Africa Maritime Updates

With so much in the news this month, it's been easy to overlook the interesting events occurring in and around the water of today's most dynamic continent.

Somali Piracy remains practically non-existent this year, thanks to the continued presence of armed security detachments on commercial vessels.  While commercial shipping in the Gulf of Aden is relatively safe, hundreds of smaller private sailing vessels and motor yachts remain unable to transit the area because they simply can’t afford armed security.

Two years ago this month, U.S. and NATO forces were pounding away at Libya's armed forces and pretty much totaled Gadhafi's Navy.  Earlier this month, Royal Navy frigate HMS Kent made an unprecedented good will visit to the port of Tripoli.  Other countries such as France and Malta have been helping Libya to rebuild its naval forces, which are critical for patrolling the country's 2,000 kilometer coast line, interdicting smugglers and migrants trying to reach Europe, and securing the export of more than 1.3 million barrels per day of petroleum.

The MEND is at it again.

On the west side of the continent, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) group killed 10 police in a boat and renewed attacks on maritime oil infrastructure.  More troubling though, are reports that MEND, historically a group with secular aims, may be entering the sectarian conflict started by Boko Haram terrorists in the North.  Threatening attacks on Muslims in the Niger Delta, the group's spokesman recently issued a statement: "On behalf of the hapless Christian population in Nigeria, The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta will from Friday, May 31, 2013, embark on a crusade to save Christianity in Nigeria from annihilation." Nigerian security forces are already overwhelmed fighting terrorist in the North (with very heavy handed tactics it must be noted) and a renewed insurgency in the South could threat stability in this important economic anchor for West Africa.

Also in the Gulf of Guinea, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently conducted a rather audacious under-cover operation at sea to detain Guinea-Bissau's former Chief of Naval Operations and drug kingpin Bubo Na Tchuto.  The impact of narcotics proceeds on the ledgers of terror groups in Africa has been overstated by DEA (at least in my opinion), but this operation was worthwhile if only to remove one of the most corrupt officials in West Africa.

 

In Northern Mali, French Forces have begun a gradual withdrawal from fighting al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. AQIM and its associated militant groups made use of the Niger River during the French intervention.  France is hoping for a U.N. force to replace African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA) troops and that force will certainly need some sort of riverine capability to keep the waterways leading up to Timbuktu and Gao clear of extremist activity.

Malian military patrols the Niger River.

 The last update isn’t really maritime-related, but does involve the USN participating on a unique foreign internal defense mission in the Sahara.  Last month, four U.S. naval officers deployed with special operations forces (SOF) from all over the globe to West Africa to train African special operators for counter-terrorism missions in the region.   SEAL LCDR Kaj Larsen explains more here about FLINTLOCK 13.

 

Instability around the continent and the recent attacks on U.S. embassies last September have driven the military to examine various options for both future crisis response and steady state capacity-building operations.  The Army is regionally aligning some forces, with a dedicated Brigade Combat Team to support training missions and be prepared to intervene on the continent should the need arise.  Africa has been described as an "economy of force" operation for DOD and generally the introduction of any element other than culturally-attuned, small footprint forces (read SOF) raises the eyebrows of State Department diplomats.  I find it hard to believe that the Army could get a brigade-sized element - or even pieces of it - nimble enough to deploy rapidly, with a minimal number of "boots on the ground" and adequate logistics train to satisfy these requirements.  Along similar lines, the Marine Corps has instituted a company-sized crisis response element for this mission which leverages the speed and long-range mobility of the MV-22.   Expeditionary crisis-response is in the Marine Corps DNA, but without adequate amphibious shipping, the Corps' unique capabilities can't be exploited.  That said, it will be interesting to see which force the COCOM and Ambassador calls on next time there is a crisis in Africa.

 The opinions and views expressed in this post are those of the author alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense, the US Navy, or any other agency.

West African Piracy Cooperation

This is important news.

Nigeria and Benin will cooperate to fight the growing threat of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, which has seen a number of attacks in recent weeks. Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan made the announcement during bilateral talks with Benin, which were convened to address the issue.

"Criminals don't respect political boundaries in their nefarious activities, so we will cooperate with one another to find lasting solutions to the problems they pose," Jonathan said on Thursday. He was speaking to Benin’s President Boni Yayi during bilateral talks in Abuja, Nigeria. The talks came after Yayi called for a regional summit on the issue of piracy.

Yayi said that pirates and bandits were threatening the maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea and called for action, led by Nigeria, to check the menace.

Jonathan said that the relevant Nigerian officials will work with their counterparts in Benin to find ways to deal with the problem.

On Thursday, Chief of Staff of Benin’s Navy Maxime Ahoyo said that, "Dozens of ships are already fleeing our shores due to fears of these pirates."

The tiny nation has been hit by a series of attacks on ships in its waters in recent weeks, forcing London's maritime insurance market to add Benin to a list of areas deemed high risk.

The recent spike in attacks has not gone unnoticed, for example Lloyd's now lists Benin in the same category of risk as Somalia in terms of piracy. This announcement follows a gathering of naval leaders from both nations on HSV Swift.

Unlike Somalia, this region does have a local maritime security presence. How quickly and effectively the piracy problems can be addressed and dealt with by local authorities is what needs to be followed closely here.

There is one more issue... is there a relationship between increased activity of AQIM and the maritime piracy? So far no links have been established, but there is a great deal of concern regarding AQIM and the narcotics trade, and the coincidence both AQIM and piracy become more active at the same time can't be ignored.

West African Piracy

The Benin pirates are at it again. Since March, 12 tankers have been attacked in West African waters. Previous attacks by these pirates have been more violent than their East Coast brothers, such as those in May of this year and in the fall of 2009, which both killed crewmen. It is no surprise that piracy has escalated West Africa. Successful operations beget imitators.

