Burkina Faso's Minister of Defense Yero Boly met with senior leaders of U.S. Africa Command, September 30, 2010, to identify areas of cooperation between Burkina Faso and the United States.

Walking through a formation of honor guard and rifle cordon, Boly arrived at the command headquarters where he was welcomed by General William E. Ward, U.S. AFRICOM commander.

During briefings and office calls with senior leaders including Ward and U.S. AFRICOM's civilian deputy Ambassador Anthony J. Holmes, Boly learned more about U.S. AFRICOM's current and planned military-to-military activities in Burkina Faso, such as a special operations forces exercise called Exercise Flintlock which took place in May 2010 in Ouagadougou.

Exercise Flintlock is one example of how Burkina Faso and U.S. Africa Command are cooperating in mutually-reinforcing training exercises and operations areas to meet common objectives. The three-week exercise, led by U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, is designed to build relationships and develop capacity among security forces throughout the Trans-Saharan region of Africa.

The bilateral cooperation between Burkina Faso and U.S. Africa Command dates back to August 2008 when a bilateral military agreement went into effect allowing the exchange of logistic support, supplies, and services between the two nations. The Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement is designed to simplify the exchange process and provide more flexibility for the militaries to work collaboratively during training and exercises.

Following Boly's visit to U.S. Africa Command, he will continue to the headquarters of U.S. Air Forces Africa in Ramstein, Germany to meet with senior leaders and tour the facilities.