Civilians not keen on working at AFRICOM.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Washington PULSE - Defense Department's Africa Command - Brief article

The Defense Department's new Africa Command--to be headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany--will initially be staffed by 540 military personnel but only by 12 representatives from civilian government agencies.

Such minimal "interagency" participation is a major disappointment to AFRICOM planners at the Pentagon, who had hoped to emphasize non-military diplomatic efforts in the new command. Theresa Whelan, deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, told Congress that AFRICOM "will include a significant number of representatives from other U.S. agencies, including officers from the Department of State and the U.S. Agency...