Togolese disaster-response officials conduct field training exercise with North Dakota state partners, SETAF-AF

Togo's National Civil Protection Agency conducted a field training exercise with North Dakota disaster-relief experts and civil affairs Soldiers assigned to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) in Agome-Glozou, Togo, June 15-17.

The three-day activity focused on incident response and disaster preparedness. It was the culminating event for Operation Lignite Coast 2026, the overall training exercise that took place June 8-18, which sought to improve the NCPA's capacity to handle a variety of emergency situations.

"One of the hardest things for civilian and military agencies to do is get together in a whole-of-government approach," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Al Roehrich, Lignite Coast lead planner for the North Dakota National Guard and deputy director of the North Dakota Domestic Operations Branch. "This venue allows us, whether it's the fire department, the military, the police [or other organizations] to come together in a setting that would happen in a real-world scenario."

U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Mitchell Johnson, the adjutant general for the North Dakota National Guard and director of the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services, toured the training area and spoke with several NPCA officials engaged in the practical exercise. Johnson also visited a local hospital on the exercise's first day when the North Dakota delegation donated medical supplies, specifically syringes and surgical gloves, as well as sunglasses for patients recovering from recent cataract surgery.

Togo and the North Dakota National Guard have been partners through the National Guard's State Partnership Program for over 12 years. This relationship allows North Dakota's emergency-response officials to work with the NCPA (Togo's equivalent of the Federal Emergency Management Agency) to replicate real-world scenarios for training purposes. Like North Dakota's emergency-response community, the NCPA is a mixture of civilian and military personnel.

"The more you practice with all the players together, the better it will be when a real-life event happens," Roehrich said.

NCPA participants responded to various training situations, such as an incident involving multiple, large-capacity canoes capsizing, a major traffic accident on a bridge, and a displaced-persons scenario following a flood - which also subsequently caused a notional malaria outbreak - among others.

"Collaborating to build those kinds of relationships were among the exercise's operational goals and objectives - 'engaging stakeholders' - and we're happy it's happening," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mandy Iverson, a plans officer with the North Dakota National Guard Domestic Operations Branch.

Iverson added that the incident-response training the Togolese completed was very similar to the training the North Dakota National Guard normally conducts.

"We're here to help facilitate and foster an environment of continued relationship building, and the Lignite Coast mission makes that possible," Iverson said. "This event brings together government, community members and NGOs working on disaster response. Multiple NGOs came to the event and worked with different sections or clusters, some of them for the first time."

While emergencies requiring a comprehensive, government response can happen almost anywhere, the nature of those emergencies can be unpredictable. The agencies and skill sets necessary for an effective response, from both the military and civilian sides of the spectrum, can vary depending on the situation.

"Civil affairs Soldiers specialize in a multitude of areas - humanitarian aid, disaster response, civil-military integration and civil-military coordination," said U.S. Army Capt. Euston Harp, team chief for Civil Affairs Team Togo, Alpha Company, Civil Affairs Battalion, SETAF-AF. "Those aspects are important during these types of exercises and in real-world events."

Prior to the field exercise, CA Team Togo conducted a subject matter expert exchange with NCPA personnel to assess and evaluate their ability to apply civil affairs in a real-world training scenario. This exchange not only highlighted the significance of civil-military integration in a disaster response, it also underscored the benefits his team received in improved readiness.

"Lignite Coast is a great opportunity for us to get some training reps to improve our own posture when it comes to humanitarian aid and disaster response," Harp said. "Training exercises like these allow us to approach [our work] from a different angle, and they demonstrate our commitment to partners and allies."

During the displaced-persons scenario, NCPA administrative staff processed approximately 180 local villagers who roleplayed as the displaced persons. Military personnel and federal law enforcement officers stood watch nearby to simulate providing physical security for the "refugees," while civilian NCPA members erected temporary housing. Iverson explained that this involvement demonstrated the power of "collaboration and community" that made this incident-response training effective.

"In the North Dakota National Guard we serve our communities, and here in Togo, Lignite Coast helped bring Togolese communities together to practice, prepare and execute their domestic response to disasters," Iverson said. "It's incredible to watch communities come together and see that sense of service, both from a North Dakota perspective and that of our partner country. We're working to build relationships within our community, between our two countries, and with our NGO partners and other entities. Even though we're half a world away, we're very much alike."

Roehrich also noted how his organization benefited from seeing different approaches to disaster response beyond U.S. borders, which provide "a two-way street" in learning from colleagues. Observing the different techniques the Togolese bring into their planning sessions and execution for domestic operations and emergency response, enables Roehrich's team to take lessons learned back to Peace Garden State.

"Exercises like these are everything," Roehrich said. "We take a lot of pride in coming here and working with our Togolese hosts, and they're always happy to see us. They get to see how we do business, we get to see how they do business, and there are a lot of familiar faces in the crowd when we come back [and] that's where the relationship building occurs. Relationships are everything, and longevity builds those relationships."

About SETAF-AF

U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) prepares Army forces, executes crisis response, enables strategic competition and strengthens partners to achieve U.S. Army Europe and Africa and U.S. Africa Command campaign objectives.

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