Liberia: US military personnel arrive to nurture relationship

Sixty-one United States military personnel have begun arriving in Liberia in a bid to further strengthen the military- to- military relationship between the Liberian and United States governments, APA learns here Wednesday.

According to a defense ministry press statement issued in Monrovia, the visit is part of the US government’s support to Liberia’s ongoing reform of the security sector.

The US military personnel, comprising largely of US Marines, are expected to mentor and advise the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) personnel in all aspects of their military occupational specialities.

The mentoring program which is part of the Liberian Defense Sector Reform, is a consolidation of a previous mission carried out by US contractors, and marks an important milestone in the history of the AFL in conducting their own training exercises, while the US assumes advisor and mentorship role.

The US government has been providing support to Liberia’s armed forces and the Defense Sector Reform since 2006, through a State Department funded Liberia Security Sector Reform (SSR) program.

The military-to-military effort is a program coordinated through Liberia’s Ministry of National Defense with the assistance of the United States government, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and partner nations of the Defense Support Group (DSG) for Liberia.

Source. APA (14/01/2010)