Marines

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U.S. Marine Colonel Sam Strotman, Task Force commander, talks to the troops during the opening ceremony for Exercise Shared Accord in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Shared Accord is a joint exercise between the South African National Defence Forces and the U.S. military. Exercise Shared Accord includes various types of military training; humanitarian outreach, in way of medical, dental and veterinarian care; and construction projects.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Claude Dixon

Port Elizabeth Ceremony kicks off largest ever joint U.S.-South African military exercise

22 Jul 2011 | Cpl. Jad Sleiman U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve

U.S. service members and South African National Defense Force soldiers came together July 22 to mark the opening of Exercise Shared Accord 2011 with a brief ceremony.

     Shared Accord is a bi-lateral military training and civil assistance mission held annually throughout Africa. This year’s evolution represents the first joint U.S.-South African military exercise of significant size held in over a decade and the largest to date.

     “We’re making a bit of history here,” South African Navy Rear Adm. Hanno Teuteberg, commander of Exercise Shared Accord, told the American and South African troops. 

     Approximately 700 U.S. service members, composed mainly of members of the Marine Corps Reserve along with a number of Guard and Reserve soldiers, sailors and airmen, have joined more than 1,400 SANDF troops for the event. Over the next week, the forces will engage in live-fire exercises at a training center in Grahamstown and civil assistance programs  across the Eastern Cape  before the exercise concludes early next month.

     “I look forward to sharing and learning from each other,” U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Sam Strotman, the task force commander, told the formations, adding that  both nations “value individual freedom and equality.”

     Scheduled are medical, dental and veterinary service programs as well as the refurbishing of a South African animal shelter.

     “We can show that we don’t just do combat,” said Teuteberg, referring to the humanitarian services. “We also look after our people."