The formation of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has been met with both praise and skepticism. The praise has been centered on the logic of establishing this new unified command to dealwith the opportunities and pitfalls for American foreign policy that the African continent will present in the coming years. Conversely, the command's establishment has been seen by many African countries as an attempt at hegemony and a harbinger of a neocolonial push into the region.
Accordingly, AFRICOM has not only found itself unwelcome as a concept to many African nations, but just as unwelcome in the literal sense: efforts to find a suitable AFRICOM headquarters within the theater's boundaries have been unsuccessful. Even longtime allies on the continent fall silent when faced with the prospect of hosting AFRICOM's headquarters, and the command, still in its formative or "standing up" stage, remains nestled near the European Command's headquarters in Germany.
An alternative to a permanent base on African soil is putting the AFRICOM commander and staff afloat. While the use of a flagship has been traditionally reserved for naval commanders, the problematic effort to keep the AFRICOM staff within its area of responsibility is cause enough to study the use of a sea-based headquarters for this newest of the regional combatant commands. Geography as well as current affairs shows that access to the entire AFRICOM area by sea would be both easy and timely. With almost 19,000 miles of coastline, Africa is not only the second largest continent, it is essentially an island. Any region of the theater would be accessible to the entire AFRICOM staff within a few days' steaming.
As a theater of operations, much of what concerns us about Africa is maritime in nature, from piracy off the Horn of Africa to smuggling off the Ivory Coast. Early and ongoing AFRICOM efforts have included the new "global fleet station" concept in which U.S. Navy ships have deployed to African waters to conduct training, humanitarian assistance, and official visits. The addition of a flagship flying the flag of the regional commander would build on these efforts to establish long-term relationships with the diverse nations of the continent.
Finding a suitable flagship for AFRICOM would require commitment to a concept that has been faltering within the Navy itself. The service's last dedicated flagships, the USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) and the USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20), are assigned to the commanders of the U.S. Seventh and Sixth Fleets, respectively. These two ships are aging, and the Navy has shown little enthusiasm for their replacement. However, locating a ship capable of supporting the size of staff needed by U.S. Army General Kip Ward, AFRICOM's first commander, can be done.
The USS Coronado (AGF-11), former flagship of the Sixth Fleet in San Diego, lies in mothballs but was extensively modernized and configured for a large joint staff prior to the Navy deciding that she was too expensive to maintain. Should bringing Coronado back into service not prove feasible, other options, some already under consideration by the Navy for flagship procurement, are possible. A civilian passenger liner could be leased by the Military Sealift Command and fitted out to support the embarked AFRICOM staff. Eventually, a dedicated flagship design could be built, or the Navy could add another LPD-17-class hull to the program for this ship, configuring it as a flagship, much as was done for the Coronado and the USS La Salle (AGF-3), which served as the Fifth and Sixth Fleet flagship.
Of course, the AFRICOM flagship could be considered the ultimate "high value unit" should a shooting war break out, and in these days of terrorism expanding seaward this vulnerability needs to be addressed. However, balancing the likelihood that the AFRICOM flagship would become a naval target is the vulnerability of any headquarters AFRICOM could occupy ashore.
Identifying a suitable afloat home for Africa Command would both add to and spur the debate over the future of flagships as viable headquarters in an age where communication is instantaneous and travel by air readily available. But it would also allow this new command to get on with its very difficult job in a region that becomes more important to the United States daily. As AFRICOM seeks to establish itself and gain the trust of the some 60 countries on the African continent, it is essential that General Ward and his staff be accessible to the region. A flagship would facilitate that presence symbolically and literally.