Unfortunately the local countries involved shouldn't expect much assistance in fighting this growing problem, with the preponderance of Europe's navies heavily involved in countering the Somali pirates and stuck in a protracted maritime embargo against a north African dictator who knows better than to quit. Even for the USN, West Africa presents a challenging presence and logistics problem. We've been able to maintain a presence in the Indian Ocean mostly because the ships deploying for CP ops can be tasked for other CENTCOM and AFRICOM missions. However, other than APS, scheduled naval deployments to the other side of the continent are non-existent. Regrettably, West Africa presents a number of irregular challenges that cannot just be wished away: growing piracy; insurgent groups bent on disrupting the flow of oil; an increasingly militant Islamist movement in northern Nigeria (Boko Haram); and a burgeoning narcotics trade that in part, supports AQIM's broadening reach across North Africa. AFRICOM's naval requirements are growing, and US force structure is not. It's past time to buy ships we can afford in a quantity that can meet current and future demands for maritime security operations and security force assistance.

The opinions and views expressed in this post are those of the author alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Defense or any of its agencies.

Africa Marine Commando on the Rise

The Gulf of Guinea's pirates continue to emulate their East Coast brothers with a recent rash of kidnappings against local officials and Chinese fishermen, but also have engaged in attacks from the sea. Last fall, AMC targeted Cameroon's 200 million barrel oil reserves by attacking offshore oil platforms. This time, they seem to be raising funds with maritime crime, including a major bank robbery using a get-away boat.

Unlike in Somalia, however, Cameroon's security forces have dealt with the pirates ruthlessly, killing 18 of the bank robbers during a high speed boat chase.

AMC is the maritime spin-off of freedom fighters from the Bakassi peninsula, essentially a mangrove swamp full of fish and oil. The area, which was formerly disputed between Nigeria and Cameroon, is yet another example of the arbitrary decisions by Victorian-era British diplomats and cartographers which still impact the world's economy and security.

The USN has conducted episodic engagements in the region with Africa Partnership Stations, but this economically vital and volatile area currently plays second fiddle for naval force allocation compared to other parts of Africa.

The opinions and views expressed in this post are those of the author alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense, the US Navy, or any other agency.

Gulf of Guinea Open Source Insurgency Update

I’m back… And so is MEND, with new systems disruption attacks against Nigeria’s oil infrastructure. These attacks are taking a toll on petroleum production and distribution in the Delta.

Like any innovative organization, insurgent groups and terrorists constantly adapt and emulate success of partners and competitors. The Niger Delta Liberation Force recently blew up pipelines similar to earlier MEND attacks. A splinter pirate group of Cameroon’s Bakassi Freedom Fighters, the Africa Marine Commandos, has blended the tactics of MEND and the Somali pirates, but stepped up the level violence.

If oil prices continue to climb and these attacks grow in scope and effect, it will be interesting to see if the US chooses to facilitate action against these networks. One can only hope any steps taken to mitigate the threat will be more effective than the lackluster counter-piracy campaign on the other side of Africa (successful attacks and the value of ransoms are higher than in previous years despite significant coalition presence). The unabated expansion of criminal-insurgent-terrorist groups who exploit the sea for their ends should not surprise to anyone who has watched Somali pirates run circles around dozens of first world navies with impunity the past couple years.

A recent article by Dr. Donna Nincic of the California Maritime Academy discusses this specific threat to energy security.

The opinions and views expressed in this post are those of the author alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense, the US Navy, or any other agency.

Maritime Insurgents and Global Oil Disruption

While all eyes are focused on the oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico, across the Atlantic, potentially more devastating spills threaten the Nigerian Delta. The MEND has resumed attacks on oil companies and is wreaking its own brand of ecological and economic warfare against the Nigerian government and the world's energy supplies. MEND's guerilla tactics against oil production include a combination of piracy and kidnapping on deepwater rigs, sabotage against coastal pipelines, and direct attacks on facilities. In 2009, 51 oil workers from Shell were kidnapped for ransom, an increase from 11 in 2008.

As can be expected in modern globalized insurgencies, additional groups with diverse motives and tactics have entered the fray against oil production in Nigeria. In the future one might expect the MEND to import additional tactics from other movements, including waterborne IEDs. And by the way, the US imports more oil from Nigeria than Saudi Arabia.

If tasked, would the US Navy be prepared to deal with this sort of problem? Are current force structure, training, and TTPs ready for a maritime-focused insurgency?

The opinions and views expressed in this post are those of the author alone and are presented in his personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Department of Defense or any of its agencies.

Belgium Stepping Up: Joining Africa Partnership Station And Leading Operation Atalanta

BNS Godetia (A960) will leave for Africa on February 8, becoming the second European country after the Netherlands to join the Africa Partnership Station with the sending of a vessel.

That Belgium has become the second country to join APS really surprises me. Belgium has no real maritime tradition and only a really small navy (which isn't even called a navy, but the 'marine component') with the largest vessels being its 2 M-class frigates. So they lack larger vessels that, perhaps, are better suited for such a mission - the Godetia is only a small ship at 2,500t and therefore doesn't have a lot of room for either equipment or foreign 'trainees'.

The symbolism that another European country is stepping up is, however, more important.

But I had really expected one of the Mediterranean countries to be next since their direct interests (the large stream of immigtants) in Africa are much bigger, but maybe they'll follow suit.

Some time ago Belgium has also offered to lead EU NAVFOR operation Atalanta at the end of the year. For this they have asked the Netherlands to 'lend' them a ship, since their M-class frigates are not suitable for this.

I haven't heard any answers as of yet. But although the Netherlands has officially only announced ships for the first half of this year (HNLMS Tromp and HNLMS Johan de Witt), I have already read in an interview with a Dutch Cdr. they want to send 3 vessels this year.

