U.S. Army Reserve civil support team builds capacity with Tunisian partners
U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Rob Harbaugh, the reconnaissance NCO for the Survey team, 773rd Civil Support Team, 7th Mission Support Command poses for a photo during a field training exercise, part of African Lion 2023, at the 61st Engineer Regiment training site in Bizerte, Tunisia, May 24, 2023. The 773rd partnered with the Tunisian Armed Forces, training on HAZMAT event reaction procedures, detection equipment, and decontamination strategies. The 773rd is a highly specialized, HAZMAT reaction team, the only one of it's kind in the U.S. Army Europe - Africa theater. Exercises such as African Lion 23 provide opportunities for this specialized unit to train and educate Tunisian partners, improving their security and enabling them to better protect their borders, complementing the Tunisian Armed Forces' increased security measures. The U.S. conducts unilateral military operations, therefore we must train as members of a combined team with our partners. By training together, the U.S. military, our partners and allies get the repetitions we need to fight and win together on the modern day battlefield. 18 nations and approximately 8,000 personnel will participate in African Lion 2023, U.S. Africa Command's largest annual combined, joint exercise that will take place in multiple countries to include Tunisia from May 13 - June 18, 2023.