October 2011 - United States Special Operations Command

By Petty Officer 2nd Class Jacob L. Dillon
Naval Special Warfare Group 2 Public Affairs
Not far from the equator, in the heart of Africa,
through the haze of humidity and motorcycle
exhaust, down the bumpy red-clay road engulfed by
palm trees school children smile and wave at a
group of Sailors traveling down a road toward the
shore of Lake Victoria to train with Ugandan
Special Forces.
A partner force of Naval Special Warfare
personnel conducted a Joint Combined Exchange
Training with members of a Special Forces Group
from the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces May 23-
July 15 in Entebbe, Uganda.
“Our overall goal was to help Ugandan Special
Forces enhance their operability and build and
strengthen UPDF’s counter-terrorism capacity,” said
an NSW instructor who participated in the JCET.
“Uganda is a very strategic partner force in this
region.”
The NSW team said its made measurable
progress in their partnership with Ugandan forces,
providing the nation’s fledgling Special Forces with
innovative training to improve its capabilities and
build upon their foundation of tactical skills.
But these U.S. special operators had to
overcome challenges, such as cultural differences
and language barriers, while training with their
Ugandan counterparts.
“Communication and patience are essential,”
said an NSW instructor. “Although some Ugandans
speak English and are reliable translators, we must
always ask questions among ourselves [instructors]
and among everybody to clearly illustrate training
points and to better understand each other’s points
of view.”
One of the challenges was teaching Ugandan
Special Forces newer and updated approaches to
tactical techniques and concepts, according to Lt.
Peter Olum, a UPDF officer and company
commander.
“We specialize in jungle warfare,” said Olum.
“Much of what we are learning is brand new. Many
of us have never had to use night-vision goggles
before or have never been in close-quarters
combat.”
Naval Special Warfare team members also
expanded beyond the operational aspects of the
JCET to focus on other aspects of training with their
partner force.
Petty Officer 1st Class Joe Calderon, a Special
Two members of Alpha Company, 1st Commando
Battalion Special Forces Group, of the Ugandan
People Defense Forces, practice a hallway and room
clearing during a Joint Combined Exchange Training
with an East Coast based SEAL Team July 6 in
Entebbe, Uganda. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class
Jacob L. Dillon.
Operations combat medic, did his part to educate his
Ugandan counterparts on field medical practices.
“Along with being the corpsman for the training
evolutions, I taught my own course as well,” said
Calderon. “I instructed a two-day course on tactical
field response; one-day classroom and one-day
practical.”
Calderon was also the JCET’s resident medic,
and he provided classes on preventative medicine
and other medical care procedures.
“Preventative medicine is especially important,”
said Calderon. “This region is prone to malaria and
other communicable diseases, and members of this
group are from areas of Uganda where other
diseases are known to break out.”
Naval Special Warfare team members said their
Ugandan partners were extremely receptive to the
training they received, and both forces look forward
to training together again in the future.
“We appreciate everything,” said Olum. “We
learned so much and are progressively getting
better; practice makes perfect. We would definitely
welcome any other training opportunities we can get
from these guys.”
For the NSW trainers, progress was measured
by clear objectives established at the beginning of
the JCET, and then assessed at the end of the
training.
“The Ugandans’ continued motivation
throughout the JCET really surprised me,” said an
NSW team leader. “They were very responsive to
new training and tactics; they vastly exceeded
expectations. They have set the standard for other
partner nations.”
Tip of the Spear
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