By Army Staff Sgt. Kulani Lakanaria U.S. Africa Command
Exercise Flintlock 2018 opened yesterday with a ceremony here.
Niger is hosting this year's Flintlock exercise, an annual regional event among African, allied and U.S. counterterrorism forces. There are key outstations at Burkina Faso and Senegal.
Exercises like Flintlock enhance regional coordination and address common security challenges.
Supporting Regional Cooperation, Security
“This ceremony marks the beginning of Exercise Flintlock 2018. It's a fantastic opportunity for all African and all western partner nations to support regional cooperation, security and interoperability,” said Capt. Neal an Army Special Forces “A” team commander in 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
During the next two weeks, he said, Flintlock exercise participants “will work tirelessly, to conduct rigorous training, to build capacities and capabilities with one common goal: to promote peace, prosperity and security on the African continent.”
Shared tactics and regional cooperation learned during the exercise can be effectively put into use in the multinational fight against violent extremist organizations such as Boko Haram, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
“This is an honor for me to…