Belgium will send their own BNS Louise Marie along with any Dutch ship.

Smart Power is Global Power

The African Partnership Station quietly represents one of the most interesting activities of US soft power today. I have got to find a way to spend a few weeks on one of these ships.

What makes the African Partnership Station so special? I'm not really sure to be honest, but they must be doing something right because once again, a major European power is sending one of their major naval assets to participate. This time its the Dutch.

The amphibious transport ship HNLMS Johan de Witt will be leaving today from Den Helder to participate in 'Africa Partnership Station' for two months. With this operation the naval vessel will offer a contribution towards the realisation of a stable coastal region in West and Central Africa.

During the tour HNLMS. Johan de Witt will operate in the waters of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and around the Cape Verde islands. Together with these countries they will, amongst others, do hydrographic recordings of ports and do exercises. The vessel also carries, at the request of several non-governmental organizations (NGO), a large quantity of relief goods for the African coastal countries. Furthermore, Americans and Dutch on board will give training to many African sailors.

The article ends by saying:

Africa Partnership Station
The Africa Partnership Station operation is part of the U.S. global maritime strategy for the 21st century. Part of that strategy is to strive for a safe, stable and prosperous West and Central Africa, through good coastal management. This is done by setting up fishery inspections, combating illicit trade in commodities and trafficking. Moreover, the focus will also be on the creation of a good 'Search and Rescue' organization and the protection of drilling platforms and combating environmental pollution.

In order for this to succeed, Africa Partnership Station promotes cooperation between countries and between various maritime authorities and organizations.

The US Navy is clearly doing something right with APS, because the Europeans have bought in. We have seen consistent presence with the French, and it is hard to call HNLMS Johan de Witt (L 801) anything other than a major contribution from the Dutch. With the efforts of the European nations combined with our efforts, all of the activities create sustained presence and increased efficiency for maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. The participating nations in the region benefit by getting training and exposure with different tactics and techniques from the various professional participants.

African Partnership Station is beginning to represent a unique convergence of the two big US Navy strategic concepts of the 21st century: the 1000-ship Navy and Sea Basing, or put another way: a cooperative international global fleet station.

It is interesting to observe what the (East) African Partnership Station is doing, but lets examine the question differently. Have you considered where (East) African Partnership Station is going? What does the Gulf of Guinea look like in 10 years? What does it look like in 20 years? What does this mega cooperation of US and European nations with regional partners in the Gulf of Guinea lead to? I can't say I know yet, but there is clearly a 21st century form of naval diplomacy here many nations find quite attractive.

It may not be self evident, but somehow the naval vessel used for amphibious assault in wartime has become one of the most important soft power tools in the arsenal of major naval powers during peacetime. The flexibility of amphibious ships continues to represent an investment that politicians globally can agree with. This is something the Navy and the Marine Corps needs to get their head around. It is commonly said the LPD-17 is a well designed ship built poorly. To be fair, only the first two ships of the class have the reputation of being built poorly, the rest of the class suffers from being very expensive, although I don't know how we make a 24,000 ton combatant any cheaper without quantity increases (which I recommend for LSD(X)).

I would like to know if the QDR asked the question whether the Navy should built a Global Fleet Station ship, and what the arguments were for and against. When you start thinking about the smaller, inexpensive LPD hull one would want for a GFS ship, it is easy to see how a commercial specification vessel operated by the MSC could coordinate with DHS domestically and State internationally for humanitarian assistance and disaster response. With a range of options including acting as a C4 node following disasters that typically stress communication networks, an offshore medical facility, or a station ship able to support coastal vessels and Coast Guard cutters, such a ship appears to be very flexible and suitable for current requirements. An inexpensive, commercial specification vessel also wouldn't be a bad way for the US shipbuilding industry to get in on the amphibious ship export market, which one would expect to increase as climate change becomes more and more of a global political issue.

The success of the African Partnership Station can now be validated by the 'buy in' of major European powers who see the political value of such soft power operations. In my mind, that is a much larger validation of the strategic concept than taking public opinion polls from the population in areas of activities and attempting to understand the results will ever be.

HT: Gijs!

The Gulf Of Guinea Heating Up

I read this and thought, remember when we thought piracy was a minor problem in the Horn of Africa?

Nigeria's main militant group on Monday threatened to extend its attacks to offshore oil facilities after sabotaging a Chevron-operated oil pumping station in the Niger Delta.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it attacked the Abiteye flow station early on Monday, the fifth militant attack claimed against the U.S. energy company in Delta state in less than a month.

The military confirmed the attack, but said its security forces were able to secure the facility and force the retreat of dozens of suspected militants.
...
The U.S. oil major has already shut down its operations around Delta state after MEND's first pipeline attack on May 24, halting about 100,000 barrels per day of oil output in Africa's biggest oil and gas producer.
...
MEND, responsible for attacks that have cut one fifth of Nigeria's oil production in the last three years, threatened to begin sabotaging oil facilities outside Delta state, including offshore oil fields.

The Gulf of Guinea suffers from being a problem out of sight and mind, but history has taught us these problems can metastasize quickly.

African Partnership Station 2009

I am really looking forward to this, and if I get a chance I would love to find a way to get a PAO on that ship I can email continuously and get updates. This is a powerful strategic pacetime initiative that deserves more attention, because it is a model to continue building leading into the future.

Janes is discussing the upcoming deployment of the USS Nashville (LPD 13) in January 2009 as part of the continuing African Partnership Station.

Nashville will be the second small deck amphibious vessel to join APS following the deployment of USS Fort McHenry in late 2007. However, the mission of the ship will be very different to its predecessor as it will provide advanced training in a select number of countries.

Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon will host the 17,244-ton Austin-class ship, which has onboard training teams available to give lessons in basic seamanship, small boat handling, VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure) techniques, search and rescue, data management and how to run an operations centre.

