Date: Sat, 3 May 2014 23:34:32 +0200
Accompanied tours in Djibouti? US military looks at options as it settles in
for the long-term
By <http://www.stripes.com/reporters/John_Vandiver?author=John_Vandiver>
John Vandiver
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 3, 2014
CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti - The U.S. military's operational hub in this
strategic Horn of Africa nation still has the lonely dust-swept feel of
combat outposts that have come and gone in Iraq and Afghanistan, but
something more enduring is taking root in Djibouti as commanders ponder the
long-term potential of the military's core forward base in Africa.
"I think we just keep building," said Rear Adm. Alexander Krongard, deputy
commander of Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa. "Everyone wants to be
here and the reason is it sits on a really important piece of real estate.
The longer we are here the more it pays to build permanent facilitates,
which given enough time, are much cheaper than tents or containers."
At Camp Lemonnier, a former French Foreign Legion post taken over by the
U.S. soon after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, military officials now see a
base that could be destined for the kind of permanent U.S. military presence
found in other parts of the world. That means few tents and container-style
housing units and more concrete in the years ahead.
Given the likelihood for an enduring U.S. military presence in the country,
commanders are contemplating something unthinkable just a few years ago:
should tours to Djibouti one day be accompanied?
"It's the classic debate. Should families be here?" said Capt. Kelly
Passmore, commander of the 449th Air Expeditionary Group at Camp Lemonnier.
"We see the French military with their families here as well as our own
embassy people. It's an interesting idea."
While there are no formal plans yet for such a move, accompanied tours - a
signal of U.S. commitment to a region - are a subject senior officials are
openly discussing these days.
Rather than reflexive "no ways," commanders say the merits of a future with
accompanied tours should be analyzed.
"It absolutely merits thinking about," said Krongard, speaking about the
prospects of one day bring families to Djibouti. "But to do it right would
take some legitimate support back inside the beltway and would take some
pretty extensive deliberation."
Less than 10 miles from the Somalia border and 50 miles across the sea from
Yemen, Djibouti's proximity to hotspots and key commercial transit routes
means it is abuzz with foreign military.
The French maintain multiple bases, the Germans have a steady Navy presence
in the area and the Italians are in the midst of constructing a base of
their own alongside Djibouti's one paved road that leads directly into
Somalia. China, a growing presence across Africa, also aims to boost its
profile having recently signed a multimillion dollar security deal with
Djibouti, underscoring the strategic significance of a nation only slightly
bigger than New Jersey.
On the U.S. side, the military is pressing forward with $500 million in
active construction projects now under way. The new construction will bring
a host of improvements to a base that has grown from 85 acres back in 2002
to 500 acres today. New taxiways to the neighboring commercial runway and a
combat aircraft loading area, which would function as a parking apron for
the growing Air Force mission in Djibouti, are among the on-going efforts. A
new headquarters for CJT-HOA and the installation command group also is in
the works as well as a mini-back up operations center for Central Command to
use in the event of contingencies in its area of operations, which includes
the waters around the Horn of Africa.
New triple-decked containerized housing units also are slated to soon open
and construction on one of the base's first barracks buildings is underway,
a trend that will continue going forward as Lemonnier moves away from
temporary structures.
For now, the base coffee shop, tiny Navy Exchange and gym are all in small
makeshift facilities, but plans for a building that consolidates all support
and recreational services is in the works, officials said.
"I think we are at a transition point," said Navy Capt. Michael S. Newman,
commander of base facilities at Lemonnier.
"It's not Iraq and it's not Afghanistan, but it's not Norfolk or San Diego,
where you can go out the gate and get a lot of things," Newman said. "For
soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines this is really home and what you have
is what you have. One of my top priorities would be to get a more enduring
personnel facility."
In addition, the military has its eye on leasing a small slice of territory
that occupies a swath of land in the middle of the military's 500-acre
footprint at Lemonnier. Known respectively as the Djiboutian and French
notches, the U.S. has hopes to eventually incorporate those areas into Camp
Lemonnier, which the U.S. government leases for about $38 million per year
from the Djiboutian government.
The areas, which have been rumored to also be of interest to the Russians
and possibly Chinese, would give some flexibility to the space-squeezed
base, U.S. military officials said. Washington is in the midst of talks with
Djiboutian officials over the land and the long-term lease.
"There was some discussion the Russians had some sort of interest," Newman
said. "I don't know how serious that was or if it was a Djiboutian
negotiating tactic."
Without or without the additional acreage at Camp Lemonnier, which generates
all its own power and produces up to 200,000 gallons of water a day, future
construction for the military in Djibouti has only one way to go, Newman
said.
"We need to start thinking up rather than out," Newman said.
Vandiver.john_at_stripes.com
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Although most tents at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, are no longer being used to
house servicemembers, most will stay erected in case of a temporary influx
of troops. At left, construction continues on one of the base?s first hard
cover barracks buildings. In the distance is a swath of land in the middle
of the military?s 500-acre footprint known respectively as the Djiboutian
and French notches, which the U.S. hopes to eventually incorporate into Camp
Lemonnier.
Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes
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Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, a former French foreign legion post taken over by
the U.S. soon after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, is home to Combined Joint
Task Force Horn of Africa. `
Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes
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With an expansion effort well underway at this strategic military hub,
expect more Air Force assets to be stationed at Camp Lemonnier in the years
ahead as resources once dedicated to the war in Afghanistan begin to shift
toward the African continent.
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The prime mission for Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa at Camp
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Before sunrise, the sailors slip off base in a boat-hauling convoy through
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