African Conference of Commandants

Introduction to the African Conference of Commandants

First Annual Conference, Pretoria, November 2007

The origin of the African Conference of Commandants (ACoC) may be traced to a number of events and factors. With the regard to the former, the first and possibly the most important is the long tradition amongst military colleges on the continent to visit one another through student visits and exchanges of instructors and directing staff. This has increased over time and has been consolidated by the attachment of instructors and directing staff, albeit within sub-regions for the moment.

Lessons from visits to the North American Treaty Organisation’s Conference of Commandants (NATO CoC), the NATO Defence College and the United States Department of Defence’s African Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS) have all played a role in the philosophy and   conduct of the ACoC. These, as well as the accumulated lessons from the first ACoC, held in South Africa under the auspices of the South African National War College from 6-8 November 2007 under the theme “Developing and Transforming Education in the Military, a Contribution to African Security”, continue to build the character of ACoC.

Aim

The aim of the ACoC is been to enhance harmonization, interoperability, commonality, standisation and cooperation between African Staff Colleges as its contribution to the African Standby Force (ASF) and Peace and Support Operations (PSOs).

Objectives

1. To contribute to African security through the development and transformation of education and training in the military environment.
2. To facilitate and improve understanding and general coordination amongst African Staff Colleges in order to develop the African Standby Force (ASF) concept.
3. To evaluate the feasibility of transformation in the current operating environment.
4. To explore the commonality of the curricula with the intention to facilitate the Combined Joint African Exercise (CJAX).
5. To develop co-operation amongst African Staff Colleges by enhancing benchmarking; college curriculum best practice; DS Exchange programmes; academic accreditation; exploration of the feasibility of an annual Combined Joint African Exercise (CJAX). 

Targets

The membership of ACoC, like its philosophy, is a matter that is still evolving. Arising from this thinking and the first ACoC in 2007, it is evident that it is targeting the senior military levels of education within the AU/ASF militaries such as Commandants and Chief Instructors/COS of staff colleges as well as African Standy Force (ASF) representatives from the African Union (AU) and regional levels such as those of the AU’s ASF Harmonisation Workshop and AU Peace Support Operations Division (PSOD). Others include peace, security and defence related non-governmental organizations (NGOs); and educational institutions. National and international donors have been identified as valuable components of ACoC.

The ACoC’s broadness of mandate is further seen in its embarking on reinforcing the African Peace Support Training Centre (APSTA); the International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centres (IAPTC) as well as pan-defence education as well as on the delivery of peace missions and Military Operations Other than War (MOOTW) education.

Forging Future Issues

The 2^nd ACoC, held in Accra Ghana from 27th October - 31 October 2008 was poised to enhance some of the following issues: 

a. The AU Constitutive Act, Peace and Security Protocols, Common African Defence andSecurity Policy (CADSP) Training and Doctrine of the African Standby Force;

b. The role of civil society in PSO;

c. CJAX;

d. Funding of ACoC; and

e. ACoC Secretariat and Establishment of ACoC Website (Portal)

1. Training Method and Combat Doctrine of the African Standby Force
   
   
2. The Role of Regional Economic Communities in the implementation of ASF Doctrine: The Case of ECOWAS
   
   
3. Mitigating the challenges of military education in ACoC: The Role of African Think Tanks
   
   
4. Challenges of managing and reforming the Defence Sector
   
   
5. The role of the Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation in Africa
   
   
6. Challenges in African conflict areas
   
   
7. Egypt’s role in Africa and in Peacekeeping Operations
   
   
8. A brief on Egyptian Peacekeeping Centre
   
   
9. SADC CJAX (Feedback on the Planning meeting in Botswana)
   
   
10. The role of civil society in peace support operations: The Egyptian perspective (Lecture)
    
    
11. NATO briefing

1. The operationalisation and development of the Decision on the CJAX at regional and Member State levels and in particular the achievement of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in this regard. The Conference particularly welcomed the conducting of ‘Exercise Uhuru’ in Gaborone, Lusaka and Pretoria and ECOWAS CJAX in Ghana
   
   
2. Concrete plans for establishing a Pan African Command and Staff College (PACSC)

1. Harmonisation of curriculum and PSO doctrine;
2. Synchronisation of the flow of courses or programmes;
3. Establishment of an African Staff College;
4. A continental ownership of ACoC and its processes

1. Botswana Defence Command and Staff College
2. Egyptian Command and Staff College
3. Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College
4. Kenyan Defence Staff College
5. Libya Command and Staff College
6. Nigeria Armed Forces Command and Staff College
7. South Africa National War College
8. Sudanese Joint Staff and Command College
9. Tanzania Command and Staff College
10. Uganda Senior Command and Staff College
11. Zambian Defence Services Command and Staff College
12. Zimbabwe Defence Staff College

1. Burundi - Burundi Senior Military Studies Grouping
2. Namibia - Namibia Military School,
3. Rwanda - Rwanda Military Academy- Gako

1. East African Community (EAC)
2. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
3. British Peace Support Team South Africa (BPSTSA)
4. Global Crisis Solutions (GCS)
5. Institute for Security Studies (ISS) - ACoC Secretariat
6. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
7. United States Africa Command (AFRICOM)
8. Other Individual Observers

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