People have asked on the blog what I think Obama is talking about when he discusses the necessity for a well funded civilian corps on par with our military. I don't subscribe to political paranoia, and while I have no evidence to support my assumption, I think Barack Obama is talking about building on the capabilities best outlined in the Global Fleet Station and other Navy soft power strategic initiatives.

Essentially, I think he is talking about Thomas Barnett's SysAdmin function as outlined in his writings. I got an advanced copy of Dr. Barnett's upcoming book Great Powers: America and the World after Bush over the weekend, and while I haven't read it completely yet when I saw this article in Janes it triggered something I've been reading about in that book.

One of several tenets for crafting Grand Strategy Dr. Barnett discusses in his upcoming book is security. Barnett outlines how Grand-Strategic analysis starts with security, which is always 100% of your problem until it is reasonably achieved, and at that point it becomes at most 10% of your ultimate solution. Without going into detail, it is not difficult to see how that idea has direct application to the Gulf of Guinea. I will let the book come out in final copy before expanding on that thought, but with this deployment to take place around the same time as Barnett's book release in January, don't be surprised if I draw several associations between what we are seeing here and how this soft power approach is part of the larger strategic utility belt in the arsenal of a nations smart policy.

H/T: Axe

Observing The Navy's Global Soft Power Deployments

Captain Bob has brought sexy back to Civil Service Mariners (as the photo highlights) and as the first comment highlights his wife would agree. The blog for the USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) is a really good daily read. Yesterday the Mercy spent her last day in Vietnam and is on its way to Singapore. As we have been observing the deployment of the USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), we have found a tremendous amount of media attention given to Operation Smile in Vietnam. It took us a little while to figure out why, but it turns out Cindy McCain, leveraging some of that celebrity status she has during the presidential campaign, helped promote it. In fact, the Miss Universe contestants also helped promote it. Whoever is responsible for the marketing for the deployment is doing an ace job! Meghan McCain has some very good pictures of the work Operation Smile did there, about half way down on that link. Meghan, next time take a few pictures of the ship!

The ship that will execute the second SOUTHCOM Global Fleet Mission deployment departed Norfolk on Friday. We have previously discussed the creativity taking place under Admiral Stavridis's command. First it was using HSV Swift as a Global Fleet Station platform, then it was using Stiletto for chasing down drug runners, then it was the use of airships for surveillance, and now it deploying a Rescue and Salvage Ship, specifically the USNS Grasp (T-ARS 51), for what is being called Navy Diver-Global Fleet Station 2008. The divers are from the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command's Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group Two. Good luck to Capt. Jose Delfaus, we look forward to news from the Caribbean during this deployment.

The USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) is helping out following the Tsunami destruction in the central Philippines. I've read in some places this is overkill for a Carrier Strike Group, but I think that is a bad read of the situation. Does it require an aircraft carrier? Nope. However, it sends exactly the right signal regionally, that the US Navy will be there when they are needed, in force if necessary and with help when possible. Given the conditions right now in the Pacific, with a massive naval force involved in RIMPAC and North Korea blowing up their nuclear coolers, one wonders where else the strike group should be instead?

Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) is in Singapore in the middle of an 11-day exercise that will focus on anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine warfare and security operations. While we aren't certain, we believe the exercise ends Thursday and these sailors will get the 4th of July off. The exercises includes 13 ships and 1 submarine. US forces for the exercise include the coast guard cutter Morgenthau (WHEC 722), USS Jarrett (FFG 33), USS Tortuga (LSD 46), USS Ford (FFG 54) and USS McCampbell (DDG 85). The USNS Safeguard (T-ARS 50), which had been expected to participate in the exercises, was sent to the Philippines to help with the ferry that overturned and killed several hundred. You can follow the news from CARAT on the Commander Task Force 73 news website, which is frequently updated with news believe it or not.

Finally, there are some discussions and observations that suggest elements of the USS Nassau Expeditionary Strike Group are on their way to the Gulf of Guinea, in fact already in the Atlantic Ocean. Due to press coverage in that region being limited at best, while we believe this is a planned aspect of the Nassau ESG deployment, given recent security concerns regionally one never knows if the mission profile has changed. The Coast Guard cutter Dallas (WHEC 716) is in the region as part of the ongoing U.S. Naval Forces Europe's Africa Partnership Station (APS) initiative. There has been no media coverage of the Dallas since it completed an exercise with the Cape Verde Coast Guard on June 17th. A lot of stuff happened in the region after June 17th.

Talking About the African Partnership Station

I just got off the phone with Captain John B. Nowell, Jr. who led the African Partnership Station engagement that completed last month. It was very interesting. The good people who do the bloggers roundtable will have a transcript up later today.

It was a good discussion. Capt. Nowell gave a detailed summery at the beginning of the conversation describing the US involvement in Africa. In talking to many Americans, most people have very little idea what the US Navy is doing in that part of the world, and usually the stereotype of most people is that the US only brings hostility to the region.

Clearly times have changed.

Earlier this month I called the African Partnership Station the most important Navy story so far in 2008. I believe that remains true. Captain Nowell gave a detailed summery of the operation off Liberia, an evolution few outside this blog probably understand, but that evolution uses sea power for a proactive peacetime purpose in a smarter way than any we can think of since the Great White Fleet, and I don't think that is an exaggeration. It isn't like Navies build a port off the coast of a large city with degraded port facilities to donate enormous quantities of materials very often, in fact it had never been done before. There is an interesting synergy discussion there between NGO and the military in that evolution, indeed, the entire APS.

I didn't get the opportunity to ask what the USS Annapolis (SSN 760) role was, but as Molten Eagle often says, submarines are always silent and strange.

More on the APS to come.

