Retired Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa, Nigeria’s minister of defence, and Mr. Brian J. Ellis, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of war for African affairs, sign a defence cooperation roadmap between the U.S. Department of War and the Nigerian Ministry of Defence at the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser, in Abuja, Nigeria, Jan. 23, 2026. The roadmap was finalized following a two-day U.S.–Nigeria Joint Working Group in which government and military leaders discussed shared security challenges and enhanced military-to-military coordination to counterterrorist threats and prevent atrocities.
Soldiers assigned to the 303rd Cavalry Regiment, Washington Army National Guard, were inducted into the historic Order of the Spur during a gold spur ceremony at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, recognizing their combat service in support of Combined Joint Task Force–Horn of Africa. The ceremony honored cavalry tradition while reinforcing unit pride, professional identity, and morale during the final phase of the deployment.
U.S. service members with the East Africa Response Force (EARF) conducted a flyaway training exercise this week to test their ability to rapidly deploy and integrate with local base defense operations to integrate the EARF into the Security Force security plan and practice real-world defense operations alongside partner forces.
