August 4, 2015

For Immediate Release

LUSAKA, Zambia - The U.S. Army, in partnership with the Zambian Defense Force, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other partner nations will conduct Southern Accord 2015, a command post and field training exercise, in Zambia, Aug. 3-14.

Southern Accord 2015 is an exercise that brings together military members of the United States and SADC to increase capability to support regional peace support operations. The command post exercise and field training exercise increase capabilities to combat terrorism in the region and transnational threats. U.S., Zambian and SADC forces will conduct real-world training in support of the current UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.

Approximately 850 military personnel from participating nations will take part in the exercise. The exercise will consist of one week of academic works and training, and one week of a combined command post and field training exercise.

The end goal of Southern Accord 2015 is to increase interoperability between the United States and Southern African countries and to build capacity, while also cementing the partnerships built from previous Southern Accord exercises. Once the exercise is complete, all exercise participants will return to their home countries and stations.