EXCLUSIVE: Ghana hosts US for biggest military exercise

Ghana will take part in the “African Lion” military exercise of 2022 - the biggest military exercise in the African continent.

Aside from Ghana, “African Lion 2022” will execute in four other countries namely Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia.

African Lion is U.S. Africa Command’s premier annual exercise, involving more than 7,500 service members.

The exercise which was launched in the Moroccan city of Agadir on Monday, will run until June 30, 2022.

The “African Lion” features a joint task force command post-exercise, a combined arms live-fire exercise, a maritime exercise, an air exercise including bomber aircraft, a joint forcible entry with paratroopers into a field training exercise, a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear response exercise and a humanitarian civic assistance program event.

Over 7,500 troops from 10 nations including Brazil, Chad, France and the United Kingdom (UK) have mobilized to participate in the exercise.  Also participating are NATO military observers and 15 “partner countries”, including Israel, who are joining for the first time.

The exercise bolsters interoperability among partner nations and supports U.S. military strategic readiness to respond to crises and contingencies in Africa and around the world.

The exercise involves collaboration between all participating countries to ensure proper COVID-19 mitigation. Southern European Task Force, Africa, will establish the exercise’s combined joint task force headquarters, integrating AFRICOM components and international partners to solve a complex, trans-regional crisis.

U.S. participants come from all service components, including the Reserves and National Guard. This effort involves strengthening our shared defense capabilities to counter transnational threats and violent extremist organizations, which is for the common good of the U.S. and African partner nations.

Source: Ghanaguardian.com