Programs and Events
Agreement on Military Training Signed
On Friday June 19 at the DRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sam Brock, Charge d’Affaires of the American Embassy, and DRC Foreign Minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba signed a memorandum of understanding outlining the U.S. government’s role in training a Rapid Reaction Force battalion of the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC).
This agreement is the result of a personal request made by President Joseph Kabila to then-President George W. Bush during their meeting on October 26, 2007 at the White House. President Kabila asked that the United States train a rapid reaction force battalion and President Bush approved the request. Training of 200 Rapid Reaction Force troops will begin on June 22, 2009 at a military training school in Kinshasa. Renovations to another training site are slated to begin in late July in Kisangani. These renovated installations will be able to house and serve as training camp for a full battalion of soldiers undergoing the training. The Kisangani site will be inaugurated in January.
“This memorandum is an important chapter in our cooperation with the DRC and a new era,” said Sam Brock, “as it represents the first significant engagement between the two countries’ militaries since the return of democracy to the DRC.”
“I am very happy to sign this memorandum of understanding,” said Mr. Mwamba, “because the highest priority of a country is security. The fact that the United States has accepted to train the Rapid Reaction Force is a major step in our relations.”