S&S - GIs retrain Congo troops known for being violent

From my archive of press clippings:


Stars and Stripes


GIs retrain Congo troops known for being violent

By John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes

European edition, Sunday, May 2, 2010


STUTTGART, Germany — At a remote military base in the jungle city of Kisangani, an elite team of U.S. troops is attempting to retrain a battalion of Congolese infantrymen to serve as a model for an unruly force that has a reputation for using rape as a weapon of war.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"In a region where intimidation is used by soldiers and the rebels they fight, the U.S. Special Operations Command Africa troops offer plenty of traditional soldiering instruction. For now, the team of about 25 Americans is focused on small-unit tactics, medical care, logistics support and communications. Soon they also will enlist alternative methods to reform a military in disarray.

U.S. Africa Command is drafting curriculum for dealing with the sexual violence issues that plague the Congolese military and will incorporate those findings into training this summer."

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"AFRICOM has deployed an expert in sexual violence to the Congo to conduct interviews and help develop the sexual violence program for military leaders who are untrained in this area, according to Special Operations Command Africa.

AFRICOM, along with contractors hired by the U.S. State Department, began working with the Congolese battalion in March as part of an evolving six-month program. The hope is to field more than 700 Congolese troops capable of deploying as part of a quick-reaction force to protect the country’s borders and the people who call those volatile regions home."