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AfriCom opens its doors

While a year away from being fully operational, the new U.S. command responsible for military relations with most of Africa is officially on the map as of Monday.

Africa Command, or AfriCom, has reached its “initial operating capability” to start functioning as the Defense Department’s newest regionally focused major command, officials say. Its unusual hybrid of military and civilian government know-how will tackle diplomatic initiatives, humanitarian aid and counter-terrorism operations in all of Africa except Egypt, which will remain under the umbrella of U.S. Central Command.

Army Gen. William “Kip” Ward was confirmed by the Senate on Sept. 28 as the first AfriCom commander. But he will have two deputies, one of whom is Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates, a senior State Department official and former ambassador to Ghana who has been named as the deputy to the commander for civil-military activities. Ward’s staff will have significant components drawn from the State Department and the Agency for International Development.

Ward’s military deputy is Navy Vice Adm. Robert Moeller.

Yates and Moeller, according to Ward’s confirmation testimony, are three-star equivalents and equals who will work together but have their own “primary spheres of responsibility.”

AfriCom will become a full-fledged major command on Oct. 1, 2008. Until then, it will operate as a “sub-unified” command under U.S. European Command, which is now responsible for military relations with 53 countries on the African continent. Previously, the job was split between three major commands: EuCom, CentCom and U.S. Pacific Command.

Combining nearly all those responsibilities under one roof, officials say, will improve the U.S. ability to help stop problems before they start in Africa, a region of growing economic and political importance to the U.S.

During the coming year, AfriCom’s 120 military and civilian team members in Stuttgart, Germany, will continue to expand the headquarters staff, refine mission areas and progressively accept more program and activity oversight from EuCom, officials say.

No permanent headquarters structure or location has been finalized.