Training For Contingents
The United States has provided extensive training for contingents headed for Somalia. In the first half of 2012, Force Recon Marines from Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force 12 (SPMAGTF-12) trained soldiers from the Uganda People's Defense Force. In the northern spring of 2012, Marines from SPMAGTF-12 also trained Burundian soldiers. In April and May, members of Task Force Raptor, 3rd Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment of the Texas Army National Guard, took part in a separate training mission with the BNDF in Mudubugu, Burundi. SPMAGTF-12 has also sent its trainers to Djibouti, another nation involved in the Somali mission, to work with an army unit there.
At the same time, U.S. troops have assisted in training the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces in preparation for their deployment to Somalia later this year. In June 2012, U.S. Army Africa commander Major General David R. Hogg spoke encouragingly of the future of Sierra Leone's forces in conjunction with Kenya. As of June 2012, the RSLAF troops have not yet deployed; the Sierra Leonean defence minister said on June 23, 2012, that the battalion might depart for the Horn 'some time in September .'
In addition, a significant amount of support to AMISOM has been provided by private military contractors. "Bancroft Global Development, headquartered on Washington's Embassy Row, employs about 40 South African and European trainers who work with Ugandan and Burundian troops. Bancroft director Michael Stock told The East African last week that these mentors are embedded with AMISOM units in Mogadishu and southern and central Somalia. They coach commanders on ..how to predict and defeat the tactics which foreign fighters bring from outside East Africa and teach to al-Shabaab." Bancroft "does not receive funding directly from the US government but is instead paid by AMISOM, which is then reimbursed by the State Department for these outlays. The Associated Press reports that Bancroft has been paid $12.5 million for its work in Somalia since 2008."
A security analyst in Somalia listed three primary private security companies/private military companies operating in Mogadishu. Dyncorp, who provide logistical support in the Somali capital; Bancroft International, who provide training to TFG and AMISOM personnel, as well as assisting with community service delivery; and Pacific Architects & Engineers.
Read more about this topic: African Union Mission To Somalia
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