VICENZA, Italy - U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa leaders met at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, Italy, for an annual commander’s forum held Aug. 31-Sept. 1. The event was hosted by Maj. Gen. Andrew Rohling, SETAF-AF Commanding General.
Rohling opened the forum by speaking about his commander’s intent for SETAF-AF, and the responsibilities to the U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Army Africa, and U.S. Africa Command, specifically following the consolidation that occurred during fiscal year 2021.
“When I took command last year, the direction I received from both AFRICOM and USAREUR-AF commanders was to build a Joint Task Force-capable headquarters, and that is a real shift from where we were,” Rohling said.
Rohling noted that the organization is successfully adapting to its new roles and responsibilities, and he is pleased with the progress that has been made in the past year. As the organization moves forward, Rohling emphasized SETAF-AF’s continuing role in Africa.
“I am happy with the direction we are moving, and what we have done,” Rohling said. “If you think about it we made some pretty significant cultural changes across the headquarters.”
The forum allowed unit commanders to share the previous year’s lessons learned and they provided their approach to accomplishing key tasks for FY22.
"The Commanders Forum is our opportunity to walk away with a shared vision of how we will support USAREUR-AF and AFRICOM,” Rohling said.
The forum also featured guest speaker, Swedish Lt. Gen. Dennis Gyllensporre, Force Commander of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), who participated virtually. The multinational mission is supported by UN partners, including the United States.
Gyllensporre briefed the group on current events in Mali. He reiterated the importance of multinational support in order to stabilize the region. He provided updates on objectives and goals of the mission, from ongoing COVID-19 mitigation and precautions, to security and counter-terrorism efforts.
This year’s Commander's Forum was the seventh iteration, dating back to 2015.
