Visit to 17th AF highlights progress

Vicki Huddleston, the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for African Affairs, visited 17th Air Force Feb. 24 to get a first-hand look at the air component’s programs and objectives in support of U.S. Africa Command.

A career diplomat with the Department of State, including service as U.S. Ambassador to Mali and Madagascar, Ms. Huddleston said she’s enjoying the focus that comes with her duties at the Department of Defense.

With 53 countries in Africa to manage, Department of State operates in more of a “crisis-driven” mode, she said.

“On the defense side, it’s considerably more focused. You’ll have defense coming to assist in a crisis, but you’re not trying to manage that crisis all the time,” she said.
As a supporting component of larger policy, defense is able to “really concentrate on the security element,” Ms. Huddleston said, noting that the Defense Department’s focus is on building the capacity of African militaries so they can better deal with the threats they face and provide citizens with a stable environment where they can have democracy and development.

During her visit to 17th AF, Ms. Huddleston met with senior staff directors to discuss component programs and initiatives and toured the headquarters facility to meet with some of the Airmen whose efforts are supporting U.S.
government objectives on the continent.

“I’m so impressed. You’ve gone from zero to almost 300 (personnel) in the space of a year and a half and everyone is so dynamic. It’s nice to feel that energy,” she said.

As a new Combatant Command, personnel and resources at U.S. Africa Command and its components are constrained much like they are at Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development, she noted.

“That gives the men and women who are associated with the command in Africa a great challenge and great opportunity to prove how innovative they are and to think outside the box,” she said.

As she toured 17th AF, the ambassador saw the concept put into action as various directorates showed off benchmark projects. Col. Cathy Chin, director of manpower and personnel, highlighted an initiative that will solicit a pool of volunteers from across the Air Force to support Theater Security Cooperation events for 17th AF.

“Since 17th AF has no assigned forces, we must use the Request for Forces process for everything. However, that process was not designed for Theater Security Cooperation events, which for us is typically an eight to 10 day TDY on the continent. It does not allow members with experience or interest in Africa to volunteer and requires a minimum of 120-day lead time,” Colonel Chin explained to the ambassador. “We’ve developed a creative solution that we will use in conjunction with the RFF process. It will be managed through our portal page and a community of practice that will allow Air Force members to volunteer to become involved with the 17th Air Force mission.

“Once members have been accepted to the community of practice, they can apply for passports, get appropriate immunizations and will receive advanced Africa cultural training for these military exchanges,” she said. “Enrollment in this community of practice will also allow 17th Air Force to track Africa experience and special skills throughout a member’s career, which meets our goal of sustained, persistent engagement.” 

Billed from the beginning as a “different” kind of Combatant Command, U.S. Africa Command by design incorporated interagency partners such as Department of State and USAID. While this new integrated culture was a bit slow in taking root, Ms. Huddleston said she’s seen great strides in the involvement of these agencies over the past year.

“Initially we thought, ‘How is this going to work,’” she said. However, over the past eight months, “State Department has made a bigger commitment to put more people into Africa Command. I see a much closer relationship now and a much more cooperative relationship now between the State Department, Africa Command and (the Office of the Secretary of Defense).”

Ms. Huddleston also noted receptiveness on the part of defense in nesting military objectives under the over arching diplomatic guidance.

“I commend Africa Command on reaching out and trying to understand what is the new policy of the administration. I was very impressed with Maj. Gen. (Ronald) Ladnier’s putting up here (on the slide presentation) a list of Assistant Secretary (of State Johnnie) Carson’s priorities for Africa and mentioning President (Barack) Obama’s priorities in Africa and really looking at ways to build this partnership between State and Defense,” she said. “We are all on the same theme now and that will make us all more successful in Africa.”

The potential of robust interagency cooperation has application across the two departments, as evidenced by U.S. European Command’s creation of a civilian deputy of mission similar to that of U.S. Africa Command.

“I think you’re going to see it become, if not a designated, formal position, but I think you’ll increasingly see closer cooperation. We’re already seeing more State Department political advisers with all of the commands,” Ms. Huddleston said.
The ambassador said she also hopes to see cooperation grow between military professionals in the civil-military affairs field and non-governmental organizations, both of which are striving to improve quality of life for people in Africa.

“We’ve been working to come up with a concept where we can use DOD as the anchor in an area that is a little more isolated or a little more risky… where NGOs can maybe funnel in for six months or even two weeks and assist a hospital so that we get some of these wonderful civilian skills that the NGOs have to offer into those places that are harder to reach.”

Lacking an over arching coordinating mechanism, Ms. Huddleston says initial efforts in this area would likely be on a case-by-case basis and coordinated by the host nation country team.

“It will be dependent on the type of project we’re doing, as well as the country and the country team,” she said. “The important thing is that we reach out not only to our own NGOs, but internationally – to NGOs from other countries or even multi-national NGOs.”