The exercise will also involve reviewing the design and layout to help establish sustainable FOBs which have a positive impact on troop protection, logistical costs, and combat force effectiveness.
Maj. Gen. Fidza Dludlu, AMISOM head of mission support, said the reconstitution of FOBs was part of the implementation of the Somali Transition Plan, which will see AMISOM further reduce its troops by 1000 this year.
The exercise might require the handing over of some of the military bases to the Somali national security forces as part of the transfer of security responsibility to federal government, according to AMISOM.
“Our focus is to support the Somali Transition Plan. This may need us to handover some FOBs or collapse or create new ones,” Gen. Dludlu added.
Gen. Dludlu appealed to the officers to put aside their different military doctrines and come up with a standard structure, which will guarantee troop safety and increase efficiency in FOBs.
AMISOM Force Engineer Col. Olugbemi Adeboye Obasanjo noted that the safety and security of AMISOM troops is paramount in the fulfillment of the AU mission’s mandate.
“We have to, first of all, ensure that our troops are secure and safe from where they can launch offensive operations; do their patrols, and carry out any other operations in fulfillment of the AMISOM mandate,” Col. Obasanjo said.