STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Marine Gen. Michael Langley took over as the top U.S. commander for Africa on Tuesday, heading U.S. military operations on a…
Langley, who made history on Saturday when he became the first African American in the Marine Corps to be promoted to four-star general, took over U.S. Africa Command in a ceremony at Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany. He is the second African American to lead the command, which has about 6,000-7,000 troops across the continent.
Earlier this year, Townsend warned Congress that the U.S. was “marching in place at best” and “may be backsliding” in Somalia, because of former president Donald Trump’s decision to pull all of the roughly 700 U.S. troops out of the country in his final days in office.
He added that the African continent is “on the front lines of many of this century’s most pressing threats–from mass migration to food insecurity, from COVID-19 to the climate crisis, from the drumbeat of autocracy to the dangers of terrorism.” And he said China is expanding its military footprint there, looking to build bases in Africa and seeking to “undermine U.S. relations with African peoples, governments and militaries.
And Austin, who is the first African American to serve as Pentagon chief, said that young Marines around the world are watching Langley. He told the gathering that his father always told him to aim high. And now, he said, “I know I have a lot to do. We have a lot to do, as we look at the African continent and their quest for proper security and stability.”
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