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ndupress.ndu.edu
 
issue 51, 4 
th 
quarter 2008 
/ 
JFQ
 
61
I
n 2000, the Zambezi River experiencedsignificant flooding, and the nation of Mozambique was ill equipped to dealwith the humanitarian disaster thatfollowed. Homes were swept away, thousandsof people were displaced, and 700 perished,leading to the deployment of a U.S. civiliandisaster assistance response team and U.S.military forces to provide medical assistanceand security to help Mozambique stabilize thesituation. Although floods on the Zambezihave been routine, Mozambique had developedneither the infrastructure nor the responsecapabilities to handle such tragic events. Con-sequently, the episode caused tension betweenthe government and the people. Left unre-solved, this tension could have led to instability.At Mozambique’s request, the U.S. Gov-ernment and international partners provided various programs over several years to bolster
U.S. Africa Command and the
Principle of Active Security 
By 
WILLIAM E. WARD
and 
THOMAS P. GALVIN
General William E. “Kip” Ward, USA, is Commander,U.S. Africa Command. Colonel Thomas P. Galvin,USA, is Director, Commander’s Action Group, andSpecial Assistant to the Commander, U.S. AfricaCommand.
Mozambique’s capabilities to mitigate andrespond to the next major flood. Several Ameri-can agencies got involved. The U.S. Agency for International Development established theMozambique Integrated Information Networkfor Decision-Making, which enhanced thenation’s ability to prevent human losses andeconomic disruptions from natural hazards.The project strengthened early warning systemsfor cyclones and flooding, improved disastermanagement and contingency planning, andexpanded local early warning and response net-works. It educated and involved communities indisaster preparedness and mitigation, trainingcommunity volunteers in early warning report-ing and educating children in schools. TheGeological Survey was a major contributor.On the Department of Defense (DOD)side, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineershelped Mozambique build the infrastructureto channel the waterways so the impact of flooding could be reduced. It also collaboratedwith Mozambique on a land managementprogram to move people, as practicable, outof hazardous areas and provide them withsuitable homes in safer locations. Separately during later years, other DOD activities servedto enhance Mozambique’s humanitarian assis-tance capacity. U.S. medical officers exercisedin Mozambique under the Medical CivilAction Program (MEDCAP) to train their firstresponders, and the United States also helpedbuild hospitals and clinics that could absorbthe impact of the next disaster.The Zambezi River flooded again in 2008.Although the deluge was even more severethan in 2000, Mozambique was better prepared.Boats and helicopters swiftly responded toevacuate 90,000 from affected areas. The deathtoll was reduced to about 30, far fewer than itcould have been. The numbers affected by theflood were reduced from more than a million toabout 115,000. Overall, Mozambique managedthe disaster mostly by itself. The request forassistance from the United States was dramati-cally reduced due to Mozambique’s capabilities.No U.S. military assets deployed.Since the 2008 flood, the governmentof Mozambique has been working to becomeeven better prepared as the Zambezi River willsurely rise again. It is enlisting the support of  various aid organizations to ensure quickeraccess to and distribution of food and relief supplies. It is encouraging displaced familiesto build their homes in safe areas instead of returning to low-lying areas near the river.Should these efforts succeed, the impacts of future floods will be reduced, as will any poten-tial for instability or insecurity.
Nigerien soldiers participate in State Department’s Trans-SaharaCounterterrorism Partnership training program
   F   l  e  e   t   C  o  m   b  a   t   C  a  m  e  r  a   G  r  o  u  p   (   M   i  c   h  a  e   l   L  a  r  s  o  n   )
 
