Justified Accord 2027 planners integrate innovation during mid-planning event

NAIROBI, Kenya — U.S., African and NATO military planners gathered for the Justified Accord 2027 Mid-Planning Event, continuing planning efforts for U.S. Africa Command’s largest exercise in East Africa while identifying ways to integrate emerging technology into multinational training, Sept. 12-18.

Hosted at the Humanitarian Peace Support School, the event brought together U.S. Army and joint force planners, National Guard personnel, Kenya Defence Forces, Tanzania People’s Defence Force and other African and NATO partners to refine training objectives, synchronize requirements and move the exercise closer to execution.

Led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), Justified Accord brings together active-duty, Army Reserve and National Guard personnel alongside other U.S. military services and multinational partners. The exercise focuses on strengthening multinational readiness, improving crisis-response capabilities and building interoperability among participating forces.

National Guard participation also builds on enduring relationships established through the State Partnership Program. The Massachusetts National Guard has partnered with Kenya since 2015, while the Nebraska National Guard formalized its partnership with Tanzania in 2026. The program pairs National Guard organizations with partner nations to build long-term relationships and exchange military knowledge and experience.

A major focus of planning for Justified Accord 2027 is integrating emerging capabilities into realistic training scenarios rather than demonstrating technology independently from the exercise.

U.S. Army Maj. Shaun Adams, assigned to SETAF-AF’s Advanced Capabilities Directorate, said the directorate works to connect operational capability gaps identified by units and planners with organizations and technologies that can help address them.

“Everything that we have now is tied to a lane, a training objective and a unit,” Adams said. “We’ve gone away from the days of just doing a tech expo.”

For Justified Accord 2027, that approach includes planning for the integration of unmanned aircraft systems, command-and-control capabilities and other emerging technologies. Adams said UAS integration is currently a priority, building on lessons learned from previous training and creating opportunities for U.S. and partner forces to train together on emerging capabilities.

Operating in East Africa also gives participating forces and industry partners an opportunity to employ equipment in conditions different from those encountered during training elsewhere. Heat, humidity, elevation, sand and geographically dispersed operations can create unique challenges for equipment and the personnel employing it.

“Everyone has a different experience when it comes to employing technology,” Adams said. “Our partners are going to bring not only more experiences with how they utilize it, but also how they utilize it against an adversary.”

The effort builds on innovation discussions from the Justified Accord Initial Planning Event in June, moving concepts toward specific training objectives and requirements for the exercise.

“The Mid-Planning Event is where concepts turn into an executable multinational exercise,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jason W. Fernandez, lead planner for Justified Accord 2027. “Bringing our planners and East African partners into the same room allows us to synchronize across the warfighting functions, build mutual trust, and establish combined interoperability.”

Throughout the week, planners worked across functional areas to refine exercise objectives, training scenarios, logistics, communications, movement requirements and multinational coordination ahead of the final planning event.

The MPE also included a visit from U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Temple, U.S. Africa Command deputy director for strategy, engagements and programs, J5. Temple met with Kenyan officials and received an overview of Justified Accord 2027 planning and the multinational training planned for the exercise.

His visit provided senior U.S. and Kenyan leaders an opportunity to discuss the exercise as planning progresses and reinforced the connection between the detailed coordination conducted during the MPE and broader efforts to strengthen relationships, readiness and interoperability.

For Adams, the work extends beyond a single exercise. Capabilities integrated during Justified Accord can inform future training and provide lessons that can be carried into other exercises and operating environments.

Rather than viewing exercises and locations as isolated events, Adams described them as “connective tissue,” allowing the joint force and its partners to carry lessons forward, adapt capabilities and continue building on previous training.

Justified Accord 2027 is scheduled to take place Feb. 22 to March 5, 2027, in Kenya and Tanzania.

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