AMBASSADOR'S COURTESY CALL WITH BDF COMMANDER

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 GABORONE 001036

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/24/2018
TAGS: MASS MOPS PREL BC
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S COURTESY CALL WITH BDF COMMANDER

REF: A. STATE 123049

B. STATE 94292

C. GABORONE 875

Classified By: Ambassador Stephen J. Nolan for reasons 1.4 b and d


1. (C) SUMMARY. Ambassador Nolan paid a courtesy call on
the Commander of the Botswana Defence Force ("BDF"),LTG
Tebogo Masire on November 18. The Commander and Ambassador
discussed the Commander's desire for more joint exercises and
exchange programs, the military assistance package requested
by Botswana, and the current state of the BDF. END SUMMARY



2. (U) Ambassador Nolan paid an introductory call on the
Commander of the Botswana Defence Force ("BDF"),Lieutenant
General Tebogo Masire on November 18 at BDF Headquarters.
Pol/Econ Officer attended as notetaker. Bilateral Affairs
Officer (AFRICOM),Major Sydney Shinn also attended the
meeting. The Commander was accompanied by a notetaker.


3. (SBU) The Ambassador told Commander Masire that LTC
Christian Ramthum, the current Defense Attache in Namibia,
had been formally approved as a regionally accredited DATT
for Botswana. The Ambassador further explained that
Washington told him to expect a permanent DATT to be
stationed in Gaborone starting in 2010. The Ambassador also
briefed the Commander on upcoming visitors to Botswana,
including General William E. Ward, AFRICOM Commander and
retired Col. Dan Henk from the Air War College.


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Joint Exercises, Exchanges
--------------


4. (SBU) Commander Masire said that he hoped the number of
exchanges and military exercises between Botswana and the
United States would increase. He stated that these types of
activities have greatly decreased in the recent past, and
stated that he was told this was due to U.S troop
requirements in Iraq. The Commander said that previously
there had been an annual coordinated exercise with troops
from both countries, which always included a unit of Special
Forces troops from the United States. Commander Masire hoped
very much that joint exercises would resume as soon as
troop-staffing commitments allowed. He added that he would
at least like there to be an exercise that could be observed
by BDF forces.


5. (C) General Masire said that he would be interested in
hearing any ideas for these types of programs. The
Ambassador introduced Major Sydney Shinn and explained that
he was working to plan a joint exercise between the BDF and
the North Carolina National Guard through the State
Partnership Program. Major Shinn explained that, while the
maneuver was in the very early stages of planning, he hoped
it would include military elements and also meet some of the
objectives of PEPFAR. (COMMENT The LTG seemed genuinely
interested in this proposal, although Major Shinn had met
some resistance to this idea from BDF officers lower in the
command chain.)

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Request for Military Aid
--------------

6. (S) LTG Masire asked the Ambassador about the current
status of the GOB request for U.S. military assistance (ref
C). LTG Masire stated that a member of the BDF who recently
visited DC came away with the understanding that "everything
in the request was cleared." The Ambassador explained that
the response to Botswana's request sounded very positive
while he was in Washington, but that he had not yet received
a formal decision on all the requested items and would need
to wait for official word. (NOTE: Post has been requesting a
meeting with Minister of Defense Seretse to convey to him the
points on security assistance contained in refs A and B.
However, the MOD has not yet been able to grant our request.
The Embassy's Office of Security Cooperation has however
informally notified the BDF about the increase in IMET
funding and the restoration of FMF. Post will continue its
attempts to formally notify MOD of the U.S. decision in this
matter. End Note.)

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Current State of Affairs in the BDF
--------------

7. (C) Commander Masire stated that the current BDF is "very
stretched" and he said we "always tell our political masters"

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that more troops are required for the ever increasing
spectrum of work the BDF is being asked to perform - wildlife
conservation, crime fighting, fire fighting, immigration
enforcement, and patrols related to foot and mouth disease.
He stated that currently the BDF cannot fulfill its training
cycles as well as the additional duties they are performing,
and therefore training issuffering. He said that the
request for additinal troops is usually met with a great
resistanc and thatmany members of Parliament find it
"unaceptable". However, the Commander plans to present a
proposal to increas troop evels to the Cabinet in the
middle of nex year.


8. (U) The Ambassador said that there ae important
parallels betweenthe North Carolina National Guard and the
BDF. He said that both organizations are being called on to
have a diverse skill set and that future cooperation between
the two organizations could be very useful and we should
"explore ways to get the most impact" from the partnership.


9. (U) While discussing the BDF Defense Review Process,
Commander Masire stated that the process started over a year
ago, and is supposed to be finished September/October 2009.
However, he thought it likely that the program review process
would likely "slip into 2010."


10. (SBU) When asked about the current status of the BDF's
staff college, the Commander stated that the first class
started earlier in 2008 and would be graduating November 20.
The Commander said he was very pleased that the staff college
is up and running as there had been a large bottleneck in
officer training. Historically, he said, the GOB had to send
officers to other countries for training and that in a
calendar year the GOB was only able to train about 10
officers. The Commander stated that in order to maintain
training levels, 40 officers a year should receive training.
Commander Masire stated that the BDF staff college curriculum
is mainly based on British models, with influence from Indian
models. He stated that as this is the pilot year of the
program, no foreign officers are enrolled, but beginning in
2010 the program will enroll one officer from each of the
SADC countries. He said that staffing for the college is
primarily done by Indian and Nigerian officers, but that in
the next class there will also be British instructors. The
training is currently being conducted in leased buildings,
but will be moving to the Glenn Valley barracks once
construction of a facility is completed.


11. (U) Commander Masire also discussed the recent
graduation of the first class of female officers. The parade
for the graduation will be held during the week of 24
November and U.S. Col. Martha McSally will attend and give a
motivational speech. He added that this was fitting, as Col.
McSally has been very involved with the class. The Commander
said that, unlike this class, which was trained in Tanzania,
the next class of female officers would be trained in
Botswana. He added that all of the women from the first
class who did not graduate have been integrated into the
second class for additional training.

NOLAN