DABOYA CAMP TRAINING AREA, Ghana -- More than 300 Marines and sailors of 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment and 150 members of the Ghana Army have completed a two-week training event here June 26, during exercise Shared Accord 08.
The Shared Accord exercise provided a bi-lateral training opportunity focused on individual and crew served weapons proficiency and small unit training tactics, techniques and procedures as well as company and battalion level staff training in order to assist Ghana’s capacity to conduct coalition operations. In turn, the Ghanaian military personnel provided instruction to the Marines in jungle survival training at the Jungle Warfare School in Achiase.
Arriving in Accra, on the southern coast of Ghana, the Houston-based reserve unit of Marines and sailors traveled more than 11 hours to the northern region of the country to the camp here, approximately 25 miles west of Tomale. Military training this far north in Ghana is an unusual event.
“Military exercises normally take place down south. It is rare to have this kind of activity this far north,” said Lt. Col. Jeffery R. Eberwein, Shared Accord 2008 exercise action officer, assigned to U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe. “While being this far north comes with numerous logistical challenges this was the perfect place to be. The Africa Command has been very helpful in supporting the various aspects and challenges associated with making this exercise happen.”
For some, the deployment as a whole was a new experience. Especially for 19-year-old Shreveport, La., resident Pfc. Danthony M. Williams, assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment. Temporarily leaving his civilian job in Shreveport, Williams was now face-to-face with the people of another continent learning about their culture and military while building friendships.
“This is my first deployment,” Williams said. “I came into the Marine Corps to see the world and while I am here I hope to become more diverse and learn as much as I can.”
For those on subsequent deployments, the benefits and importance of working and being familiar with partner nations was reinforced. On his second deployment to Africa, Lance Cpl. Jacob B. Trevil, Company C, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment and a Corpus Christi, Texas resident, knows the importance first hand.
“I served with a provisional security company in Djibouti and I can’t tell you enough how important it is to know how other militaries operate when you need to work with them,” Trevil said. “This has definitely been beneficial. We now know what to expect from them and they are more familiar with how we work.”
During the training, U.S. and Ghanaian soldiers were inter-mixed while participating in non-lethal weapons training, martial arts training and patrols using paint ball guns to add a bit of reality to the training.
“Using paint ball gun adds reality to the patrol because you need to know how to react as a unit if something like that were to happen,” said Lance Cpl. Michael Martinez, Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines. “The reaction can take you by surprise and is much different than most people expect.”
The response to the bilateral training opportunity drew a positive response from the Ghanaian solders as well. In some cases the benefits of the training will continue after the Marines depart.
“This is the first time I have trained with the Americans,” said Lance Cpl. Mensah Evans, Ghanaian infantry soldier of the 6th Battalion, based in Tomale. “I have learned a lot about the sighting of the rifle. I am very fortunate and what I learn here I will take back to my unit to teach other soldiers.”
In addition to the training, the Marines assisted with security and the processing of thousands of patients during numerous Medical Capability Programs taking place in conjunction with the exercise. Ghanaians in the villages surrounding the training camp benefited from limited medical, dental and optical examinations and care as well as the de-worming of thousands of goats and cattle.
“It has been fun to see the differences between the ways we do training and how they do it,” said Pfc. Erik S. Romero, Company K, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment. “During the humanitarian assistance medical project it was like a joint effort with them. We had to really work together to make sure things ran smoothly so the most people could be seen.”
Completing the jungle survival training in southern Ghana the Marines and sailors returned home with a better understanding of the Ghanaian military, the country’s people and their culture.
“Shared Accord 08 gave us the opportunity to strengthen our ties of friendship, understanding and mutual cooperation with the Ghanaian Armed Forces and citizens,” Eberwein said. “It also provided us with the perfect platform to provide first-class medical, dental and veterinarian services to some of the local communities here in Ghana. These are very important concerns for Africa Command, serving both long; and short term goals.”