SETAF-AF Command Team visits Ghana

Photo By Lt. Col. Michael Weisman | Major General Todd Wasmund, commander of the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa reviews Ghanaian soldiers from the 48th Engineer Regiment’s honor guard Dec. 6, 2022 during a visit to Accra, Ghana. Wasmund and the SETAF-AF command team visited Ghana to discuss mutual land forces cooperation.  

ACCRA, GHANA

12.06.2022

Story by Lt. Col. Michael Weisman 

U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

(ACCRA, Ghana) – The commanding general and command sergeant major of the U.S. Army’s Southern European Task Force – Africa kicked off a visit to West Africa Dec. 5-6 here.

During the visit, Maj. Gen. Todd Wasmund and Command Sgt. Maj. Teakell met with Ghana Armed Forces Chief of Army Staff Maj. Gen. Thomas Oppong-Peprah and his staff to discuss the security situation in West Africa, build on existing cooperation activities, and set conditions for Ghana to host a portion of the African Lion exercise again in 2023.

“Maj. Gen. Oppong-Peprah invited us to visit Ghana during the Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington, DC in September,” said Wasmund. “This trip was an excellent opportunity to deepen relationships between our armies. Ghana is a regional security leader and it is evident why after getting to spend time with our friends at the Ghana Armed Forces.”

Wasmund and Oppong-Peprah received briefings from the Ghanaian Army Staff on the Accra Initiative—a regional security compact in West Africa—and the status of planning for Ghana’s participation in the upcoming African Lion 23 exercise, which includes field training facilitated by SETAF-AF and the 7th Army Training Command.

African Lion is U.S. Africa Command’s largest and premier combined, joint exercise. Last year’s Africa Lion took place across North and West Africa in Ghana, Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia with over 7,500 participants from 28 nations. African Lion 2023 will be the second year that Ghana has hosted part of the exercise.

While in Accra, SETAF-AF and the Ghana Armed Forces also discussed the ongoing partnership with advisors from the U.S. Army’s 2nd Security Forces Assistance Brigade. Over the past year, SFAB teams have advised on topics such as noncommissioned officer development, peacekeeping operations, patrolling and preparation for African Lion 23. Wasmund and Teakell met with team members to discuss emerging requests for the SFAB.

“The SFAB provides a highly flexible capability that can adapt to our partner’s needs,” said Teakell. “There’s a constant conversation between Ghana and the SFAB to adjust training support. The subject-matter experts from the SFAB can adapt in real-time and if needed, reach back to wider Army resources to tailor training to what the host nation needs.”

2nd SFAB trains conventional force Soldiers to deploy and serve as military advisors in upwards of 15 countries across Africa.

The Ghana Armed Forces consistently rank in the top 10 of troop-contributing countries to international peacekeeping operations. Ghana has provided over 80 battalion-sized contributions in places overall the world such as Lebanon, Cambodia, and African nations.

U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa provides U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Army Europe & Africa a dedicated headquarters to synchronize Army activities in Africa and scalable crisis response options in Africa and Europe.

For more information on U.S. Army activities in Africa, go to www.setaf-africa.army.mil.

• Date Taken: 12.06.2022
• Date Posted: 12.21.2022 05:18
• Story ID: 435598
• Location: ACCRA, GH