Medical and tactical exercises the main components of Ex Shared Accord 2022

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Shared Accord, the joint South African/American humanitarian/tactical exercise, is back on track and set to start with mobilisation on Sunday (3 July) after an absence of five years.

The SA National Defence Force (SANDF) is allocating 600 personnel for the exercise, according to its Directorate: Corporate Communication (DCC). Airmen, military medics, sailors and soldiers will be part of the exercise, with the tactical component set for 12 to 28 July and the humanitarian (exclusively medical) part running from 5 to 26 July.

As host country, South Africa has responsibility for the exercsie’s logistic and support services, mainly in KwaZulu-Natal, with the tactical component scheduled for the coastal province and Free State.

American personnel numbers are expected to number around 50 including New York National Guard specialist medical personnel.

The tactical part of Shared Accord 2022 will focus on air cargo handling, from loading through unloading and re-loading for delivery to use sites using Bloemfontein, presumably Air Force Base (AFB) Bloemspruit (which shares runway facilities with Bram Fisher International) and Richards Bay airport on the northern KwaZulu-Natal coast.

DCC terms this part of Shared Accord “intervention training” with American and South African involvement at the Free State air force base and the Richards Bay civil and general aviation facility.

The main focus of Shared Accord’s medical component will be Umhlathuze local municipality. defenceWeb has learnt that eight clinics at villages in the largely rural local authority were identified by military medics from both countries in conjunction with local councillors as sites where medical services will be available to local residents. These include ophthalmic and dental and will be on offer from Tuesday (5 July) until 28 July when Shared Accord starts demobilising and returning to units.

Shared Accord 2022 has ten aims, one of which is to re-establish a “foundation” for regular similar bilateral exercises.

Another aim, according to DCC, is conduct of joint inter-agency, inter-departmental and multi-national (JIIM) exercise planning processes between the SANDF and other state departments (whether SA and/or US not specified).

On military taskings, Shared Accord 2022 will include air support for peace support operations; maritime force protection against conventional and asymmetric threats, at sea and alongside in harbour; establishing a beachhead for humanitarian relief equipment delivery; as well as providing medical support to own forces and humanitarian relief to the local population.

Joint Operations Division Brigadier General Pamla Dlamini is Shared Accord director with 46 SA Brigade’s Colonel Wayne Mabuza the South African joint task force (JTF) commander.