Excellent Article on African Partnership Station

David Axe is to the Navy, Coast Guard, and Air Force what Phillip Carter has become covering the Army and Marines, and since David already lives in Washington, we encourage the Washington Post to offer David a job and complete the circle of military coverage. Between Phillip Carter and David Axe, it would be very difficult for any other news organization to employ two other bloggers who get it strategically and understand it all tactically in regards to all the military services.

David's article today in World Politics Review is an excellent piece on the African Partnership Station, and is the first I've seen outside the military that ties in the strategic vision and the tactical day to day in what the Navy is trying to accomplish with its soft power strategy.

Last week the U.S. Navy amphibious ship Fort McHenry quietly slipped into Naples harbor in Italy, home of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, ending a six-month deployment to the West African coast. The 16,000-ton vessel's mission, though largely unheralded, signaled a sea change in the Navy's strategy.

During its October-to-April cruise, Fort McHenry visited 19 ports in 10 countries, from Liberia to Senegal, supporting scientists, aid workers and military trainers from the U.S. and allied militaries -- and delivering half a million meals to starving families. The Pentagon calls the vessel's mix of training, diplomacy, science and humanitarian assistance the "Africa Partnership Station," and aims to make it a regular affair.

It's all part of Defense Secretary Robert Gates' increasing emphasis on addressing underlying societal ills before they fester into full-blown conflicts. Instead of bombing, shooting and capturing bad guys, "ultimate success or failure will increasingly depend more on shaping the behavior of others -- friends and adversaries, and most importantly, the people in between," Gates said in an April 21 speech in Alabama.

We recommend reading in full. We also note David has the inside information at the end of the article on what to expect for the East African Partnership Station, another unique deployment that you Coast Guard folks might find very interesting.

6th Fleet Focus: African Partnership Station Ends

The Africa Partnership Station to the Gulf of Guinea concluded this week, according to yesterday's press announcement. It has been a long time since the American people can point to a military supported operation in Africa with a lot of pride, but only someone who hates Africa and the people there could conclude the African Partnership Station is a bad idea.

Most Americans have no doubt heard that there is a need for inter service cooperation and inter agency cooperation that factors in the private sector. If you are looking for that model supported from the sea, the Global Fleet Station is it, and the African Partnership Station was the realization of the successful implementation of that model for Africa.

Today's press announcement summarizes some of the data of the deployment, we like this summery best.

Over the course of seven months, APS has visited 19 ports of call in 10 countries and trained over 1500 maritime professionals in skills ranging from small boat handling, port security, and martial arts to non-commissioned officer leadership, damage control, and maritime law.

“We have been working with our partners in many European countries. The French have been down here with a number of ships and we have been working very closely with them,” said Rear Adm. Anthony M. Kurta, U.S. Naval Forces Europe. “The staff of APS has also been very international in nature; we’ve had representatives from Portugal, France, Germany, and England as well as many staff members from our African partners as well.”

Additionally, APS worked with non-governmental organizations such as Project Handclasp, USAID, and Project Hope to bring relief and aid to many people in need. With the help of APS, Project Hope was able to donate five hundred thousand high nutritional meals, twenty-five pallets of medical, hygiene and educational supplies along with hospital beds and medical equipment valued at over one hundred thousand dollars.

Even those very interested in the US Navy probably had no idea France has been involved the whole time, and while they call their deployment to the Gulf of Guinea something else, the FS Tonnerre (L9014) has been down there almost the entire time supporting a similar mission profile as the USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) and HSV-2 Swift. That is a pretty big platform for France to commit to a Global Fleet Station mission. In truth though, they've done that mission with similar platforms to that region in the past, the only difference was this year they increased the scale of their operation to match the US commitment.

There were two major events of the African Partnership Station that will require additional study to further the concept. The first was the humanitarian crisis that broke out in Chad, of which few may realize the African Partnership Station got involved. We'll let the press release tell the story.

”As we started lap two, we had the unrest in Chad where a number of refugees came over the Cameroonian border. The U.S. ambassador in Cameroon and the leadership there were familiar with APS,” said Capt. John Nowell, Commander Africa Partnership Station. “They were familiar with some of the items we had onboard including some high nutrition meals. They were familiar with our flexibility and so they asked if we could accelerate getting Swift there. Then we used the relationships we had with organizations like USAID and Catholic Relief Services as well as local organizations to facilitate getting those products off the ship and to the right place for use in the refugee operation.”

Note, the non government agency partnerships the mission had developed allowed for rapid response with the right product. Very nice. NGOs really do know best, their integration into the proactive humanitarian approaches represents an ideal way in our opinion for the Navy to conduct humanitarian operations as offensive tactic in peacetime. In that way the services don't have to recreate the process, rather enhance the one in place with what the military already does best: logistics.

The other operation was the Sea Basing operation we highlighted extensively. That operation barely got any press coverage, sad. Probably one of the most important focused proactive humanitarian operations in our nations history considering how much humanitarian supply materials was moved, not to mention an important test of Sea Basing, and almost no one in the country heard about it. Without question, and I'll debate this with anyone, the Sea Base operation off Liberia is the most important US Navy story so far in 2008, and that includes the satellite shoot down in the Pacific that everyone wanted to talk about.

It is this moment, after a successful deployment to Africa that many Americans don't really understand, where Admiral Ulrich's retirement is evident. This was the moment he was at his best. There should be a blogger roundtable on this topic on Thursday, not to discuss the topic with people like you and me, rather to educate the political bloggers who claim care about Africa and humanitarian missions regarding what the Navy just did.

Navy and Marines Form First Sea Base off Liberia

The Navy is leveraging an opportunity during the African Partnership Initiative deployment to establish its first Sea Base off Liberia. OK so it is a bit unclear what is being transfered, and it looks to mostly be humanitarian in nature, not exactly heavy military equipment, but it is certainly something we are interested in nonetheless. The news started on Thursday.

