Beginning April 26, 2016, the governments of the United States and Ghana will launch Epic Guardian 2016, an 8-day joint readiness exercise.

Epic Guardian is a regularly scheduled training exercise held in Africa and designed to increase the effectiveness of U.S. and African government entities and security forces in responding to international threats such as trafficking and terrorism.

Previous exercises of Epic Guardian were held in Malawi, Cameroon, Djibouti and the Seychelles. A separate portion of Epic Guardian 2016 will involve similar coordination between the United States and Cabo Verde.

The U.S. government has been working directly with the government of Ghana to plan Epic Guardian 2016. The exercise will take place primarily on Ghanaian military premises.

Personnel from the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces will participate and will be joined by units from United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) and Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAFRICA).

The training will involve personnel reacting to a simulated crisis and will cover a broad range of topics, including theater-strategic planning, intermediate support, logistics, intelligence, and strategic communications among others.

Training will consist of staff crisis action planning, deployment of forces, completion of field exercises, and redeployment of forces.

“International threats require international solutions,” said U.S. Ambassador to Ghana Robert P. Jackson.

“Epic Guardian is an opportunity to strengthen our bilateral relationship and to demonstrate our long-term commitment to supporting Ghana as it works to counter international threats and ensure stability and security for Ghanaians.”

The training will increase Ghana’s capacity in areas such as communications, logistics, intelligence gathering and analysis, crisis planning and response, and inter-operability—all with the goal of providing for greater security and stability for Ghana and the region.

The U.S. government is committed to supporting partner nations and regional allies in Africa and is proud of our robust and wide-ranging partnership with Ghana. Ghana has previously hosted many joint and multilateral exercises, including Western Accord 13 and Obangame Express 2015.

“Security cooperation is a vital part of the U.S.–Ghana partnership,” said Jackson. “We thank the government of Ghana for its ongoing cooperation to help increase regional security and we will continue to work together with African partners to promote stability on the African continent.”