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Registration opens for Africa Command symposium

  • Published
  • By Scott Knuteson
  • Air University Public Affairs
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFNS) --  Registration is open for the Air Force's U.S. Africa Command Symposium scheduled to be held March 31 through April 2 at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

The policy-focused event will ponder the Air Force's contribution to AFRICOM and engage participants in the creation of a set of proposals for the sponsors, which includes Air University, AFRICOM and the 17th Air Force, which is the Air Force component of AFRICOM.

AFRICOM is one of six Defense Department regional military headquarters and is collocated with U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. AFRICOM officials have administrative responsibility to militarily support U.S. government policy in Africa, including military-to-military relationships with 53 African nations, according to the command's Web site.

A goal of the upcoming symposium is to gather attendees from more than just the military world, so as to broaden the focus beyond the operations of a military command.

"Attendees' participation will help in the development of AFRICOM and Air Force policies and programs dealing with Africa," said Dr. Stephen Burgess, one of the symposium's track leaders and associate professor for the Department of International Security at Air University's Air War College.

Dr. Burgess will be leading a workshop track dubbed "Air domain safety and security in Africa," one of four tracks available. The others include: "Utilizing capability while building partnership capacity," "Strengthening relationships and building a security cooperation (phase zero) gameplan," and "Future look: Sustainable security through development and conflict minimization."

The command, which transitioned out from under U.S. European Command in October 2008, is still in the early stages of "synchronizing hundreds of activities inherited from three regional commands that previously coordinated U.S. military relations in Africa," according to its Web site.

However, in contrast to traditional regional, unified commands, AFRICOM will focus on war prevention rather than warfighting.

"It is, at its heart, a different kind of command with a different orientation; one that we hope and expect will institutionalize a lasting security relationship with Africa, a vast region of growing importance in the globe," Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said during the October 2008 activation ceremony. "The focus is on the three Ds: defense, diplomacy and development."

"On the defense side, AFRICOM's mission is not to wage war, but to prevent it -- not to show United States military presence, but to enhance the security forces of our partners," the secretary said.

To learn more about the symposium, visit www.au.af.mil/awc/africom.