5 Things You Need to Know About Obangame Express 2017

Obangame Express 2017 provides African, European, South American and U.S. partner maritime forces the opportunity to work together, share information and refine tactics, techniques and procedures in order to assist Gulf of Guinea maritime nations with building capacity to monitor and enforce their territorial waters and exclusive economic zones.

By U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs , U.S. Africa Command Mar 20, 2017

View Gallery

Gallery contains 1 image

Obangame Express puts maritime security in the hands of nations to whom it matters most. Here are five things you need to know:

1. Exercise Obangame Express is sponsored by U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and designed to improve regional cooperation, maritime domain awareness (MDA), information-sharing practices, and tactical interdiction expertise to enhance the collective capabilities of Gulf of Guinea and West African nations to counter sea-based illicit activity.

2. Participating nations include Angola, Benin, Belgium, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Canada, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, Togo, Turkey, the United States, and the United Kingdom, as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

3. Obangame Express locations are throughout the Gulf of Guinea and in multiple areas at sea and ashore. At-sea operations will be conducted throughout the Gulf of Guinea. The largest footprint ashore will be in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire. Numerous MOCs will be participating from ashore across the Gulf of Guinea and West Africa along with several international organization MOCs. An Opening Ceremony will be held in Accra, Ghana, and a Closing Ceremony will be held in Abidjan.

4. Obangame Express is scheduled to take place March 20-31 and encompasses an in-port Command Post Exercise and an underway Field Training Exercise in the Gulf of Guinea.

5. Obangame Express’ purpose is to create realistic scenarios that mirror past piracy incidents whereby a hijacked vessel will transit from one territory to another. Maritime Operations Centers (MOCs) during the exercise will be challenged to recognize these illicit acts appropriately and share with other MOCs. Additionally, the exercise tests each individual maritime force to patrol their economic exclusion zones and detect and prosecute illegal activity, accordingly.

Follow along with hashtag #Obangame.

Join the conversation on Twitter at @USNavyAfrica, or follow us on Facebook.

International exercise Obangame Express 2023 set to begin

The United States takes a stand against illegal fishing

AFRICOM’s Gen. Townsend meets African leaders at exercise African Lion

Obangame Express 2021: women in arms lead the way

Medical experts conduct virtual pandemic preparation, response event during Obangame Express

Obangame Express

Army lawyers provide training on rules for armed conflict at exercise Justified Accord

NAIROBI, Kenya – Among the flurry of tactical live fires and squad movement drills, air ground integration and even the humanitarian initiatives at exercise Justified Accord 2025 (JA25), lies the one thing those who serve in any armed force must follow: The Law. The Law of Armed Conflict, or LOAC, is a key aspect of training for any military. JA25’s academics course aimed at learning from the international legal lessons of previous wars in an effort to reduce the amount of human suffering in future conflicts. “The soldier’s rules are a broad set of rules that we have pulled from the large breadth of international law,” said U.S. Army Maj. Tim Olliges, an operational law attorney assigned to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), the lead U.S. Army command and planner of JA25. “The LOAC is extensive and can be complex, so we pull out the ten most critical concepts that every soldier, right down to the private, should know before they go into combat.”

US, Kenya prepare for the unimaginable CBRN threat

NAIROBI, Kenya – Imagine two scenarios. Scenario 1: Dawn breaks over the capital of Kenya. A U.S. diplomat leaves his residence for the embassy. After a 20-minute ride, his car arrives at the gate and he enters. He sits in his office to begin the day when, all of a sudden, he hears an explosion through the open window. It seems far off; it is not a large explosion. He thinks maybe it was just a car accident, but minutes later he smells something bitter in the air. His eyes water, sirens blare and a U.S. Marine Corps security detail enters his office wearing gas masks. They put a mask on him and tell him they must evacuate immediately because a deadly chemical is blowing over the compound. Scenario 2: U.S. intelligence receives credible information that radiological material is being loaded onto a ship in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. Time is short and no one knows which ship, only that it will embark soon, possibly bound for the hands of violent extremists or other state actors looking to imperil the U.S. homeland. There is no time to send U.S. security forces to intercept the package. Instead, the Kenyan Disaster Response Battalion (DRB) mobilizes and arrives at the port. Using tactics and tools gained from years of training with the United States, they find the ship and the weapon, placed there by a violent extremist organization, and prevent its departure, defeating the threat to America and its citizens. Similar scenarios have happened before in other areas of the world.

36th Annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference and First Chaplain Africa Forum held in Brussels

The U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and Belgian Ministry of Defence, in partnership with U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and U.S. Indo Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Chaplain Directorates, hosted the world’s largest annual meeting of senior military religious leaders at the 36th Annual NATO & Partner International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference (IMCCC) in Brussels, Belgium, January 27-31, 2025.

Army lawyers provide training on rules for armed conflict at exercise Justified Accord

US, Kenya prepare for the unimaginable CBRN threat

36th Annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference and First Chaplain Africa Forum held in Brussels

Army lawyers provide training on rules for armed conflict at exercise Justified Accord

US, Kenya prepare for the unimaginable CBRN threat

36th Annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference and First Chaplain Africa Forum held in Brussels

United States Africa Command

5 Things You Need to Know About Obangame Express 2017

5 Things You Need to Know About Obangame Express 2017