The fifth Exercise Shared Accord with the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and the United States military will be staged in South Africa next year on an as yet unspecified date at a venue still to be decided.
September saw a concept development conference for next year’s combined joint inter-departmental, inter-agency and multi-national peace support operation and humanitarian relief exercise take place at SANDF Joint Operations Division headquarters in Centurion.
Shared Accord was top of the agenda for a meeting this week between US Ambassador Reuben Brigety and Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Angie Motshekga. “The meeting underscored the importance of maintaining mutually beneficial relations and continuing to strengthen military-to-military cooperation, contributing to both nations’ defence and security goals,” the Ministry said in a statement, adding Shared Accord “plays a pivotal role in fostering military collaboration and readiness between the two countries.”
Shared Accord 2025 will be, according to the SANDF, the fifth exercise where war fighting and humanitarian scenarios take centre stage with an added benefit to people living in areas close to the exercise sites. This will again see SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) personnel work with their American counterparts providing dental, optical, general medical and veterinary services.
The last Shared Accord was staged largely in northern KwaZulu-Natal with the Free State province getting a show-in for airborne operations in and out of Air Force Base (AFB) Bloemspruit, adjacent to Bram Fisher International Airport outside Bloemfontein.
The 2022 exercise was the first in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and followed 2017 at the SA Army Combat Training Centre (CTC) in the Northern Cape province with the Eastern Cape province hosting the 2011 and 2013 events.
In 2022, the tactical component of Shared Accord saw maritime force protection operations against conventional and asymmetric threats at sea and in harbours, and air support operations to peace support operations (PSO) for landward forces, using AFB Bloemspruit.
Umhlathuze local municipality, which includes parts of Empangeni and Richards Bay, was the hub of humanitarian operations in 2022. Eight clinics were used as sites where medical services were available to local residents.
defenceWeb understands Shared Accord 2025 may take place in May next year.
