U.S. Army Europe and Africa Commands consolidate into a single 4-star led command

STUTTGART, Germany, Nov 23- The U.S. Army on Friday announced the consolidation of U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Army Africa into a new command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREURAF).

This new command will be the Army service component command for both U.S. Africa Command and U.S. European Command.

Recently promoted Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli will be the commander of USAREUR-AF.

“U.S. Africa Command welcomes the news that the U.S. Army has consolidated U.S. Army Africa and U.S. Army Europe into a single four-star led command while still retaining a General Officer-led deployable headquarters that will wake up every day focusing on Africa,” said U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of U.S. Africa Command.

“This dual-hatted component model is consistent with our other service components supporting U.S. Africa Command and U.S. European Command and is a proven model for success.”

Under this structure, U.S. Army Africa/Southern European Task Force is re-designated as the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) and its two-star commanding general, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Andrew Rohling, will also serve as USAREUR-AF’s deputy commanding general for Africa.

The consolidation of these two Army service component commands under one four-star commander will play a vital role in supporting missions across two interconnected theaters of operation.

“The organizational change enables U.S. Africa Command’s ability to leverage unique and versatile joint force capabilities and address mutual security interests in Africa. While the structure of our Army component has changed, this is another step in our continued commitment to working with African partners on shared security interests,” said Townsend.

This consolidation also allows the headquarters to focus on strategic-level tasks, while the recently re-activated V Corps and re-designated SETAF-AF will focus on readiness and interoperability with allies and partners at the operational and tactical levels.

SETAF-AF, based in Vicenza, Italy, is responsible for all Army operations and assets in Africa and Italy and will maintain direct coordination with U.S. Africa Command. With a rotational forward headquarters in Poznan, Poland, V Corps will be integral to the planning and synchronization of operations in Europe.

All units assigned to U.S. Army Africa will be reassigned to USAREUR-AF.