Senior African warrant officers and enlisted personnel met in July 2010 in a historic effort to promote international dialogue focusing on security and policy issues. Sponsored by the African Center for Strategic Studies, the symposium follows U.S. Army Africa's African Land Forces Summit in May.

Sergeants major from 17 nations discussed U.S. policy towards Africa, peace support operations, counternarcotics and counterterrorism operations, health care for troops and civilians, civil-military relations, and maritime security.

Ghanaian Forces Sergeant Major Daniel Adu Yaw said he will return to Ghana hopeful for the NCO corps.

"Commanders need to see the value of NCOs," Adu Yaw said. "We have a good role to play, and we need the support of our colleagues and subordinates."
"We (noncommissioned officers) have not been strategically involved," said Warrant Officer II Rumori Safari of Rwanda. "We need to be more organized with the officer corps."

International concerns were naturally at the forefront of discussion, particularly the link between narcotics trafficking and terrorism. Porous borders, fragile local or neighboring governments, and criminal cartels targeting the region compound any domestic problems a nation might face.

"To stop terrorism, you have to stop the money power," said Lindile Vika, (rank unknown), one of the symposium participants.

Speaking through an interpreter, Sidy Nil Kande (rank unknown) of Senegal expressed concern for his country and its neighbors. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the amount of cocaine seized by authorities in western Africa has increased threefold in the past ten years.

Money's "attractiveness," Sergeant Major Joseph Muindi Kithome of South Africa added, "makes it difficult to combat the business of narcotics trafficking."

For African nations, looking to the United States for a model of military power may be more easily said than done. In the United States., civil law enforcement and military authorities are kept strictly separate, while limited resources in Africa can also limit personnel. With this in mind, U.S. Africa Command, the African Center for Strategic Studies, and each country in attendance at the symposium have a long way to go.

"We've really only scratched the surface," said U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) Command Sergeant Major Mark Ripka. "African challenges are global challenges as well."

In any case, the symposium itself is an achievement and Liberian Reg. Sergeant Major Bamidele Awofeso is optimistic. "We are all here with one voice," he said. "That one voice is partnership."