Military Sealift Command ships USNS 2nd LT John P. Bobo and USNS LCPL Roy M. Wheat arrived off the coast of Monrovia, Liberia, in the Gulf of Guinea March 20, to participate in a sea-basing and humanitarian aid distribution exercise in conjunction with U.S. Marines and Africa Partnership Station ships USS Fort McHenry and HSV-2 Swift.

Bobo and Wheat are U.S. Navy cargo ships that are part of Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron One, or MPSRON One, one of three squadrons that preposition U.S. military equipment in strategic locations at-sea for rapid delivery ashore in response to military or humanitarian crises.

Pretty straight forward stuff, both Ro/Ros are big ships, so if they are fully loaded with humanitarian supplies Liberia is feeling the blessing of a considerable donation. We are unable to get a feel for the impact this has on Liberia, it is simply impossible to evaluate the impact of the supplies themselves without independent media coverage, which appears absent. However, we are very interested in the Sea Basing process, and the MSC article gives us an idea of what is going on.

Sailors embarked aboard Bobo and Wheat will assemble the MPSRON's Improved Navy Lighterage System, or INLS, which is a roll-on/roll-off discharge platform comprised of barges and ferries that allow ships to off-load cargo at sea and deliver it ashore when traditional harbor facilities are unavailable.

Once the INLS is assembled, cargo from Bobo, Wheat and Fort McHenry, including trucks, equipment and humanitarian aid supplies, will be transferred at sea from Bobo to Swift while the high speed vessel is docked on the discharge platform. Swift will then ferry these supplies to Monrovia where they will be delivered to a number of schools and medical clinics in Liberia.

That is the basic idea, but we get more detailed information from a Marine Corps News article from today.

“This seabasing portion is designed to take future operational concepts and execute them using today’s platforms,” said Michael Harvey, prepositioning officer, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe. “We are taking equipment that was originally designed for ship-to-shore movement and we are using it as a ship-to-ship connecter.”

Assisted by their naval counterparts, the Marines’ mission was to transfer seven Marine Corps vehicles embarked on the USNS 2nd Lt John Bobo of the Maritime Preposition Squadron One, to the Navy’s new Improved Navy Lighterage System. The INLS is a system of floating causeways designed to move equipment from ship-to-shore. After a short ride on the INLS, the Marines drove the vehicles from the INLS platforms directly into the well deck of the USS Fort McHenry, where they are being prepared for the next phases of WATC 08.

“We are dealing with multiple naval platforms during this exercise, tying in with African Partnership Station,” said Lt. Col. Clarence R. Edmonds, Eurasia regional planner, Marine Forces Europe. “[The INLS] gives us the stable platform we need to offload vehicles and equipment from one ship to another at sea.”

The exercise marked the first time that the INLS had been assembled and used in an open sea environment, Edmonds said. The capabilities provided by the INLS make it possible for the Marine Corps to operate in more flexible ways.

“The seabasing environment gives us the opportunity to offload select equipment, materials and supplies to conduct arrival and assembly operations at sea,” Edmonds said. “This gives us multiple capabilities to execute a mission ashore, within a very limited time frame and with a very limited footprint (ashore).”

The successful demonstration of the offload and transfer of equipment to the USS Fort McHenry marks only the first stage of the total WATC 08 mission. When vehicle preparations are complete, the Marines and sailors will load them back on the INLS for transfer to the High Speed Vessel Swift, which will then take the Marines and vehicles into the Port of Monrovia in order to conduct the humanitarian assistance mission.

The article notes the WATC 08 mission will continue through April 5th. Hopefully we will continue to get more photography and descriptions of the Sea Basing process, and maybe some American journalists who pretend to give a shit about Africa can find time in their busy schedule fawning over politicians to inform us what our Navy has been up to down in the Gulf of Guinea. Unlikely.

As the first official Sea Basing operation that best highlights the transshipment ideas of Sea Basing, naturally we are very interested. The promise of this capability in the future could change the way the Navy provides humanitarian assistance in the future, and also potentially change the way amphibious assault is conducted in the future. We have several questions. Which platform carried the INLS to the theater? How long did the transfer of 7 vehicles to the Fort McHenry take? Does anyone know what weight the crane on the Bobo is rated for? What about the INLS, how much weight can it support? Can we get some better details and statistics of the total operation?

We ask because while we are certainly pleased the capability is being evaluated, this looks like it would be slow, and we don't get the impression this scales beyond lightweight vehicles and lightweight supplies that are humanitarian in nature. Example, we wonder if this process would work for sending the supplies and Seabee equipment ashore necessary to build an air strip for C-130s, or even C-17s. I'd like to see how quickly a one of these Ro/Ro ships could transfer an entire MEU to a 3 ship amphibious group. If the Marine Corp can get to that point with existing equipment, we think that would be a major capability.

We know, baby steps, and we agree this is a great first step. There simply isn't enough information to get an idea of whether this is a legitimate capability, or simply a limited capability where we are getting a lot of news for what amounts to be a small demonstration.

What Gates and Bono Have In Common

In From the Cold has an interesting post up regarding the recent visit by Bono to the Pentagon, apparently where Bono had a 20 minute meeting with Secretary of Defense Gates. George Smiley (you have to love the spook nicknames) approaches the development with a healthy mix of skepticism and potential, and if it was anyone but Gates I would almost certain dismiss this as a development without a second thought, but our observation of Gates is 'he is one clever bastard' and we consider him one of the most impressive Presidential appointments in decades. Reuters has the story.

U2 lead singer and activist Bono visited the Pentagon to discuss Africa and the fight against global poverty with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, representatives of the two men said on Wednesday.

Among the topics at the 20-minute meeting on Tuesday afternoon were U.S. plans to set up a new U.S. military command for Africa, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.

