U.S. Africa Command hosted personnel from 14 nations for a foreign liaison officers (LNO) conference, January 27-28, 2009, at the command's headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. The liaison officers are assigned to Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa in Djibouti.



"The reason for the conference was to inform the LNOs of the big picture of what U.S. Africa Command is all about," said Colonel Thomas Galvin of the U.S. AFRICOM headquarters staff, who briefed the liaison officers on the command.



The two-day conference covered a variety of topics to include: U.S. Africa Command's mission; supporting security and peacekeeping for the continent of Africa; and common security concerns facing African nations.



The diverse continent of Africa is made up of more than 900 million people living in more than 50 nations.



U.S. Africa command's mission is to support long-term security for African nations and regional organizations. The command is comprised of 1300 personnel, half military and half civilian employees of the U.S. government.



"We build our programs based off the needs of what our African partners tell us, and provide necessary resources to conduct sustained security engagements," Galvin said.



CJTF-Horn of Africa is made up of about 2,000 personnel comprised of members of the U.S. armed forces, civilian employees, and representatives of coalition and partner nations, which include Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Yemen, Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius, and Madagascar.



"We are very glad to have had the Foreign Liaison Officer's here," said Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates, U.S. Africa Command's deputy to the commander for civil-military activities. "Not only did we get a chance to teach them about U.S. Africa command, but we also had a chance to listen to their experience to learn from them, how we can strengthen our relationship with our African Partner nations."