Practicing the eye-to-eye diplomacy they emphasise, US military Africa Command’s top leaders—Lieutenant General John W Brennan, Jr, and Ambassador Robert K Scott—spent four days in Angola engaging directly with senior military officials to chart new courses in security collaboration.
They met with Angola’s Secretary of State for National Defence José Maria de Lima, Secretary of State for External Affairs Esmerelda Mendonça, and the Joint Chief of Staff for Patriotic Education, General José Maria Marques, as well as Chargé d’Affaires Noah Zaring and his team at US Embassy Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe.
Discussions focused on bolstering security cooperation efforts that help promote stability, trade, and economic development in the region. Brenna serves as Africom’s Deputy Commander, overseeing operations and strategic engagements that advance US security interests in Africa, and wears a three-star insignia.
In an exclusive one-on-one interview with defenceWeb, on the same day as his high-level meetings, Brennan reflected on his roots in Special Forces. “You know, some of my friends from Africa are now Chiefs of Defence,” Brennan said. “I have built-in relationship credibility with them…we can leverage each other’s connections for the greater good.”
He offered a vivid example of the power of these relationships. “This is the fifth JCET [Joint Combined Exchange Training] in Angola. It started in 2022, and in my previous job at Special Operations Command, I actually authorised the GSCs. I couldn’t believe they were actually interested in it. When there’s a crisis, usually the first people to get involved are special operations, and they already have these preexisting networks that span the entire globe. For example, when we did the assisted departure in Sudan and Khartoum, the first guy who called me was my friend from Norway who said, ‘I have ships. We can mobilise our shipping fleet and get you transportation access from Port Sudan—just tell me when and where.’ That’s an example of that network.”
Scott—who brings over 30 years of diplomatic experience in Africa, including roles as US Ambassador to Malawi and Deputy Chief of Mission in Zimbabwe and Tanzania—concurred on the importance of face-to-face diplomacy. “The value of seeing someone eye-to-eye cannot be overstated. It sets the tone and builds trust in a way that formal agreements alone cannot.”
The visit also included travel to a training base near Cabo Ledo, where the delegation met with Angola’s Special Forces Brigade Commander and observed Angolan and US troops conducting live-fire exercises as part of a JCET focused on close-quarters combat and small unit tactics. According to Africom, JCETs and other large-scale exercises sharpen readiness and interoperability among allies, fostering combat-ready forces able to deter aggression.
In addition to existing military-to-military engagements, Angola was recently accepted into the 2025 cohort of the US Department of Defence’s State Partnership Programme (SPP), which pairs foreign countries with US state National Guard units. “The State Partnership Programme is a specific, yet incredibly impactful initiative,” Scott explained. “It’s not just about the military. Governors, universities, and business communities get involved because these are citizen-soldiers in the National Guard. Angola is about to sign one, and it’s going to be transformative.” An announcement of which US state will be partnered with Angola is expected by year’s end.
Scott also underscored the significance of economic connectivity initiatives like the Lobito Corridor, a vital railway and infrastructure network connecting Angola to inland neighbours like Zambia and the DRC. “When we came here, shipments along the Lobito Corridor took 28 days,” Scott said. “Now, we’re down to 7. That reduction is more than logistical—it’s strategic. It improves efficiency, ensures safer delivery, and underpins economic resilience in the region.”
The visit also addressed regional and transnational security threats. Separate from the official Brennan-Scott interview, an authoritative source within the US defence establishment told defenceWeb that the US is tracking an emerging trend—the increasing presence of Mexican drug cartels on the African continent. “We think we’re up to our fourth known cartel—the Gulf Cartel is here now,” the senior defence official said.
He explained they have seen an increase in drug seizures, particularly in West Africa, along the coastal cone stretching from South Africa northward. “We facilitate some of our partners interdicting the drug shipments and had some success a couple of weeks ago, actually, with Mozambique, [with] the two corvettes we gave them, they interdicted a drug shipment that had 8 000 pounds of cocaine on it.”
Scott emphasised Angola’s regional role in addressing instability. “There aren’t terrorist threats emanating or proliferating inside of Angola and Namibia, but they are present [near] their borders. There’s an ISIS franchise in Mozambique, another in the DRC. Angola’s concern—refugee flows, criminality, trafficking—these all impact investment and stability.”
He added that Angola’s involvement in regional frameworks, including maritime initiatives like the Yaoundé Code of Conduct, is key to promoting secure sea-lanes and economic corridors.
From joint exercises to shared strategy, from live-fire drills to diplomatic alignment, the Angola leg of this Africom trip showcased more than just talking points. It demonstrated how eye-to-eye diplomacy, rooted in credible leadership and genuine human connection, is redefining the contours of US-Africa security partnerships.
Pearl Matibe is a Washington, DC-based geopolitical analyst and correspondent with expertise in foreign policy and international security, regularly covering the Pentagon and White House. Follow her on X (Twitter): @PearlMatibe.
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