"I think this was a chance for two people who care about the problems facing the continent of Africa to talk about their shared interest in solving those problems," Morrell said of the meeting that was not publicized in advance.

A spokeswoman for DATA, the group co-founded by Bono to fight poverty and AIDS in Africa, said the singer had been in Washington to meet members of budget committees in Congress.

One could assume that this perhaps has something to do with AFRICOM, and it indeed may, but if Gates had done his homework and we are almost certain he does, he would have recognized that DATA is about AIDS, and when you are talking about AIDS one of the largest areas where AIDS related non governmental organizations have set up shop is in the nations around the Gulf of Guinea. It just so happens, the Navy is in that theater and AIDS is on the agenda. It's called the African Partnership Station, and it is unlikely Bono knows what he should about its purpose.

Consider this, the same week Gates is meeting with Bono about "issues involving poverty in Africa", the same Bono who sponsors one of the largest high profile AIDS organizations in the world (DATA), the USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) is pulling into Sao Tome and Principe, a nation well known for AIDS issues.

We have discussed the African Partnership Station on this blog many times, but early on we specifically highlighted the desire of an international partnered, joint agency, and non-governmental organization approach, and in our example we specifically cited AIDS in in Sao Tome and Principe. At the time I discussed an observation made by a friend of mine who works in AIDS relief for an NGO in Sao Tome and Principe.

In that area there is a stigma from people regarding others with AIDS, and it leads to people with AIDS not getting treatments because they don't want others to know they have it.

He sees some of the other NGOs demonstrating the same stigma towards the API. While all the NGOs are trying to breakdown the stigma of AIDS, he sees some of the NGOs in hypocrisy because of their stigma over the US military.

The only weakness observed to date with the Global Fleet Station approach, and in particular the African Partnership Initiative is getting the NGOs to get involved. The European NGOs in particular are so skeptical of the US Military based on their perception of credibility issues that they would rather not work with the Americans for no other reason than their personal bias against the military.

If the African Partnership Initiative was able to get DATA involved in the process, and produce positive press regarding the enabling capability the US Navy can offer in their capacity, it could potentially break down the skepticism the Navy is encountering from the European NGOs and truly bridge the gap in creating a joint approach. The Navy desires to be the security enabler for the host nation, but also a logistical enabler for NGO contribution, leveraging civilian rather than military cooperation as a force enabler in connecting to African nations.

Did Gates and Bono discuss the African Partnership Initiative? Of the number of discussions about Africa where Gates and Bono could find common cause, we certainly believe it is one of the more likely topics the two could discuss and both contribute to the 20 minute discussion.

The Deutsche Marine Will Join The API In February

When Adm. Ulrich briefed reporters on some of the details of the African Partnership Initiative back in October, he mentioned that "five European nations already have signed on, and “Spain, Italy, France are all very interested,” he said."

France has arrived, with FS Bougainville (L9077) arriving on station last month. We are learning now that one of the unmentioned nations intending to make a stop as part of the African Partnership Initiative is Germany. Kato has the details over at Rear Echelon.

"EAV" is the German Training Cruise Flotilla, setting out yearly to train new officer cadets. This year - leaving Germany on January 15th - the cruise will go a bit further than usual. The EAV for 2008 consists of the Type 124 frigate FGS Hamburg (F 220), Type 122 frigate FGS Köln (F 211), and the Type 702 AOR FGS Berlin (A 1411).

The tour, this year, will first set out for Accra, Ghana to the Gulf of Guinea - where the African Partnership Station Initiative is active - then go on towards South Africa.

Kato outlines the entire EAV training cruise, including stops in South Africa, India, and Oman among other locations. Excellent details. This is an interesting deployment for a number of reasons, but one of the first things that caught my eye was the deployment of FGS Hamburg (F 220), because it was recently pointed out Germany has had a lot of trouble integrating the new Type 124s with allied battlefield information networks.

Since their commissioning, the three Type 124 AAW frigates have been wrought with one little problem - their FCS software is incompatible. This is the result of ordering the ships from three different yards, and splitting FCS installation along with the contract (something that will not be repeated with Type 125). The incompatibility isn't visible at first - each ship funtions perfectly well, as long as it's on its own. However, the three ships are not able to share battlefield information among each other beyond standard Link-11 datalink messaging. Which effectively means that they cannot form a joint AAW battlespace.

The F124s represent an enormous investment of treasure by Germany for the Deutsche Marine, the most expensive warships afloat for Germany. As their primary air defense warship, integration with allies is a critical requirement of the air defense vessel. Has this problem been resolved? It remains unclear, but this EAV deployment represents the first major overseas deployment of the Type 124 and as Kato points out, it will be very interesting to see how the Hamburg integrates with allied forces once it reaches the 5th Fleet AOR during this cruise.

Regardless of the specific technical issues that have effected the new platforms for the Deutsche Marine, involvement by Germany in the African Partnership Initiative is very positive sign. American involvement in Africa will almost certainly hit skepticism at every turn, in fact it has. The broader the cooperation among multiple nations in the US approach to Africa the easier it will be to gain acceptance in the initiatives offered.

HSV Swift Deploys To African Partnership Initiative

The Navy is deploying HSV Swift to Africa to take part in the African Partnership Initiative.

The high speed vessel, HSV Swift, will depart Friday to join USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) off the west coast of Africa.

Swift will join the Navy's Global Fleet Station (GFS) initiative in an effort to promote maritime security, build relationships with surrounding nations and provide a stronger naval presence.

The ship will deploy from Little Creek Amphibious Base along with the Naval Station Ingleside, Texas-based Blue Crew, who will conduct a turnover with the Little Creek-based Gold Crew Thursday.

