Following six days of testing, refining human interoperability and charting the way ahead, 225 military communicators stood smartly at attention during AFRICA ENDEAVOR 2008 closing ceremonies July 23, 2008 at Nigerian Air Force Base, Abuja.

The communications interoperability exercise, co-sponsored by U.S. European Command and the Nigerian Ministry of Defense, encouraged information exchange and collaboration among 21 African nations, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, Sweden and the United States. The operationally-focused military exercise was directed toward command, control communications and information systems (C3IS) integration and interoperability among the nations.

During the course of the exercise, participating nations and organizations also continued their efforts to develop standard practices and procedures for the African Union and its African Standby Force as well as identifying future technology communication requirements.

The guests of honor included Nigerian General O.A. Azazi, Chief of Defence Staff, The Honorable Robin Renee Sanders, and U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, and U.S. Army General William C. "Kip" Ward, Commander, U.S. Africa Command.

Ambassador Sanders expressed her sincerest thanks to the host nation, Nigeria, and to all the participants who contributed to the overall success of the largest military communications exercise on the African continent. She assured the communicators that AFRICA ENDEAVOR embodies the growing military and civilian cooperation among the nations of Africa.

"The standards and procedures you have established during this exercise will serve as a touchstone for improved, coordinated responses to the myriad security challenges facing Africa," she stressed. "I hope increased communications will serve as the catalyst for developing strategies to prevent conflicts before they escalate, as well as the catalyst to continue to build mutual understanding and respect between the militaries of our nations."

One of the great deliverables from AFRICA ENDEAVOR is building mutual understanding and human interoperability among the militaries who will work together to ensure continued peace and security on the African continent.

"I hope the lesson you learned will assist you in problem solving and greater security on the continent," General Azazi said. "I look for you to build upon the plans you established as we continue to build capacity through peacekeeping and humanitarian operations."

During the ceremony, the two generals personally honored the 23 delegation chiefs by pinning a commemorative AFRICA ENDEAVOR pin on each officer's uniform. The delegation chief is responsible for his country's participation at the exercise. Prior to the closing ceremony, General Ward participated in graduation ceremonies for more than 60 graduates of the Spectrum Management course. Throughout the week, communicators participated in a 20-hour Spectrum Management indoctrination seminar, which trained African telecommunications technicians and communications officers on radio and antenna characteristics to improve their communication reliability. The course included topics such as high frequency propagation theory, antenna theory, and associated communication tactics, techniques and procedures.

Communicators took part in a hands-on demonstration of the spectrum analyzer, a tool used to examine radio frequency signals, enabled participants to see a first-hand depiction of the electromagnetic spectrum. The use of such a tool in the military is paramount to ensuring interference-free connectivity and improving communications among joint military forces.

More than 25 senior military and civilian leaders from the nations were also in attendance for the closing ceremonies. In addition to special presentations, the distinguished leaders visited the nations' tents, viewed testing and gained greater understanding of their nations' accomplishments.

Good communications during joint and multinational operations begin with interoperable equipment, systems and procedures that permit military units not only to speak to but also share information with units from other nations and organizations.

"Together, you made significant progress in integrating shared military communications systems and improving not only the hardware capability but also the importance of military networks on an international level," Sanders said.

Nations and organizations who participated in AE-08 were Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Uganda, the United States and Zambia as well as representatives from ECOWAS and the African Union.