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JFQ
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issue 51, 4 
th 
quarter 2008 
ndupress.ndu.edu
SPECIAL FEATURE
 | 
The Principle of Active Security
 Addressing Real Needs
This vignette illustrates the ulti-mate purpose of U.S. Africa Command(USAFRICOM). In support of U.S. foreignpolicy and as part of a total U.S. Governmenteffort, USAFRICOM’s intent is to assist Afri-cans in providing their own security and stabil-ity and helping prevent the conditions thatcould lead to future conflicts. The commandwill do this by employing the principle of 
 Active Security
, which governs who we areand what we plan to do. It is the basis for ourtheater strategy.The types of activities described abovefall within the spirit of 
security assistance
asdefined in DOD Publication 5105.38–M,
Security Assistance Management Manual 
,dated October 2003. However, these activi-ties did not all follow the strict definition of “programs, authorized by law, that allows thetransfer of military articles and services tofriendly foreign Governments.”
1
While theassistance provided did “increase the ability of our friends to . . . help foster regional stability,”much of the above involved the transfer of subject matter expertise and not necessarily the “transfer of articles or services.”Unfortunately, this has led to a culturalparadigm where security assistance andthe management thereof are defined andresourced based on a very narrow definitionof “program,” which regards only the sales,grants, leases, or loans of goods or servicesthat are essential to the security and eco-nomic well-being of allied governments. As apartner requests a particular good or service, aprogram is established or expanded. Programmanagers are assigned to execute the transfer,usually in the form of an Office of Security Cooperation (OSC).
2
When the program iscomplete, the management mission is con-cluded, and the OSC is disbanded or moved.But the real needs of our partners gobeyond receiving goods or services; thesenations are exercising a vision of their security goals and objectives. Many of the require-ments that emerge are nebulous because theirperspectives are different from ours, althoughwe often have mutual interests. While existingprogram vehicles such as Foreign Military Sales and International Military Educationand Training (IMET) can provide means by which our partners can meet specific objec-tives, these partners also look to us for subjectmatter expertise and other intangible forms of assistance. Furthermore, many of our partnershave security concerns whose resolutions falloutside of the DOD purview or that overlapmultiple U.S. agencies. The narrow view of programs reaffirms stovepiped responsi-bilities, predetermining who administers aprogram and causing all others to step aside.The modern dynamic security environmentrequires that we address security from aholistic perspective and integrate our effortshorizontally across the U.S. Government.
Building Capacity 
Active Security is a persistent and sus-tained level of effort focused on security assis-tance programs that prevent conflict in order tocontribute to an enhanced level of dialogue anddevelopment. The goal of Active Security is toenable our partners to marginalize the enemiesof peace; minimize the potential for conflict;foster the growth of strong, just governmentsand legitimate institutions; and support thedevelopment of civil societies.The meaning of the term
 programs
isgreatly expanded beyond that inferred fromthe
Security Assistance Management Manual 
.It refers to the combination of all actions aunified command conducts to address partnerneeds in support of U.S. foreign policy. Aprogram results in the creation or improve-ment of a partner’s capability, which may ormay not include procurement of a system. Theland management program for Mozambiquewas an example where the result was thecreation of a process within the Mozambicangovernment that permitted greater indigenouscrisis response in the event of another ZambeziRiver flood. For USAFRICOM, potential focusareas for programs include enabling Africansto defend their homelands, defeat terrorists,and address regional conflicts through furtherdevelopment of peacekeeping capacities.Command programs will also build localcapacity to protect civilian populaces, conductdisaster relief, and respond to health crises.The components that could comprise aprogram include procurement (sales, grants,leases, and loans), training, education, logisticsand sustainment, exercises, activities, employ-ment, and communication. The goal of thesecomponents is to further the partners’ abilitiesto build the capacity to self-sustain their newly gained capabilities, which broadens the contextof these components. For example, training ismore than supporting the acquisition of newskills by the partners’ servicemembers andtrain-the-trainer capabilities of their leaders;it is about assisting the partners’ developmentof the training base to ensure these skills areretained. Education is more than offeringIMET slots; it is about fostering the develop-
USAFRICOM’s intent is to assist  Africans in providing their own security and stability and helping prevent the conditionsthat could lead to conflicts
Commander, Joint Task Force Operation
Atlas Response 
, inspects flood damage to hospital inMachanga, Mozambique, 2000
   U .   S .   A   i  r   F  o  r  c  e   (   C  a  r  y   H  u  m  p   h  r   i  e  s   )
 
ndupress.ndu.edu
 
issue 51, 4 
th 
quarter 2008 
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JFQ
 
