Submit this form
Home News Videos Music Photos Facebook Twitter Friends Newsletter Podcasts Mobile RSS
AFRICOM: Professionalism Key to Congo Medical Exercise

American Forces Press Service - September 17, 2010
U.S. Army Maj. Angie Allmer assists a Congo resident to the medical waiting area in Kinshasa
U.S. Army Maj. Angie Allmer assists a Congo resident to the medical waiting area in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sept. 14, 2010. Allmer is part of a joint medical effort with U.S. military medical personnel and Congo armed forces providing humanitarian assitance to local people. Allmer is a nurse is assigned to the North Dakota National Guard's state medical detachment in Bismarck. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. James D. Sims

Humanitarian assistance -- especially medical and dental care -- is in high demand in Africa. And, that’s a big part of the reason the U.S. military is involved on the continent, the commander of U.S. Army Africa said yesterday.

During a Sept. 15 “DoD Live” bloggers roundtable, Army Maj. Gen. David R. Hogg discussed Medflag 10, an ongoing humanitarian assistance exercise in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital of Kinshasa.

The exercise helps to improve the readiness of both countries’ medical personnel and includes classroom instruction, a mass casualty exercise and civic assistance activities in specific areas in Kinshasa, Hogg said.

“Throughout this exercise we’ve worked on some pretty basic achievements,” he said. “Soldiers on both sides received classes on triage, emergency treatment [and] evacuation techniques, and later on we conducted a medical humanitarian mission, where we treated over 1,700 people from the Kinshasa community on the medical and dental sides.”

The Congolese emergency responders, called UMIR, also rescued a number of injured passengers after a bus accident. There were about 300 total participants in the exercise, Hogg said, 100 of them U.S. military personnel.

The joint venture came about at the request of the Congolese government, by way of the State Department. Medflag began in 1988 and has taken U.S. military units across the continent to assist and partner with different nations’ medical teams.

“We’re working hand-in-hand with the Congolese military to professionalize their force. It comes down to leader development, when you get down to it,” Hogg said.

There also is a humanitarian aspect to each Medflag mission that not only provides care to local residents, but also helps to give those residents confidence that their government’s military is there to help them.

Hogg said it’s too soon to say whether measures need to be taken as a result of Medflag, but he said one lesson he learned is not to underestimate any unit’s capabilities.

“The medical units we worked with here knew their business. They were professionals,” he said. “They have a system to support their soldiers when they’re in the jungle fighting. They have a system to support their civilian forces.

“When you get down to it,” the general continued, “professionalization of a force does, in fact, make a difference. These exercises have an effect on how these groups will continue their operations.”


Related articles


  1. Ebola outbreak declared an international Public Health Emergency (July 17, 2019)
  2. Jean-Pierre Bemba Returns to DR Congo (August 1, 2018)
  3. Jean-Pierre Bemba named MLC presidential candidate (July 13, 2018)
  4. At least 30 dead after massacres in Ituri (March 2, 2018)
  5. No elections in DR Congo in December without electronic voting machines: INEC (February 13, 2018)
  6. US Warns DR Congo Against Electronic Voting for Delayed Election (February 12, 2018)
  7. Papa Wemba Is Buried in Kinshasa (May 4, 2016)
  8. Political tensions 'running high' in DR Congo ahead of 2016 elections (October 7, 2015)
  9. DRC Army Putting Pressure on FDLR (April 1, 2015)
  10. Police Open Fire on Crowd Protesting Election Law Change (January 19, 2015)
  11. Kerry Calls on Kabila to Honor Constitution (May 4, 2014)
  12. Kerry in DR Congo for Security Talks (May 3, 2014)
  13. U.S. sending more personnel to Uganda to hunt LRA leader Joseph Kony (March 24, 2014)
  14. Bosco Ntaganda Attacked Civilians on Ethnic Grounds, ICC Prosecutor Says (February 10, 2014)
  15. New DR Congo amnesty law welcomed by UN envoys (February 5, 2014)
  16. Colonel Mamadou Ndala Is Killed in Ambush (January 2, 2014)
  17. No 'Peace Deal' With Defeated M23 Rebels, DR Congo Says (November 11, 2013)
  18. Congo Will Not Sign a 'Peace Deal' With Defeated M23 Rebels, Government Says (November 6, 2013)
  19. Congo Army Takes Control of Mbuzi Hill From M23 Rebels (November 4, 2013)
  20. Kabila Congratulates Congo Army for Defeating M23 Rebels (October 30, 2013)
  21. Advancing Congo Troops Take Control of Rumangabo From M23 Rebels (October 28, 2013)
  22. Congo Army Liberates Rutshuru, Kiwanja and Kibumba From M23 Rebels (October 27, 2013)
  23. Congo Army Dislodges M23 Rebels From Strategic Town of Kibumba (October 26, 2013)
  24. U.S. Sanctions Rwanda Over Use of Child Soldiers by M23 Rebels (October 4, 2013)
  25. Rwandan Support for M23 Rebels Frustrates Attempts to End Fighting in Eastern Congo (September 26, 2013)
  26. Ban Ki-moon Confirms M23 Rebels Shelled Rwanda (August 31, 2013)
  27. DR Congo Will Defend Itself Against an Attack by Rwanda, Government Says (August 31, 2013)
  28. M23 Rebels Fired Shells Into Rwanda, Not Congo Army, UN Says (August 30, 2013)
  29. Mortar Shells From Rwanda Kill Civilians in Eastern Congo (August 23, 2013)
  30. Dozens of M23 Rebels Killed by Congo Army in Renewed Fighting (August 22, 2013)


Live TV Congo Radio en ligne Radio
Available on App Store
Get it on Google Play



Contact Us | About Us | Édition en Français | French Edition

© CongoPlanet.com. All rights reserved.