Exercise Shared Accord 2010

Brigadier General Paul W. Brier, commander of U.S. Marine Forces Africa wrote

Recently I had the pleasure of traveling to Mozambique for the first time. The three-day visit provided me with the opportunity to meet with U.S. and Mozambican service members participating in Exercise Shared Accord 2010. As the Commander of U.S. Marine Forces Africa, I was pleased to observe the close and easy interaction between our combined forces as they carried about the business of increasing the Mozambican forces’ capacity for peace and stability operations.

Staff training, live fire, small unit tactical training, and humanitarian/civic assistance projects provided venues for our forces to work together for good.

At the closing ceremony, which included a colorful, exuberant Mozambican cultural display, U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique Leslie Rowe made the following remarks: “This exercise was the next logical step in a solid, long-term, multi-faceted partnership between the U.S. and Mozambican militaries…Today’s ceremony is significant because we recognize that global security requires global cooperation. Before us we see evidence that when we work together, our partnership can bring very concrete benefits to individuals, communities and nations.”

As I reflect on the ways we worked together via interagency cooperation between Marine Forces Africa, U.S. Africa Command, and the U.S. State Department, as well as our international coordination, I firmly believe that we are indeed benefiting the citizens, communities and nations of southern Africa.

Semper Fi.

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