Nairobi — Ten members of the Kenya Defence Forces graduated from the Kenya Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) course on Friday, becoming the first KDF cohort to complete the United States-led training.
The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi said in a statement Tuesday that the graduates, selected from the enlisted corps, completed a rigorous 12-week joint program led by U.S. Special Operations, Marines, Army, and Air Force instructors.
The course improves interoperability between Kenya and the US and enhances Kenya's ability to operate close air support and deconflict airspace.
The course focused on the fundamentals of close-air support, civilian harm mitigation, and airspace deconfliction.
"The KDF continues to demonstrate extraordinary leadership: in this instance sharpening their abilities to operate effectively in complex joint-combined environments," said U.S. Navy Captain John Cowan, the U.S. Special Operation Command Liaison at the U.S. Embassy in Kenya.
"Air-to-ground integration is arguably one of the most complex military activities, and these courses traditionally see very few who start able to complete the training successfully."
Captain Cowan stated that KDF's high completion rate for the course demonstrates the readiness and professionalism of KDF service members.
The Kenya JTAC program was developed in partnership with the U.S. government's $30 million Air to Ground Integration Program as a means to expand defense capabilities of the KDF and develop more effective an agile partnership between the U.S. and Kenyan militaries through training and equipment support.
