Coast Guard Foreign Engagement And AFRICOM: Improving The Operational Planning Process

摘要

The U.S. strategic interest in Africa has grown over the past decade prompting the creation of AFRICOM. Charged with building the security capacity of our African partners, AFRICOM faces many challenges, particularly in the maritime domain. The U.S. Coast Guard can play a major role in AFRICOM's efforts, but to do so effectively, it must improve the process by which it plans international engagement programs at the operational level. This paper describes the various ways that the Coast Guard conducts its foreign engagement programs and explains why these programs are often successful, particularly in developing nations. It evaluates the processes used by the Coast Guard to plan these activities and discusses the limitations of these processes. Finally, the paper recommends specific improvements to the Coast Guard's foreign engagement planning processes that will allow the AFRICOM Commander to more effectively and efficiently employ limited Coast Guard resources within the AOR.