French, U.S. Forces builds urban training complex in Djibouti

Photo By Staff Sgt. Jeff Clements | U.S. National Guard Soldiers assigned to Task Force Red Dragon, Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), and members of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment with the French Forces in Djibouti (FFDJ), participate in the opening of a new “combat village,” or Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT) site, with a small-scale, joint training exercise at the French Base, Djibouti, March 22, 2022. CJTF-HOA, operating from Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, regularly trains with and works alongside allied and partner nations, coalition forces and interagency/intergovernmental organizations to achieve a unified effort in East Africa. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Jeff Clements)  

FRENCH BASE DJIBOUTI , DJIBOUTI

03.28.2022

Story by Spc. Kiersten Breunig 

Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa

Members of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment with the French Forces in Djibouti (FFDJ), U.S. Soldiers with Task Force Red Dragon (TFRD), Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), and engineers with the 712th Engineer Support Company (712 ESC), opened the new “combat village,” or Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT) site, with a small-scale, joint training exercise March 22, 2022.

The site, located at the French Base Djibouti, is designed to integrate combat readiness training in a multi-national environment, especially between CJTF-HOA and FFDJ.

With increased activity in urban areas throughout Africa, it was deemed necessary to develop and provide a more complex training environment to better fit the need for military training in urban terrain.

U.S. and French engineers collaborated to build the combat village which is designed for enhancing urban tactics training for improved mission readiness. The MOUT site consists of tiered buildings, entrances and infrastructures, reflecting obstacles the Soldiers will overcome during real-world operations.

The project took 25 service members working each day for more than a month to complete, and strengthened the U.S. and French engineers' interoperability as they collaborated on the structural design, construction timeline and shared funding responsibilities.

“[Building the MOUT site] was an eye opening experience, specifically working with another country,” said Staff Sgt. Justin Woodall, 712th ESC. “It was great to see so many similarities. There was a little bit of a language barrier, but that happens everywhere we go; improvise, adapt and overcome. We collaborated with the French and made an outstanding training environment.”

Legionnaires (augmentation of French military) demonstrated tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) on urban combat while the U.S. Soldiers observed before integrating the two teams.

The teams then performed a joint training demonstration for French and U.S. leadership, showcasing the capabilities of the training environment. Afterwards, a short ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to mark the official opening of the site.

Woodall added that the future of the compound will enable interoperability between FFDJ and CJTF-HOA, while also allowing more training opportunities for other like-minded partners.

• Date Taken: 03.28.2022
• Date Posted: 03.30.2022 10:32
• Story ID: 417283
• Location: FRENCH BASE DJIBOUTI , DJ