Africa Partnership Station
Encyclopedia
Africa Partnership Station (or APS) is an international initiative developed by United States Naval Forces Europe
-Africa, which works cooperatively with U.S. and international partners to improve maritime safety and security in Africa
as part of US Africa Command's Security Cooperation program.
Africa Partnership Station, or APS, is a strategic program designed to build the skills, expertise and professionalism of African militaries, coast guards and mariners. APS is not limited to one ship or platform nor is it delivered only at certain times. The program is delivered in many forms including ship visits, aircraft visits, training teams, and Seabee
construction projects throughout most of the year. APS is part of a long-term commitment on the part of all participating nations and organizations from Africa, the United States, Europe
, and South America
.
APS activities consist of joint exercises, port visits, hands-on practical courses, professional training and community outreach with the coastal nations of Africa. The focus is on building maritime capacity of the nations and increasing the level of cooperation between them to improve maritime safety and security. The goal is to improve the ability of the nations involved to extend the rule of law within their territorial waters
and exclusive economic zone
s and better combat illegal fishing, human smuggling, drug trafficking, oil theft and piracy
. APS also works to increase maritime safety by teaching skills that enhance a nation's ability to respond to mariners in distress.
The first APS deployment was from November 2007 to April 2008. Countries visited included Senegal
, Togo
, Ghana
, São Tomé and Príncipe
, Cameroon
, Liberia
, Gabon
, and Equatorial Guinea
and included USS Fort McHenry and HSV Swift, with an international staff embarked in Fort McHenry. The time in between major deployments was covered by mobile training team visits, maritime patrol aircraft exercises and port visits by individual naval vessels.
During the summer and fall of 2008 two ships began what was at the time called a LEDET, or Law Enforcement Detachment. These ships were US Coast Guard Cutter Dallas (USCGC Dallas
) and USS Leyte Gulf. These missions were designed to bring African law enforcement officials onboard US ships, in concert with Coast Guard personnel, in order to conduct the first real-time operations, building upon the many skills and capabilities acquired on previous training visits.
USS Nashville was the second large amphibious ship to deploy to Africa under Africa Partnership Station; it deployed from February 2009 to May 2009. The USS Nashville
was the largest ship to perform the APS mission in 2009. APS Nashville visited Senegal, Ghana, Gabon, Cameroon
, and Nigeria
, spending one to two weeks in each port. APS Nashville's embarked staff had a larger international flavor with military members from Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Gabon, Italy, Portugal, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, Togo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Malta and Brazil.
In February 2009 APS expanded to South and East Africa when the USS Robert G. Bradley visited Mozambique
, Tanzania
and Kenya
.
Over the summer of 2009 (after USS Nashville completed her APS mission) other ships continued the initiative. USS Arleigh Burke visited East Africa, bringing APS once again to the East coast of Africa and expanding the range of cooperative training. At the same time HSV Swift and the US Coast Guard Cutter Legare (USCGC Legare) continued the APS mission in West and Central Africa. While APS Swift conducted a series of training, humanitarian and outreach missions in the west, Legare led and participated in the first African Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership or AMLEP (the name used to replace the LEDETs mentioned above). While on the mission with members of the Sierra Leone Maritime Wing APS Legare made a significant impact when the joint mission boarded a Taiwanese vessel illegally fishing with thousands of dollars of fish.
In the Fall of 2009 the first APS mission led by a non-US country commenced when the Dutch Rotterdam class amphibious transport dock Johan De Witt conducted the mission with US, Portuguese and Belgian Sailors and Marines embarked as training teams, and with Seabees and other subject matter experts. The ship conducted port visits to Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ghana.
In winter and spring of 2010 APS again made banner deployments. This time USS Gunston Hall
visited West and Central Africa and a 2-ship flotilla will visit East Africa at virtually the same time. The East Africa mission will include USS Nicholas
and HSV Swift.
United States Naval Forces Europe
United States Naval Forces Europe is the United States Navy component of the United States European Command and provides forces for United States African Command....
-Africa, which works cooperatively with U.S. and international partners to improve maritime safety and security in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
as part of US Africa Command's Security Cooperation program.
Africa Partnership Station, or APS, is a strategic program designed to build the skills, expertise and professionalism of African militaries, coast guards and mariners. APS is not limited to one ship or platform nor is it delivered only at certain times. The program is delivered in many forms including ship visits, aircraft visits, training teams, and Seabee
Seabee
Seabees are members of the United States Navy construction battalions. The word Seabee is a proper noun that comes from the initials of Construction Battalion, of the United States Navy...
construction projects throughout most of the year. APS is part of a long-term commitment on the part of all participating nations and organizations from Africa, the United States, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
.
