-week, multi-lateral event, partners from West African nations trained and lived together in the Mont Rolland training area located Thiés, Senegal. The training ranged from non-lethal weapons tactics to command-post procedures, an intelligence symposium, urban-combat training and a humanitarian civil assistance project that brought medical and dental care to the local population. Exercise Western Accord 2012 is a multi-lateral training exercise with West African nations to increase understanding and interoperability, prevent conflict by enabling Africans to provide for their security and stability, strengthen relationships with partner nations, and promote and support U.S. national security priorities. Participating African nations include Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Gambia, who will be working with U.S. troops in Senegalese training sites until July 24.

• Date Taken: 07.13.2012
• Date Posted: 08.17.2012 06:34
• Photo ID: 646788
• VIRIN: 120713-M-XI134-0934
• Resolution: 3960x2895
• Size: 6.71 MB
• Location: THIES, SN