The objective of the exercise is to test and improve the ability of South African and British forces to participate in peace support operations.
The exercise will be set in a mythical African country, Kwaailand, which has been divided by civil war.
In the scenario, the United Nations has asked South Africa and the UK to form a coalition to set up a Peace Support Operation in the region.
The forces will be expected to set up a joint task force headquarters that will then plan and execute the peace support operation.
The whole exercise will take place within the Snake Valley Base and no live forces – land, sea or air – will be deployed.
The exercise has the strongest possible support from both the South African and UK governments.
The exercise will help build both countries’ capacity to handle peace support operations and provides an opportunity to develop still further the military co-operation already enjoyed between the two countries.
Although this will be the first time that South African and British forces will join together to undertake an exercise of this kind, both countries have conducted similar exercises with other forces in recent years.
Because Exercise African Shield is based on a peace support operation, every effort will be taken to bring further realism to the exercise players by introducing political and strategic direction and a variety of additional elements.
Therefore the UN, Red Cross, other organisations and the international media will be represented.
Similarly, other government department such as the South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development will also be represented during the exercise.
The mythical country of Kwaailand is based on the geographical area of the Eastern Cape province.
In the exercise scenario, the Kwaailand government is opposed by the Kwaailand Liberation Organisation, which controls a large part of the country and is backed by an island state off the coast, called Jabulaniland.
After a lull in the fighting, the United Nations seizes the opportunity to try to stabilise the country.
The exercise begins following an invitation from the United Nations to South Africa (as Kwaailand’s militarily strong neighbour) and the UK (as the former colonial power) to form a coalition to help maintain peace there.
The exercise will be divided into three main phases.
Initially a small reconnaissance team will arrive from the UK on November 6, and will link up with an equivalent South African team.
The unified team will conduct an “operational reconnaissance” of Kwaailand and report back to their respective authorities by November 11.
This report will trigger the establishment of the Combined Joint Task Force Headquarters, which will then conduct the operational planning phase of the exercise until November 19.
The third phase, the execution of the operation, will take place from November 22 to 26. A review of the exercise will then take place.
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