{"id":171103,"date":"2024-05-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=171103"},"modified":"2024-05-08T07:10:15","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T07:10:15","slug":"units-first-female-african-american-commander-overseas-joins-african-lion-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=171103","title":{"rendered":"Unit’s first female African-American commander overseas joins African Lion 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n U.S. Army Capt. Markia Hobbs (left), commander of the 642nd Regional Support Group, speaks with Capt. Meghin Smith (right), a human resource officer with the 642nd RSG, and takes notes in Ben Ghilouf, Tunisia, on May 4, 2024. African Lion 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command\u2019s premiere joint exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), running from April 19 to May 31 across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, with over 8,100 participants from 27 nations and NATO contingents. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. William D. Kennedy III)
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\n U.S. Army Capt. Markia Hobbs, commander of Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 642nd Regional Support Group, speaks with the senior ranking officer of the Tunisian Armed Forces in Ben Ghilouf about the logistics partnership between U.S. and Tunisian Armed Forces in Ben Ghilouf, Tunisia on May 2, 2024. African Lion 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command\u2019s premiere joint exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), running from April 19 to May 31 across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, with over 8,100 participants from 27 nations and NATO contingents. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Dylan Grace)
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\n U.S. Army Capt. Markia Hobbs, commander of the 642nd Regional Support Group, Headquarters, Headquarters Company, poses for a photo in Ben Ghilouf, Tunisia on May 5, 2024. African Lion 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command\u2019s premiere joint exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), running from April 19 to May 31 across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, with over 8,100 participants from 27 nations and NATO contingents. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Logan Whorton)
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\n U.S. Army Capt. Markia Hobbs, commander of Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 642nd Regional Support Group, meets with one of the chef contractors at the troop dining facility to compliment them on food quality in Ben Ghilouf, Tunisia on May 2, 2024. African Lion 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command\u2019s premiere joint exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), running from April 19 to May 31 across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, with over 8,100 participants from 27 nations and NATO contingents. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Dylan Grace)
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\n U.S. Army Capt. Markia Hobbs, commander of the 642nd Regional Support Group, Headquarters, Headquarters Company, poses for a photo in Ben Ghilouf, Tunisia on May 5, 2024. African Lion 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command\u2019s premiere joint exercise led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), running from April 19 to May 31 across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, with over 8,100 participants from 27 nations and NATO contingents. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Logan Whorton)
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Back to\u00a0U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

BEN GHILOUF, Tunisia \u2013 The task of running a mayor cell, the headquarters for a military installation, during a training exercise involves many moving parts: keeping track of all movements in and out of the camp; coordinating food, laundry, bathrooms and lodging for exercise participants; resolving any issues with logistics; and much more. Now, imagine leading all of that in a country where you don\u2019t speak the language and where things can change in a moment\u2019s notice.<\/p>\n

With a bit of trepidation, U.S. Army Capt. Markia \u201cKia\u201d Hobbs, commander of the 642nd Regional Support Group (642nd RSG), Headquarters and Headquarters Company, a U.S. Army Reserve<\/a> unit from Decatur, GA, jumped into that task at Ben Ghilouf Training Area (BGTA) in Tunisia during African Lion 2024<\/a> (AL24).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very different for me,\u201d Hobbs said. \u201cWhen I was first brought into the exercise they said, \u2018Commander, this is what you\u2019re going to be doing, this is how it\u2019s going to be, this is what I need you to do.\u2019 So immediately my thoughts were racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

To put the assignment in perspective, Hobbs joined nearly 2,500 other participants in the Tunisian portion of AL24. Overall, this year\u2019s exercise brings together approximately 8,100 multinational partners from 27 nations spread across Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia, from April 19 to May 31. The mission: build interoperability between partners and strengthen readiness in support of future operations.<\/p>\n

But there was something else command leadership told her that motivated her to push past the fears: Hobbs would be the first African-American female to lead the 642nd RSG in its first overseas mission in over a decade.<\/p>\n

Before taking command, Hobbs served as a human resources officer in the positions of personnel and administration officer and of platoon leader. She was commissioned as an Army Reserve officer through the ROTC<\/a> program at the University of South Carolina<\/a> in 2019 and attended battle assemblies with the 642nd RSG in Decatur, Georgia, prior to commissioning.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a commander is like being a CEO,\u201d Hobbs said. \u201cLike having your own business, you\u2019re able to manage it, and you have people who fall under you to delegate the work and make sure that everything that is asked actually gets done.\u201d<\/p>\n

AL24 offered the opportunity for the 642nd RSG and other participating units to practice setting the theater for current operations and contingencies by improving conditions to ensure necessary access, critical infrastructure and partner nation support.<\/p>\n

In her role as mayor cell commander of BGTA, Hobbs can be difficult to track down. She might be out discussing a logistics solution with Tunisian contractors in the dining facility, meeting with the senior ranking officer of BGTA in his headquarters, or running around the camp ensuring that everyone has what they need to complete their missions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m kind of like the middleman between the actual exercise and the Tunisians,\u201d Hobbs explained. \u201cWe\u2019re basically building a comradery between the U.S. and Tunisian Army.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the exercise, Hobbs also collaborates with units from the U.S. National Guard, Army Reserve and Marines \u2014 all who look to her team to help coordinate logistics, personnel movements and welfare at the training area.<\/p>\n

But luckily, Hobbs is no newcomer to juggling multiple roles at once.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the civilian side, I\u2019m actually a stay-at-home mom,\u201d Hobbs said, \u201cand I have three businesses that my husband and I own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hobbs initially felt different among the mostly male leadership at BGTA. But she started to learn some French and connected culturally with her Tunisian counterparts. She started wearing a head covering to show respect for the culture and also as protection from the sandstorms of the Tunisian desert.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust working with the contractors, when they see me they call me by my first name,\u201d Hobbs said.<\/p>\n

At first, she felt the Tunisian women contractors were hesitant to connect with her. However, she continued reaching out and eventually came to share hugs and compliments with them in their morning greetings at the dining facility or laundry pickup spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat just warmed my heart,\u201d Hobbs said. \u201cI\u2019m a people person, and I love to see people smile.\u201d<\/p>\n

About African Lion<\/strong><\/p>\n

2024 marks the 20th anniversary of\u00a0U.S. Army Africa Command’s<\/a>\u00a0premier and largest annual, combined, joint exercise African Lion. This year\u2019s exercise will take place April 19 through May 31 and is hosted across Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia with more than 8,100 participants from over 27 nations and contingents from NATO. African Lion 24 focuses on enhancing readiness between the U.S. and partner nation forces. This joint all-domain, multi-component, and multinational exercise, employs a full array of mission capabilities with the goal to strengthen interoperability among participants and set the theater for strategic access.<\/p>\n

African Lion content can be found on the\u00a0Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About SETAF-AF<\/strong><\/p>\n

SETAF-AF provides\u00a0<\/strong>U.S. Africa Command<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0U.S. Army Europe and Africa<\/a>\u00a0a dedicated headquarters to synchronize Army activities in Africa and scalable crisis-response options in Africa and Europe.<\/p>\n

Follow SETAF-AF on:<\/strong>\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0YouTube<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0&\u00a0DVIDS<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 U.S. Army Capt. Markia Hobbs (left), commander of the 642nd Regional Support Group, speaks with Capt. Meghin Smith (right), a human resource officer with the 642nd RSG, and takes notes in Ben Ghilouf, Tunisia, on May 4, 2024. African Lion 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171105,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-171103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=171103"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171111,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171103\/revisions\/171111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/171105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=171103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=171103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=171103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}