{"id":582347,"date":"2025-08-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=582347"},"modified":"2025-08-11T13:40:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T13:40:49","slug":"setaf-af-conducts-educational-stability-activities-in-kenya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=582347","title":{"rendered":"SETAF-AF conducts educational stability activities in Kenya"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n U.S. military, Kenya Navy and Hindi Secondary School school personnel pose for a photo after distributing supplies to students at Hindi Secondary School, Kenya, June 17, 2025. The event demonstrated U.S. commitment to building partnerships and strengthening communities by addressing local needs directly, allowing U.S. personnel to lay the groundwork for continued cooperation and respect.
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\n U.S. military, Kenya Navy, and Hindi Secondary School school personnel pose for a photo after distributing supplies to students at Hindi Secondary School, Kenya, June 17, 2025. The event demonstrated U.S. commitment to building partnerships and strengthening communities by addressing local needs directly, allowing U.S. personnel to lay the groundwork for continued cooperation and respect. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Neil Humphreys Goldenthal)
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\n U.S. military, Kenya Navy, and Hindi Secondary School school personnel pose for a photo after distributing supplies to students at Hindi Secondary School, Kenya, June 17, 2025. The event demonstrated U.S. commitment to building partnerships and strengthening communities by addressing local needs directly, allowing U.S. personnel to lay the groundwork for continued cooperation and respect. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Neil Humphreys Goldenthal)
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\n U.S. military, Kenya Navy, and Hindi Secondary School school personnel pose for a photo after distributing supplies to students at Hindi Secondary School, Kenya, June 17, 2025. The event demonstrated U.S. commitment to building partnerships and strengthening communities by addressing local needs directly, allowing U.S. personnel to lay the groundwork for continued cooperation and respect. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Neil Humphreys Goldenthal)
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\n U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to Civil Affairs Team Kenya, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) Civil Affairs Battalion and Kenya Navy sailors address the students after distributing supplies at Hindi Secondary School, Kenya, June 17, 2025. The event demonstrated U.S. commitment to building partnerships and strengthening communities by addressing local needs directly, allowing U.S. personnel to lay the groundwork for continued cooperation and respect.
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\n U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Madeline Hendricksen, left, 475th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration specialist, Master Sgt. Jennifer Faria Jones, right, 475th EABS public health technician, and a Kenya Navy sailor pose for a photo after distributing supplies to students at Hindi Secondary School, Kenya, June 17, 2025. The event demonstrated U.S. commitment to building partnerships and strengthening communities by addressing local needs directly, allowing U.S. personnel to lay the groundwork for continued cooperation and respect.
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\n U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to Civil Affairs Team Kenya, Southern European Task Force, Africa Civil Affairs Battalion and Hindi Secondary School staff engage in a push-up contest after distributing supplies to students at Hindi Secondary School, Kenya, June 17, 2025. The event demonstrated U.S. commitment to building partnerships and strengthening communities by addressing local needs directly, allowing U.S. personnel to lay the groundwork for continued cooperation and respect. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Neil Humphreys Goldenthal)
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\n U.S. military, Kenya Navy, and Hindi Secondary School school personnel pose for a photo after distributing supplies to students at Hindi Secondary School, Kenya, June 17, 2025. The event demonstrated U.S. commitment to building partnerships and strengthening communities by addressing local needs directly, allowing U.S. personnel to lay the groundwork for continued cooperation and respect. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Neil Humphreys Goldenthal)
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Back to <\/strong>U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

VICENZA, Italy \u2013 U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) Civil Affairs Team (CAT) Kenya conducted civil reconnaissance and engagements as part of ongoing efforts to enhance educational infrastructure and promote long-term stability in Lamu County at Bora Imani Primary School near Camp Simba, Kenya, July 11.<\/p>\n

Four Soldiers comprise CAT Kenya: U.S. Army Capt. Justin DiCarlo, team leader; Staff Sgt. Jonathan Ghegan, team sergeant; Staff Sgt. Bryan Curtin, civil affairs noncommissioned officer; and Spc. Austin Powell, civil affairs specialist. They recognize and address civil vulnerabilities surrounding Camp Simba. Their mission directly supports the base commander while aligning with broader U.S. Army strategic objectives to counter violent extremist organizations (VEO) and empower regional partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur job is to interact with the civil populace surrounding the base on behalf of the base’s installation commander, identifying and mitigating sources of instability in the civil populace that could affect the base,\u201d DiCarlo said.<\/p>\n

DiCarlo noted that basic infrastructure such as water, sewage, transportation and electricity remains fragile in the region, creating potential areas of instability.<\/p>\n

During its Bora Imani<\/a> visit, the team introduced themselves to school leadership and engaged with representatives from World Vision, a nongovernmental organization involved in constructing a new classroom on-site. Their meeting reinforced positive relations with the school and provided World Vision and CAT Kenya with insights into barriers to student retention, including inadequate infrastructure and hygiene resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe schools in this area of operations [AO], Bora Imani in particular, want more classrooms because they want to house more kids \u2013 they just don’t have the facilities to do so,\u201d Curtin said.<\/p>\n

Curtain emphasized that expanding educational infrastructure and increasing parental support are critical steps in reducing youth vulnerability to VEO recruitment, crime and drug use.<\/p>\n

Education remains the centerpiece of the team’s community resiliency efforts. The ongoing civil affairs Youth Initiative, now in its third year, focuses on primary and secondary schools within a 10-kilometer radius of Camp Simba. The team regularly visits 16 schools to engage with administrators and students, assess community needs, provide supplies and collaborate on solutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation in our area of operations is our center of gravity because the uninvolved, uneducated youth in this area are most susceptible to violent extremist organization recruitment,\u201d Ghegan said, \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing this for about two, almost three years now, and it\u2019s probably the most effective thing we do. It goes almost as far as kinetic action when it comes to countering VEO influence in this AO.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s coordination with local partners and World Vision amplifies its impact. Its presence in Lamu County and its experience in building educational infrastructure offer the community opportunities for continued collaboration. Coordinated efforts between the team and World Vision support civil network development, allowing both organizations to reinforce each other\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with the legitimate Lamu County government to bring about long-term sustainable solutions, as opposed to short-term, unilaterally by us, makes for long-term stability in support of U.S. objectives,\u201d DiCarlo said.<\/p>\n

He added that these partnerships also strengthen the county government’s ability to support its own population.<\/p>\n

CAT Kenya\u2019s efforts support broader SETAF-AF objectives to maintain counter-VEO momentum in Africa by strengthening local networks. Going forward, it will continue coordinating with World Vision and school administrators to prioritize infrastructure needs and develop long-term strategies that reduce vulnerability among Kenya\u2019s youth.<\/p>\n

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

SETAF-AF prepares Army forces, executes crisis response, enables strategic competition and strengthens partners to achieve U.S. Army Europe and Africa<\/a> and U.S. Africa Command<\/a> campaign objectives.<\/p>\n

Follow SETAF-AF on:<\/strong> Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> & DVIDS<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 U.S. military, Kenya Navy and Hindi Secondary School school personnel pose for a photo after distributing supplies to students at Hindi Secondary School, Kenya, June 17, 2025. The event demonstrated U.S. commitment to building partnerships and strengthening communities by addressing local needs directly, allowing U.S. personnel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582349,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-582347","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\/582347","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=582347"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":582358,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582347\/revisions\/582358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/582349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=582347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=582347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=582347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}