General William Ward Commander of AFRICOM visits Gabon

General William E. "Kip" Ward, Commander of the newly-created United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), made and official visit to Gabon December 5-6, 2007. He met with Gabonese President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba and other senior Gabonese officials.

General Ward is the highest ranking U.S. military officer to visit Libreville. The purpose of his visit was to discuss bilateral military cooperation between the United States and Gabon, and to solicit the advice and counsel of Gabonese leadership on a variety of African regional issues, including the activities of AFRICOM.

AFRICOM was established to work closely with African nations and regional organizations to coordinate U.S. security assistance programs and activities on the African continent. In the past, three different U.S. regional headquarters managed these programs.

This marks Ward’s second trip to Africa as AFRICOM commander. In early November, Ward met with officials from the African Union to further develop relationships and continue dialogue on AFRICOM support for African-led security and stability efforts. Ward also visited Libreville in July 2006 in his previous role as Deputy Commander of the U.S. European Command.

General Ward was commissioned into the Infantry in June 1971. He holds a Masters of Arts Degree in Political Science from Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Morgan State University. His military service has included overseas tours in Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel, two tours in Germany, and a wide variety of assignments in the United States.