Absent an African capacity to see to African security, the United States and the international community will continuously be stepping in to oversee disaster and contingency responses. The U.S. Africa Command position is establishing African ownership through collaboration and capacity building. The approach is playing on trust and mutual interest to make the United States the partner of choice for African nations facing a plethora of needs. A variety of programs and initiatives to bolster African defense capabilities are outlined, showing that the command is pursuing its ambition of focused, sustained engagement through collaboration with the interagency, Embassy country teams, regional organizations, and African governments. Capacity building of partners is seen in Africa as elsewhere as key to stretching U.S. and international resources in a fiscally-constrained environment and creating a hedge against the uncertainties of a complex region.

As we go further into the time when finding ways to continue to meet mission with diminished resources, some have suggested that we consider the words of Nobel prize–winning chemist Sir Ernest Rutherford: “Gentlemen, we have run out of money, it is time to start thinking.” In every corner of the United States and beyond, economic problems persist and are entering the fifth year since the 2008 Wall Street crisis. The U.S. military is not immune from the repercussions of these economic forces. The joint force will get smaller while formations large and small will be adjusted and made less costly, at least in the short run. The world of jointness is experiencing this pressure as well. One part of these readjustments for both budgetary and important mission considerations is the future of joint professional military education (JPME) and leadership development.

Meshed and intertwined into a Servicemember’s behavior and in the daily rhythm of a command, resiliency is a needed ingredient to maintain individual and unit readiness.