U.S. Navy’s APS program visits Gabon to train, educate locals

[unhappycamper]

U.S. Navy’s APS program visits Gabon to train, educate locals
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The USS Fort McHenry returned to Gabon on Thursday, its second visit since the African Partnership Station program started its maiden deployment in November.

Not even at the halfway point of the deployment, the Navy program already has made seven port visits in West Africa.

“We are visiting Port Gentile mainly because that’s where the biggest concentration of Gabonese marines and navy are,” Lt. Cmdr. Marcel Mihindou, of the Gabonese navy, said in a statement. “We are heading there to train as many people as we can. Right now, we expect over 100 Gabonese military people will be trained on board.”

~snip~

So far, the international staff on the APS, a U.S. Naval Forces Europe-led initiative, also has visited Senegal, Ghana and Cameroon.

Navy officials have worked to downplay fears that APS, and the greater U.S. Africa Command, translates to the military’s intention to ratchet up military presence on the continent, a strategically important and oil-rich region. In November, when APS kicked off, Navy Capt. John Nowell, head of the mission, said it’s not about the oil.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51640



uhc comment: If you think it's not about the oil, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.