ISSUE 182 : Jul/Aug - 2010 - Australian Defence Force Journal

US Africa Command and the Unified CommandPlan 1Colonel Marcus Fielding, Australian ArmyOn 1 October 2008, the United States’ Africa Command (AFRICOM) became an independentunified command, the sixth Geographic Combatant Command (GCC) in the global presencethat is the US Department of Defense (DoD).The decision to create AFRICOM was the culmination of a 10-year thought process within theUS DoD, acknowledging the emerging strategic importance of Africa and recognising thatpeace and stability on that continent impacts not only Africans but the interests of the US andthe international community. Its headquarters is in Stuttgart, Germany. Its mission, in concertwith other US government agencies and international partners, is ‘to conduct sustainedsecurity engagement through military-to-military programs, military-sponsored activities andother military operations as directed to promote a stable and secure African environment insupport of US foreign policy’. 2 But why is the creation of AFRICOM significant to the ADF?The Australian Government has declared its commitment to heightened diplomatic engagementand building bilateral relationships with African countries. This reflects the growing perceivedinterests that Australia has in Africa. Trade is developing rapidly and there have been substantialAustralian investments in Africa in recent years. Also, African countries have an increasinglyimportant role in collective, multilateral solutions to global issues such as trade reform, theglobal financial crisis, climate change, arms control, terrorism and regional conflicts. 3 Acting toadvance Australia’s interests, Governor-General Quentin Bryce visited nine African countriesin early 2009. 4 In line with this policy, it is likely that more ADF members will find themselvesworking in Africa; potentially as part of a UN force (as Australia largely has in the past) but alsoworking alongside US forces that are part of AFRICOM.The ADF has had a long association with the United States’ Pacific Command (PACOM), a morerecent relationship with Central Command (CENTCOM) and potentially a growing associationwith AFRICOM. But what exactly are these GCCs and how do they fit in the overall US DoDstructure? The answers lie in a little known document called the ‘Unified Command Plan’(UCP). It is important for ADF members working with US forces to understand how thesepowerful commands have come into being and what their mandate is.The Unified Command PlanThe US is the only country that divides the globe into six geographically-based militarycommands. Four cover South America, Eurasia, the Asia-Pacific and most recently thecontinent of Africa. The fifth covers energy resource rich Southwest Asia. The sixth coversNorth America for homeland defence and civil support purposes. The UCP is one of the key71