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WARD and GALVIN
ment of comparative educational programsthat further military professionalism acrossthe total force, officer and noncommissionedofficer, in accordance with the partners’ needs.A component worth further explanationis activities. These are events that achieve theobjective of a program by demonstration orexample. An example is the deployment of medical personnel to perform humanitarianassistance in a grief-stricken region. They donot necessarily transfer skills or expertise as dotraining or exercise events, but they establishgoodwill and further relationships with ourpartners. However, such activities conducted inisolation and not as part of an overall programnormally fail to produce lasting positive bene-fits and therefore do not further our objectives.Employment, the use of a newly gainedcapability to meet a real-world need, is oftenthought of as an end result or measure of a pro-gram’s success. By this thinking, the programconcludes with the capability being put to usein operations with sustainment from the UnitedStates, and the program is then assessed accord-ing to whether the capability is proven. Inreality, many of the capabilities gained throughour programs are employed immediately orcontinuously to meet current partner needs,and the results of that employment must be fedback into the communication process to refinethe requirements and adjust the program.Communication is an importantbut often underappreciated component. Itexpresses the breadth of communicationsbetween us and our partners related to thedevelopment of a capability. It includes con-tacts that focus on learning about, refining,developing, and promulgating requirementsthat become a program, as well as the seriesof assessments and followup contacts thatkeep the program on track or that adjust it asneeded. It includes mentorship that establishesdevelopmental relationships between U.S.subject matter experts and partner leaders,encouraging broader understanding of thecapabilities built and their employment. Butmost importantly, it includes dialogue in whichwe talk with our partners in order to exploreour respective assumptions and promotegreater understanding without necessarily achieving conclusion, as one seeks in a debate.Dialogue reinforces partnerships by encourag-ing learning and keeping options on the tablethat could be useful as the strategic environ-ment changes. This component is underappre-ciated because it does not necessarily produceanything tangible; therefore, we tend not tothink of it as an integral part of any program.However, communication is vital in buildingthe relationship that sets the conditions for aprogram to succeed and for our partners tocapitalize on that success over time.To employ communication effectively,the unified command must be a listening andlearning organization. It will be a culturally aware command that promotes dialogue overdebate, possibilities over procedures, consul-tation over informing, and consensus overcookie-cutter solutions. It fosters innovativethinking that allows us to continuously assessour effectiveness and find ways to improve onour activities. It leverages modern informa-tion technologies that allow instant access toan unlimited wealth of knowledge, perspec-tives, and ideas that can contribute in newand innovative ways. A listening and learningorganization proactively and rapidly analyzesthe environment, consults with partners, andproposes programs that meet their uniqueneeds. It eschews the easy solution of blindly tapping into an existing large program becauseit is there and available and because programsoften do not exactly fit our partner’s needs ordeliver the desired effects.These components together comprise the
 persistent and sustained level of effort 
. As pro-curement activities are completed, the require-ments for communication rise. Second-orderimpacts of a program need to be assessed in thecontext of changes in the security environment.The incorporation of training and sustainmentinto the partner’s institutional base normally lags behind the original fielding of equipmentand acquisition of new skills. Also, most security assistance is conducted on a bilateral basis, butwe also want to ensure that regional objectivesare met and encourage regional communicationamong partners to leverage these new capabili-ties to meet broader U.S. and partner interests.The job is hardly done once equipmentis fielded. Short-term programs cannot achievethese results because the impact of a short-term program is felt only by those elementstrained and lasts only as long as those elementsremain together. Programs exercised under apersistent and sustained level of effort matureover time and allow adjustments, so betterinformation can be used to gain better effectson a wider scale. They also instill confidencein our partners that as situations change andnew requirements emerge, USAFRICOM willbe there to help.
Paradigm Shifts
Active Security requires a holistic lookthat encourages us to work in unison acrossagencies, and fosters greater ability for ourpartners to build capacity to conduct opera-tions with well-trained, disciplined forces thatrespect human rights and the rule of law, withthe ultimate goal of preventing conflict. Asapplied to USAFRICOM, it will also prepareAfrican forces to better address shared chal-lenges, strengthen legitimate governments, andmake less likely the requirement for the UnitedStates to conduct unilateral operations.Active Security requires us to be a trustedand reliable partner, something that is neithereasy nor automatic. Building partnerships inAfrica requires time, patience, consistency,and understanding. To be effective, we mustdevelop mutual confidence in what we can dotogether at the theater, regional, and bilaterallevels. We must maintain mutual respect, rec-ognizing that our needs and theirs are equally important, not mutually exclusive, and areprobably complementary. Most importantly,the result is the mutual confidence and compe-tence that allow us to act as a combined teamwhen necessary.Active Security involves a cultural changewithin unified commands and the broader joint and interagency processes that employ it. In particular, there are three culture shiftsalready visible within USAFRICOM.
Focused on Small Activities.
Security-based activities do not always require significantemployment of forces to achieve great results.Operation
Enduring Freedom–Trans-Sahara
 (OEF–TS) is a perfect example. In support of nine African nations, OEF–TS strengthenscounterterrorism and border security efforts,promotes democratic governance, reinforcesbilateral military ties, and enhances developmentand institution-building. It assists governmentsseeking to control their territories and preventterrorist groups from using their uncontrolledareas as safe havens. OEF–TS has producedextraordinary results, yet the majority of activi-ties involve only a handful of Servicemembersscattered among the participating countries.
training is about assisting the partners’ development of thetraining base to ensure these skills are retained 
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