Major General Kenneth Ekman, USAF
West Africa Coordination Element Lead, U.S. Africa Command
Major General Kenneth Ekman received his commission after graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He has served in the U.S. Air Forces Central Command, Office of the Secretary of Defense, North American Aerospace Defense and U.S. Northern Commands, and Office of the Defense Representative Pakistan.
Prior to his current role, General Ekman served as Vice Commander of the First Air Force and U.S. Air Forces Northern, and Deputy Commander of Operations U.S. Africa Command.
The major general is a command pilot with over 3,100 flying hours, including 605 combat hours.
In the News…
Major General Kenneth Ekman recently spoke about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Niger.
The U.S. Africa Command lead coordinator for West Africa said, “We still have shared security objectives. How we will pursue them, either together or apart, as a consequence of the withdrawal remains to be seen, but we wanted to make sure we kept all options on the table.
General Ekman referred to the redeployment of U.S. troops in the African region, stating, “We now have to revert to going outside in … Countries like Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ghana, Benin, Chad, our access to them and the degree to which they want to partner with us will influence how we go outside in.”
Regarding terrorists in the Sahel, the general said, “Given the lack of access that we have, given the lack of ISR, our ability to gage… the trend in their development of capability and will, it’s become more difficult. Our access and our partnerships have diminished. It’s a tough operational problem.”
