During the six-month rotational deployment, Seabees from Commander, Task Force (CTF) 68 assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11 and Marines from 8th Engineer Support Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, will work with the ‘Ghanaian engineers. to improve the capacity of the Ghana Navy to conduct maritime training, interdiction and security operations in its territorial waters.
With the support of the Royal Danish Defense Forces, the joint and combined team will also carry out critical construction or repair work at a mobile field facility at the Ghana Navy Training Command (NAVTRAC) in preparation for the NAVAF-led exercise Obangame Express 2023 and the Special US Special. Exercise led by the Africa Command of Operations Flintlock.
A humanitarian civic action project at Nutekpo District Assembly Elementary School will also add three additional classrooms for the local community.
“The relationships and projects these Seabees will be engaged in are the result of many years of coordination and hard work,” said Chief Warrant Officer Chris Vollmer, chief engineer for Navy Expeditionary Combat Forces Africa, Task Force 68-NAVAF. “U.S. Navy and Marine Corps engineers recently completed surveys and projects with the Ghana Navy at NAVTRAC to make this longer deployment possible.”
The Navy-Marine Corps team has a long history of supporting expeditionary and humanitarian missions together. Naval Construction Forces are trained to build and maintain expeditionary and permanent structures while marine engineers are trained primarily in combat engineering.
Skills gained by the combined and combined engineer team include construction planning and management, austere site embarkation, disaster response and vertical construction. It also strengthens small unit tactics, leadership, while improving maritime security capabilities.
“Building readiness, relationships and interoperability are essential to the joint engineer community,” said Maj. Mitchell Spidel, Force Engineer, MARFORAF. “The achievements of our joint engineering team directly support our trilateral maritime security cooperation relationship with Ghana and Denmark.”
As a testament to the strength of US-Ghana bilateral cooperation, Ghana will also be the location of a future permanent rotating detachment of Seabees and Marines that could respond to regional maritime infrastructure projects in the Gulf of Guinea.
“The Ghana Navy is an essential and capable partner in maritime security for the Gulf of Guinea region,” said Cmdr Michael Vallianos, Maritime Program Manager, Security Cooperation Office for the Embassy of the States United of Accra. “They are a professional and capable partner, and we are grateful for their hospitality.”
The United States and Ghana share a proud history of promoting peace and stability in the South Atlantic. Last month, Ghana hosted the Danish and American Maritime Operations Planning Workshop (MOPW), which allowed junior officers from 14 African nations to exchange operational planning experiences and plan real-world exercises. Also, in March, Ghana participated in exercise Obangame Express 2022, the largest annual maritime security exercise in West Africa. These types of exercises strengthen partnerships and allow countries to work more closely on common transnational maritime challenges.
The United States shares a common interest with African partner nations in ensuring safety, security, and freedom of navigation in the waters surrounding the continent, because these waters are critical to Africa’s prosperity and access to world markets.
Combat Logistics Regiment 27 provides command and control, administration, communications, food service and services to the Marine Logistics Group (MLG) and serves as the Logistics Combat Element (LCE) headquarters for the MLG Forward to enable a sustained logistical support to the Expeditionary Marine. Force (MEF). They also provide the LCE for the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) to enable sustained tactical logistics in support of the Marine Air Ground Task Force.
The task of the 8th Engineer Support Battalion organizes forces in general support to the MEF providing mobility, countermobility, survivability, general engineering and explosive ordnance disposal to ensure maneuver and a tempo advantage.
NMCB 11 is homeported in Gulfport, Mississippi, and forward deployed to Rota, Spain, with details and detachments deployed in five combatant commander areas of responsibility to provide an adaptable and scalable Naval Construction Force ready and able to execute quality construction in combat or in support. of civic action, humanitarian assistance, or disaster response.
CTF 68 commands all Naval Expeditionary Forces in the United States European Command and the United States Africa Command and areas of responsibility in direct support of Commander, Naval Forces Europe and Africa, and Commander, Strategies and Plans of Maritime Support of the US Sixth Fleet. .
MARFORAF is responsible for the coordination of Marine Corps operations and exercises, to include civil affairs and, when requested, military support for humanitarian assistance.
For more than 80 years, the United States Naval Forces Europe-U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) has forged strategic relationships with our allies and partners, leveraging a base of shared values to preserve security and stability.
Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates United States naval forces in the United States European Command (USEUCOM) and United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility. The United States Sixth Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF, and employs maritime forces across the full spectrum of naval and joint operations.
