Africom

Brig. Gen. Michael Snodgrass discusses ongoing USAFE operations on the African continent with his executive officer Capt. Sean Sutherland. As the A5, Brig. Gen. Snodgrass is the Director of Plans, Programs, and Analysis for Headquarters, U.S. Air Forces in Europe at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. USAFE has had an active role in Africa since the 1970’s but is awaiting word from the new US Africa Command transition team to determine its future direction.

Africom

Capt. Christie Barton, clinical nurse, 52nd Medical Group, Spangdahlem AFB, Germany, examines the eyes of a Ghanaian woman for cataracts during MEDFLAG 2006 in Tamale, Ghana on September 12, 2006. A medical humanitarian mission in which more than fifty USAFE and Ghanaian medical personnel provide care for the local citizens.(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Carolyn Erfe)

AFRICOM May Change USAFE’s Role in Africa

Published Feb. 20, 2007
By Master Sgt. Ron Przysucha

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- The U.S. Air Forces in Europe has had an active role in Africa since the 1970's, but future participation has yet to be defined due to the recent establishment of US Africa Command.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced the creation of AFRICOM on February 6th, but how that will affect Airmen assigned to USAFE is up to the new transition team operating in Stuttgart, Germany.

While the future is currently unclear, Airmen in Europe have already made a tangible difference in Africa according to Brig. Gen. Michael Snodgrass, the Director of Plans, Programs, and Analysis for HQ USAFE at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

General Snodgrass said, "from 1970 forward you can count all kinds of engagements we've had with Africa from Bright Star exercises in Egypt all the way through the Atlas series of exercises we've had with some of our friends in the Northern Mediterranean."

In addition to military assistance, USAFE Airmen have also made contributions to the health and welfare of Africans. Countless missions have brought USAFE doctors and dentists to places like Ghana, Niger and Liberia. Even today Explosive Ordinance Disposal technicians from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, and Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, are in Guinea-Bissau in Western Africa clearing landmines and other dangerous remnants of a bloody civil war.

As AFRICOM continues to transition, General Snodgrass believes USAFE's role in Africa will continue to be a very vibrant role and he doesn't think it will diminish because there is so much work left to be done.

"Even if [USAFE's] role in Africa is reduced over time, there's so much work left to be done in Eastern Europe that USAFE will remain...fully employed."