The U.S. military, in partnership with the South Africa National Defense Force, will conduct Exercise Shared Accord 2017, a command post and company-level field training exercise, July 17 – August 3.

Shared Accord 17 is a U.S. Africa Command directed and U.S. Army Africa led exercise designed to assess the capacity and capability of participating staff and forces in peacekeeping operations. Over 1000 military personnel from the U.S. and South Africa will participate in the annual, combined, joint military exercise.

“We are very pleased to be in South Africa for the Shared Accord exercise,” said Brig. Gen. William Prendergast, deputy commander U.S. Army Africa. “We could not have asked for a better training environment and our Soldiers are ready for tough, realistic training which increases readiness for both organizations. I would like to thank the South African team for hosting this outstanding event.”

The exercise, which will take place at the South Africa National Defense Force Combat Training Center, will include headquarters staff training, land force maneuvers and culminate with a platoon-level live-fire demonstration.

Shared Accord (formerly Southern Accord) 2017 is an annual, combined, joint military exercise that brings together U.S. forces and partner nations to foster security cooperation while improving operational planning and mission command capabilities. Shared Accord promotes regional relationships, increases capacity, trains U.S. and South African forces, and furthers cross training and interoperability. This exercise will help provide participating military forces the skills required to enable readiness in support of peacekeeping operations. The U.S. military is getting valuable training as well, in areas such as planning for peace support operations, combined command, and expeditionary operations. Once the exercise is complete, all exercise participants will return to their home countries and stations.