Africa Partnership Station

Africa Partnership Station, or APS, is a strategic program designed to build the skills, expertise and professionalism of African militaries, coast guards and mariners.

APS activities consist of joint exercises, port visits, hands-on practical courses, professional training and community outreach with the coastal nations of Africa.

The goal is to improve the ability of the nations involved to extend the rule of law within their territorial waters and exclusive economic zones and better combat illegal fishing, human smuggling, drug trafficking, oil theft and piracy.

These missions were designed to bring African law enforcement officials onboard US ships, in concert with Coast Guard personnel, in order to conduct the first real-time operations, building upon the many skills and capabilities acquired on previous training visits.

APS Nashville's embarked staff had a larger international flavor with military members from Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Gabon, Italy, Portugal, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, Togo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Malta and Brazil.

While APS Swift conducted a series of training, humanitarian and outreach missions in the west, Legare led and participated in the first African Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership or AMLEP (the name used to replace the LEDETs mentioned above).