La Plata National Guard unit to go to Africa for military exercise

La Plata’s National Guard unit of Company B, 1st Battalion, 175th Infantry, will travel to Ghana from May 11 to 27 to participate in the 2024 African Lion Exercise, a multinational military drill.

According to the African Lion Exercise website, the exercise includes over 10,000 participants from more than 20 nations, including units from NATO.

The annual exercise is led by the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force and seeks to counter malicious activity in North Africa and Southern Europe as well as increase unity and collaboration between the U.S., African countries and other international partners.

2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the African Lion Exercise and will include a command post exercise, field training exercises, a live-fire demonstration, and humanitarian civic assistance program events.

The humanitarian civic assistance missions consist of medical, dental and veterinary aid across Morocco, Ghana and Senegal.

Capt. Nicholas Testo of the Maryland National Guard, the mission commander for the exercises, shared in a phone call with Southern Maryland News that the exercises pose a substantial logistical challenge for the National Guard to overcome.

Moving large, military vehicles overseas is no easy feat and requires considerable planning.

“It will broaden the horizon on different approaches to things,” Testo said.

Overall, morale has been high amongst the members of the National Guard, Testo said. The idea of adapting to, exploring and overcoming a new environment for weeks has drummed up excitement among service members who will be attending.

According to Testo, there will likely be a partnership with the Ghana Armed Forces throughout the exercises. The idea of the partnerships is to help influence stability in the regions where the exercises are taking place.