U.S. Africa Command's Operations and Logistics-Engineering team welcomed the commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the command headquarters in Stuttgart, September 14, 2010.

During his day-long visit to the command, Lieutenant General Robert L. Van Antwerp met with U.S. AFRICOM senior leaders and personnel on the engineering team to discuss ways U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) can expand support for U.S. AFRICOM's theater engagements.

"There is a large expected growth in the Corps of Engineer's role on the African continent," said Van Antwerp. "USACE has been actively involved in supporting AFRICOM since its inception in 2007 and is prepared to leverage our world-class workforce and diverse expertise to support AFRICOM now and in the future."

According to Van Antwerp, support includes military train-and -equip missions as part of Operation Enduring Freedom Trans-Sahara, as well as a number of security and humanitarian assistance projects.

Water security is of particular interest to the engineers, as water scarcity and over abundance of water in areas of Africa have the potential to impact the continent's future stability and security. The population of Africa is projected to double to 2 billion by 2050, which will increase the demand and put stress on water resources, especially combined with the potential effects of climate change.

"Africa's water issues are so diverse and widespread, we want to make sure that the solutions developed are focused on the right issues and address the inter-related nature of water issues," Van Antwerp explained. "They must also enable African countries to sustain themselves and contribute to capacity-building."

In addition to the briefing, Van Antwerp met with General William E. Ward, commander of U.S. Africa Command, and Major General Kenneth Glueck, director of Operations and Logistics.

See related article: Minority Engineering Interns Meet with General Ward