On 25 Jan 2010, the Council agreed to set up a military mission to contribute to training of Somali security forces. On 7 Apr 2010, the appointed EU Mission Commander (MCdr) of EUTM Somalia, Colonel Ricardo GONZÁLEZ ELUL (ES), was authorised to release the activation order in order to execute the deployment of the forces and start execution of the mission.
The training of Somali security forces commenced in the beginning of May 2010, and takes place in BIHANGA Camp, Uganda where Somali forces were already being trained by Uganda.
The mission is conducted in close coordination with EU partners, including the TFG of Somalia, Uganda, the African Union, the United Nations and the United States of America. The mission also facilitates the coordination of the EU’s actions with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
AFM Contribution
Following Government’s approval in Nov 2009, the AFM started preparations to contribute instructors in support of EUTM Somalia. Malta is collaborating with the Irish Defence Forces in order to form a combined training team of one officer and 5 NCOs, of which 3 NCOs would be Maltese. The Irish – Maltese ‘Training Team 9’ was to participate both in the training modules and final cohesion phase.
The AFM’s initial commitment was to support the Mission for one year through two deployments of three infantry instructors each. The three AFM instructors, drawn from 1 Regt AFM, deployed on 24 Apr 2010 and were integrated in a combined Maltese-Irish 6-person Training Team. This team conducted instruction in infantry training as planned and the Irish-Maltese formula worked very well, with the Maltese instructors integrating fully with their Irish counterparts. The first team of Maltese Instructors returned to Malta on 21 Oct 2010. A second team of instructors which was once again integrated in a combined Maltese-Irish Team was deployed on 10 Jan 2011. The team, made up of three NCOs, returned to Malta on 13 Jun 2011.
For the first time in EUTM Somalia, an AFM officer was seconded to the Mission Headquarters (MHQ) in KAMPALA, Uganda. He was deployed as one of the Personal Assistant to the Irish Mission Commander on 21 Sep 2011 for a tour of duty of six months. He has since been replaced by another officer.
On 5 Nov 2011, a third team of instructors was deployed to BIHANGA Camp as part of another combined Maltese – Irish team. Following completion of their mission this team was followed by another instructor team that deployed in June 2012.
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