2024 marks the 20th anniversary of AFRICOM’s premier and largest annual, combined, joint exercise African Lion.
This year’s exercise is taking place April 19 through May 31 and is hosted across Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia with more than 8,100 participants from over 27 nations and contingents from NATO.
African Lion 24 focuses on enhancing readiness between the U.S. and partner nation forces. This joint all-domain, multi-component, and multinational exercise, employs a full array of mission capabilities with the goal to strengthen interoperability among participants and set the theater for strategic access, the U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in a statement.
African Lion 24 is U.S. Africa Command’s largest, premier, joint, annual exercise. This year’s event marks a significant milestone as U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) leads the exercise for U.S. Army Africa Command, which is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the African Lion exercise series.
The exercise concluded on May 10 in Tunisia, but will continue until May 31 in three other host nations: Morocco, Ghana and Senegal. More than 1,000 military personnel from both the U.S. and Tunisia participated in the first phase of the exercise.
Under the leadership of SETAF-AF, African Lion 2024 in Tunisia showcases the commitment of the U.S. military to maintaining robust relationships with allies and partners, embodying the core principles to its approach in Africa: Partner-led and U.S.-enabled.
Meanwhile, Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces (FAR) and the US Armed Forces will be jointly conducting, for the twentieth time, the “African Lion 2024” from May 20 to 31 at Benguerir, Agadir, Tan-Tan, Akka and Tifnit, FAR General Staff announced in a statement.
Besides the FAR and the US Armed Forces, around 7,000 military personnel from some twenty countries, plus the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), will be taking part in these large-scale military maneuvers.
The “African Lion 2024” exercise comprises a number of activities, including combined day and night tactical, land, sea and air exercises, a special forces exercise, airborne operations, as well as an operational planning exercise for executives of the “Task Force” staff, the statement added.
This twentieth edition also includes a cycle of academic training, organized in preparation for the exercise, training in the fight against weapons of mass destruction and a range of medical, surgical and social services provided for the population of the Akka region by a military field hospital.
The “African Lion 2024” exercise, the largest exercise conducted in Africa, contributes to the reinforcement of operational, technical and procedural interoperability between the participating armies, and remains an unmissable event where military executives rub shoulders to exchange procedures and experiences, particularly in terms of combined joint training and education, the statement from FAR added. (U.S. Army Europe & Africa; Royal Moroccan Armed Forces; Photo © U.S. Army Europe & Africa)