APS activities consist of joint exercises, port visits, hands-on practical courses, professional training and community outreach with the coastal nations of Africa. The focus is on building maritime capacity of the nations and increasing the level of cooperation between them to improve maritime safety and security. The goal is to improve the ability of the nations involved to extend the rule of law within their territorial waters
Territorial waters
Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most from the baseline of a coastal state...
and exclusive economic zone
Exclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
s and better combat illegal fishing, human smuggling, drug trafficking, oil theft and piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
. APS also works to increase maritime safety by teaching skills that enhance a nation's ability to respond to mariners in distress.
The first APS deployment was from November 2007 to April 2008. Countries visited included Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about apart and about , respectively, off...
, Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
, and Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...
and included USS Fort McHenry and HSV Swift, with an international staff embarked in Fort McHenry. The time in between major deployments was covered by mobile training team visits, maritime patrol aircraft exercises and port visits by individual naval vessels.
During the summer and fall of 2008 two ships began what was at the time called a LEDET, or Law Enforcement Detachment. These ships were US Coast Guard Cutter Dallas (USCGC Dallas
USCGC Dallas
Dallas has been the name of more than one ship of the United States Revenue Cutter Service and United States Coast Guard, and may refer to:*USRC Dallas , a cutter in commission in the Revenue Cutter Service from 1816 to 1821...
) and USS Leyte Gulf. These missions were designed to bring African law enforcement officials onboard US ships, in concert with Coast Guard personnel, in order to conduct the first real-time operations, building upon the many skills and capabilities acquired on previous training visits.
USS Nashville was the second large amphibious ship to deploy to Africa under Africa Partnership Station; it deployed from February 2009 to May 2009. The USS Nashville
USS Nashville
USS Nashville may refer to:, was a gunboat in service from 1897 to 1918, was a light cruiser in service from 1938 to 1946; sold to Chile in 1951 and scrapped in 1985, was an amphibious transport dock that served from 1970 to 2009See also...
was the largest ship to perform the APS mission in 2009. APS Nashville visited Senegal, Ghana, Gabon, Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, and Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, spending one to two weeks in each port. APS Nashville's embarked staff had a larger international flavor with military members from Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Gabon, Italy, Portugal, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, Togo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Malta and Brazil.
In February 2009 APS expanded to South and East Africa when the USS Robert G. Bradley visited Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
and Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
.
Over the summer of 2009 (after USS Nashville completed her APS mission) other ships continued the initiative. USS Arleigh Burke visited East Africa, bringing APS once again to the East coast of Africa and expanding the range of cooperative training. At the same time HSV Swift and the US Coast Guard Cutter Legare (USCGC Legare) continued the APS mission in West and Central Africa. While APS Swift conducted a series of training, humanitarian and outreach missions in the west, Legare led and participated in the first African Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership or AMLEP (the name used to replace the LEDETs mentioned above). While on the mission with members of the Sierra Leone Maritime Wing APS Legare made a significant impact when the joint mission boarded a Taiwanese vessel illegally fishing with thousands of dollars of fish.
In the Fall of 2009 the first APS mission led by a non-US country commenced when the Dutch Rotterdam class amphibious transport dock Johan De Witt conducted the mission with US, Portuguese and Belgian Sailors and Marines embarked as training teams, and with Seabees and other subject matter experts. The ship conducted port visits to Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ghana.
In winter and spring of 2010 APS again made banner deployments. This time USS Gunston Hall
USS Gunston Hall
Two ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Gunston Hall, in honor of Gunston Hall., was an Ashland-class dock landing ship, launched in 1943 and struck in 1970...
visited West and Central Africa and a 2-ship flotilla will visit East Africa at virtually the same time. The East Africa mission will include USS Nicholas
USS Nicholas
USS Nicholas may refer to:*USS Nicholas was a Clemson-class destroyer, launched in 1919 and one of seven destroyers lost in the Honda Point Disaster on 8 September 1923...
and HSV Swift.
External links
- United States Sixth Fleet, Official US Navy APS website
- Commander, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa website
- Business Daily Africa on APS in Kenya
- Ghanaian Times on illegal fishing losses
- America.gov on New Partnerships to Tackle Piracy
- Jane's Defence WeeklyJane's Defence WeeklyJane's Defence Weekly is a weekly magazine reporting on military and corporate affairs, edited by Peter Felstead. It is one of a number of military-related publications named after John F. T. Jane, an Englishman who first published Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships in 1898...
, Jane's Defence Weekly - National Review Online
- Financial Times reviews Good Boat Diplomacy
- Christian Science Monitor
- The Economist takes note:
- Reuters coverage of initiative