Special Forces and Army Infantry Train Nigerian Infantry to Fight Boko Haram

Background. Wilayat al Sudan al Gharbi (kown by it's former name - Boko Haram) is an extremist Islamic terrorist organization, affilated with, or has sworn allegiance to ISIS and is operating in Northeast Nigeria, using the dense Sambisa forest as an operational base as well as the adjacent borders of Cameroon, Chad and Niger to continue their extremist Islamist campaign against Christians. In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls (the Chibook girls) for sex slaves and wives) and again in February 2018, another 110 girls were thought to have been taken captive by Boko Haram. Founded in 2002 and led since 2009 by Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram has killed tens of thousands and displaced over 2 million from their homes, ranking as one of the the world's first or second deadliest terror groups.

A dozen U.S. troops just wrapped up a seven-week trip to Nigeria, where they trained local soldiers in advanced infantry tactics that, in all likelihood, they’ll use to beat back religious extremist terror in their country. The soldiers, some Green Berets performing a trtaining missions under Fort Bragg’s Security Assistance Training Management Organization (SATMO) with some assistance from some infantrymen from 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, visited the Nigerian Army Infantry School to train 200 soldiers from the 26th Infantry Battalion.

“They face a significant threat from both Boko Haram and ISIS,” Capt. Stephen Gouthro, the group’s officer-in-charge, told Army Times in a Feb. 15 phone interview. “We, as Americans, have been working with this country in various capacities, and this is just one more of those capacities where they would like our assistance with tactics … the way we do business.” SATMO, is mostly known for providing support to foreign military sales. Recently, SATMO soldiers have gone to countries like Slovakia and Colombia to train their troops on that new equipment.

The group in Nigeria focused on advanced infantry skills, starting with patrolling and counter-IED training, working up to movement-to-contact and ambushes or raids with a platoon-sized element. Every day, according to the group’s noncommissioned officer-in-charge, the U.S. soldiers would take the Nigerian soldiers through a variety of training lanes. “One lane could be doing IEDs and raids that day,” said Sgt. 1st Class Chris Campbell. “Another lane would be doing enemy prisoner-of-war searches or ambushes.” Those rotations would go on all day, with a midday break. “We take them out, we assess their capes, and then we try to improve what they already have,” Campbell said.

According to Gouthro, what they already had was more than his soldiers expected going into it. “They’re structured very similarly to what we’re used to, which helps us. They have similar roles,” he said. “They understand that the platoon leader is in charge of the overall plan, understand the platoon sergeant is there to take care of – as we say – the ‘beans and the bullets.’ Sustainment-type operations.”

They had the basics, Campbell said. “I think, really, what they need help with is, a little bit of planning and a little bit of employing leadership tactics on their platoon,” he said. “Because they move well, they just need a little tweaking in controlling, planning and executing their missions at the leadership level.” So the group shared their skills, while being careful not to dictate how they manage discipline and organization. “We do give guidance on that, but at the same time, it’s their army — so we’re not changing the way they do business,” he said. “We’re just building on what they already have.”

The SATMO mission members had some experience with training Iraqi and Afghan forces, he added, but they didn’t want to pre-judge the Nigerian army. “We were very impressed at the level of motivation and desire to learn that the Nigerian soldiers brought to the training,” Gouthro said. And, he added, in all likelihood the 26th Infantry Battalion will soon be using those honed skills in theater. “They’re not specifically slated for a deployment, that we’re aware of, but we know that the rotation will come around for them to rotate up north, to the Lake Chad Basin, where most of the conflict is in the country,” Gouthro said.

While soldiers from both Special Forces and civil affairs backgrounds have been deploying to the area for years to help local forces stabilize, the U.S. presence in the region came to a head late last year when an ambush killed four Americans deployed to Niger.

AFRICOM’s Flintlock develops tactics to take on Boko Haram threat

U.S. special operations forces on Monday concluded three weeks of training with regional partners in western Africa who are confronting the growing threat posed by the Islamic militant group Boko Haram, which may be seeking closer cooperation with the Islamic State.



The Flintlock exercise, the largest conducted by Special Operations Command Africa, brought together troops from several countries to work on a range of tactics to be deployed in fighting Boko Haram, which is based in Nigeria but threatens the stability of neighboring states.

“We find this year’s exercise both unique and very relevant,” Africa Command’s Gen. David Rodriguez said during Monday’s closing ceremony in Chad. “Because, as you know, here today in Ndjamena, we are not far removed from the immediate threat of Boko Haram.”

Eliminating the threat of violent extremists will require a multinational effort “involving political will, economic development and professional security forces,” Rodriguez said in remarks provided by his staff.

The exercise, which was hosted by Chad with outstation training sites in several other countries, comes as Boko Haram’s profile is on the rise.

On Saturday, the group’s leader — Abubakar Shekau — declared in an unconfirmed message allegiance to the Islamic State, raising concerns that the two terrorist groups might unite into a more formal alliance. Already, there have been some questions about Boko Haram’s picking up on some Islamic State propaganda tactics, such as carrying out choreographed beheadings on video.

During the past year, Boko Haram’s assaults have steadily intensified, both within northern Nigeria and now stretching into border areas with neighboring states such as Chad and Niger, which also participated in this year’s Flintlock.

A focal point of the exercise was boosting the communication capabilities of regional forces, Rodriguez said.

“For example, we have implemented a collaborative command-and-control and information-sharing system that will remain in place for our African partners to share operational information and intelligence with each other, the U.S. and other international partners,” Rodriguez said. “This capability was not just effective during the exercise. It has been extremely useful in real-world application.”

Boko Haram, which translates as “Western education is sinful,” aims to overthrow Nigeria’s secular government and install a strict form of Sharia law.

SFA Chapter IX Comment: Boko Haram has recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Boko Haram operates in and controls much of Northeast Nigeria adjacent to the borders of Niger, Chad and Cameroon. While the Armies/Security Forces of Niger and Cameroon are challenged when fighting Boko Haram unilaterally, every time Chad Army units engage Boko Haram they come away with signifcant success.

For AFRICOM, exercises such as Flintlock are a way to increase the capabilities of indigenous forces, which are at the front lines in the fight against Boko Haram. Chad, Niger and Cameroon are among the countries that have pledged to increase their operations against the group.

While Boko Haram has put pressure on neighboring states, Nigeria has borne the brunt of the group’s attacks. About 1 million Nigerians have been displaced, and the government has struggled to find a way to contain the group, which has swept through swathes of the country’s north.

“We will continue to build upon the training we’ve accomplished and the lessons we’ve learned,” Rodriguez said. “We’ll remain focused on increasing regional military and civil cooperation and information flow, and cross-border coordination to combat violent extremist organizations.”

Article written by John Vandiver for Stars and Stripes