US-Africa Military Collaboration Still Functions in a Virtual World 

JOHANNESBURG - For 11 years, land forces chiefs in Africa and the U.S. Army have met annually at the African Land Forces Summit, a four-day event where the group discusses security threats on the continent and how these joint forces can tackle the threats together.

Since then, the security landscape has changed significantly, and so have the ways that the militaries have tried to keep up with threats, said Major General Andrew M. Rohling, commander of the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force in Africa. The theme of the first summit, held in Washington in 2010, was “Building and Maintaining Strong Relationships.” This year, the event went virtual and was held in one day, Wednesday, with more than 40 countries represented. “Maintaining Security in a Degraded Environment" was this year’s theme, Rohling told journalists via teleconference from Vicenza, Italy. “We discussed military pandemic responses, the effects of the pandemic on operations and its effects on training and exercises,” he said.