We have not seen any good articles on the pilot Global Fleet Station mission to Central America, and continue to look for a good summery. We still find that to be a bit odd, particularly considering the amount of attention that goes into promoting these types of missions before they begin. The hospital ships get the same coverage, a bunch of information up front but very little follow up.

However, we are getting good information on the use of High Speed Vessels. This is a particularly useful list of statistics from the same article.

In October, Swift returned to the United States after a two-year deployment that took the crew on a 100,000 nautical mile trip in which the crew visited over 30 countries and moored in over 100 ports.

HSV Swift is a rental, and the US Navy is getting its moneys worth. This leads to several questions. How cost effective are these high speed platforms compared to conventional platforms? For example, we know it costs more to send a ship like HSV Swift than to send a conventional ship, at least on a per ton basis; however we also would assume the speed is very useful.

For all the attention given HSV Swift, we don't see a lot of attention given in shipbuilding to producing ships like it. The JHSV program is scheduled to begin this year, FY09, but only consists of 8 platforms and it is a joint program with the Army. Given the amount of PR HSV Swift gets, one would think the Navy would want a few dozen of these low cost platforms. Or not.

While we know that these high speed vessels are cheap to produce, I get the impression they must be fairly expensive to operate, because that would explain why the Navy isn't building more of them. In our list of metrics, lift ranks very high, higher than tactical speed, which is why we advocate the CH-53K over the MV-22 as another example. These High Speed Vessels have 'decent' lift, not excellent, but do add speed to that lift capacity which can be important in some situations. It will be interesting to observe the evolution of high speed vessels as they become more numerous within the US Navy's deployment options.

The African Partnership Station Submarine

We heard about the USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) and the HSV Swift supporting the African Partnership Station off west Africa, but now we are learning that the US Navy also has a submarine assigned to this Global Fleet Station.

Africa Partnership Station (APS) gave six Ghanaian military officers from Western Naval Command a tour of three Navy vessels Nov. 30 when they embarked Amphibious Dock Landing Ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), and the Los Angeles class submarine USS Annapolis (SSN 760), the submarine accompanying APS. The group also embarked a Landing Craft Unit Utility from Assault Craft Unit TWO.

The visit was organized as part of APS' visit to Takoradi, Ghana. In keeping with the Chief of Naval Operations' Maritime Strategy for building trust and increasing collaboration among partners, Annapolis was participating in an information sharing event, designed to bolster the maritime domain awareness of APS partner countries in the region.

Annapolis' participation in APS marks the first time a U.S. Navy submarine has been used as a 'partnership platform' to conduct personnel and information exchanges, and is another example of how the international community is collaborating in creative ways with African partners to achieve common goals regarding maritime safety and security, and stability.

This is a strange merge of naval theories between Mike Burleson and I, two guys who look to the future of the Navy with different metrics. Mike has advocate for an all submarine Navy in the past, where if I was going to make a major force structure change, I would build VLS or AGS armed LPD/LSD motherships instead of a Sea Base and DDG-1000.

Global Fleet Stations is said to represent the Maritime Strategy for the 21st century about as well as any new concept the Navy has put out so far in the 21st century. Apparently, as if there is any doubt otherwise, the USS Annapolis (SSN 760) is proving there will be plenty of room for submarines to contribute in the 21st century.

6th Fleet Focus: African Partnership Initiative (API) Indirectly Influences

There are some interesting events taking place in Nigeria, what I would call early returns, but would more accurately be described as indirect side effects of the African Partnership Initiative (API). There has been a lot of build up to this, but in the trends I am watching I am seeing a lot of coincidence in the focus of the US in the region and the efforts coming out of Nigeria in aspects of security.

The Nigerian Navy has so far arrested no fewer than 260 ships and barges allegedly involved in illegal bunkering of the nation's crude products.

Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye, disclosed this in Abuja yesterday at the Nigerian NEWSWORLD Leadership Forum, stressing that the nation's waters is a very complex one.

The naval chief, however, absolved the navy from alleged sharp practices in the nation's seaports, noting that the navy does not control ships in the ports.

"It is the function of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). The navy has been removed from the port since 1988. What we do is random checks," Admiral Adekeye said.

The big change we are seeing in Nigeria is a fight against government corruption. There are some zero tolerance policies that are starting to have an effect within the security infrastructure, which started in the Army but is now trickling into other aspects of the government. Mostly this leads to arrests, but there have been some 'mysterious' deaths of suspected corrupt high ranking officials as well. This is a change originating from somewhere in the background, empowered by something not seen in the media, and in evaluation I think what we might be seeing is the indirect influence of Nigeria's economic partners on the Nigerian governments priorities. Like I said, indirectly it appears the African Partnership Initiative (API) is paving the way for change.

The CNS also endorsed the presence of the United States marines in the Gulf of Guinea, stressing that the US has interest all over the world.

He said that the US marines' presence in the Gulf of Guinea would help combat global terrorism.

Adekeye also said that the US buys much of the nation's crude oil products and needs to protect their ships.

The CNS said that so many of the nation's ships have been reactivated in the past two years.

He said that the fleet renewal is aimed at making Nigeria a naval power.

Besides the refurbishing of the ships, he also hinted that the first set of new fleet of ships would arrive the country in June, next year.

Naval power, new ships, arrests, engagement, and assistance. Nigeria is in the early stages of something new to them, the western economic interests and governments are there, not only in the form of military, police, and Coast Guard, but in "full spectrum" assistance ranging from government to military to non governmental. This is what was missing in Iraq, this is an excellent approach to insure preventing regional tensions in the future, but most importantly it is a mechanism for building trust and breaking down the stigma's of the United States in a region that it is important to the United States. Watching Nigeria the last several weeks is like watching scenario's unfold straight out Thomas P.M. Barnett's books, as it is becoming very clear economic interests are driving policy and action.

This approach requires a lot of patience though, these early signs in the first weeks are noteworthy, but results will be measured in years.