This article, “10 Things to Know about Trump’s AFRICOM Chief Dagvin Anderson,” outlines 10 key aspects of Lieutenant General Dagvin Anderson, who was nominated to lead the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) and unanimously approved by the Senate. The US Air Force general is the first airman to lead the Africa Command
By Julian Pecquet
The US Senate unanimously approved President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead US Africa Command before heading out for the summer, confirming Lt. Gen. Dagvin Anderson by voice vote on the evening of Thursday, 31 July.
Here are 10 things to know about the new head of AFRICOM:
1. Air Force groundbreaker
Born in 1970 and now in his mid-50s, Anderson is the first Air Force officer to lead AFRICOM in the command’s 18-year history. Of the previous six commanders, four have hailed from the US Army and two from the Marines, including Anderson’s immediate predecessor, Lt. Gen. Michael Langley.
Anderson earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri in 1992 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant that same year. He has flown the MC-130E special operations airlift aircraft, among others, according to the Air Force.
2. Command experience
Anderson has several commands under his belt, including leading the 19th Special Operations Squadron out of Hurlburt Field, Florida, the 58th Operations Group out of Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, and the 58th Special Operations Wing out of that same base.
This isn’t his first posting in Stuttgart: From June 2019 to July 2021, he led Special Operations Command-Africa (SOC-Africa), under operational control of AFRICOM, also headquartered out of Kelley Barracks.
That experience “provides me with insight into the threats to our homeland, our interests, and our forces, but also the opportunities across the African continent to advance US interests”, Anderson said at his nomination hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in July.
3. Battle-tested in Africa
Anderson’s tenure at SOC-Africa was deeply tested in January 2020 when several dozen “determined, disciplined and well-resourced” Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the US military facility at Manda Bay in Kenya, killing a US soldier and two American contractors.
A Pentagon investigation later faulted four factors for the loss of life: “complacent leadership and command and control at the tactical level, and poor oversight at the operational level”; inadequate threat assessments; poorly prepared security forces; and command failures as Manda Bay grew from a training base to a counterterrorism support and airbase.
In October that year, Special Operations airmen carried Navy Seal Team 6 from Spain to northern Nigeria to free a US citizen who had been kidnapped in neighboring Niger. The team liberated 27-year-old Philip Walton without suffering any casualties, killing six of his seven captors in the process.
4. Somalia sceptic
Anderson also commanded Joint Task Force-Quartz, the repositioning of more than 13,000 US forces from Somalia to other countries in East Africa at the tail end of the first Trump administration. “On essentially no notice,” AFRICOM Commander Gen. Stephen Townsend said at the time.
Pressed by top Armed Services Democrat Jack Reed for his thoughts on a continued US troop presence in Somalia, Anderson said the US had “seen some limited success there in training their forces”, calling the Somali elite special operations Danab Brigade a “capable counter-terrorism force”.
With the Pentagon looking to deepen its partnership with Somaliland, he went to give proponents of independence some reason for optimism. “I think it’s in our interest to have some level of engagement in that region,” Anderson said. “Whether that’s with the federal government or the member states, I think that’s something I would have to assess if confirmed.”
5. Relationship builder
At a time when Trump’s tariffs and aid cuts are causing concerns across the continent, Anderson told the Senate he’d look for “creative ways” to deepen cooperation with partner nations. Terrorist groups such as the Islamic State group, Al-Qaeda, and Al-Shabaab are relocating to the “ungoverned spaces” of the Sahel and Somalia while remaining “intent to attack US interests”, he said.
“One of the greatest concerns we have is having enough resources and enough relationships to be able to understand how these threats are progressing,” he said.
6. Niger optimist
One of those partners is Niger, where the US was forced to vacate its air base in Agadez last year after the military putsch against President Mohamed Bazoum. Anderson highlighted the challenge of making sustainable investments with African partners given the “volatility” on the continent, hinting that relations between Washington and Niamey aren’t as damaged as may appear publicly.
“I will say that the relationships that we built in Niger with the military over several decades are still there. When the time is right, I believe there will be an opportunity. But that time will have to be determined.”
7. Chinese military threat
While protecting the US from terrorist attacks remains AFRICOM’s top priority, Anderson said he sees a growing military threat from China.
“We are seeing them expand into more information operations on the continent, providing communist propaganda,” he told the Senate, noting that China is carrying out more military-to-military engagements.
Their quest for developing infrastructure, including dual-use ports, especially on the Atlantic, is worrisome, as sea-based Chinese ships would greatly complicate the US security picture, he added.
Asked if the US shared any interests with China in Africa, he did not identify any.
“We are concerned that expanding [Chinese] security presence in Africa could restrict freedom of navigation and global commerce through strategic sea lines of communication,” Anderson testified.
He added that the Chinese Communist Party searches for clients and customers, while the US seeks partners and allies. “This reality puts our two nations’ long-term strategic objectives at direct odds.”
8. Soft power defender
Pressed by critics of Trump’s cuts to foreign aid on whether China and Russia would fill the void left by America’s soft power retreat across the continent, Anderson carefully avoided any direct criticism of the president.
He described Africa as “very much an economy of force theatre”, one where the US needs to “maximize the limited resources we have”, mentioning working with the State Department and non-governmental organizations.
9. Leveraging US business
Anderson joins the chorus of officials who have been highlighting the US military’s role in buttressing Trump’s commercial diplomacy on the continent.
“One of the greatest powers the United States brings is our economy,” he told the Senate.
He mentioned the Trump administration’s $1.2bn investment in the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital as well as efforts to work with private firms seeking to invest on the continent.
“One of the things AFRICOM is positioned well to do is to convene people to have these discussions, understanding that we provide the military aspect of it but we can [also] provide a venue to bring folks together to look at the security implications of these investments,” he said.
10. War for truth
One key area where Anderson made clear he thought the US was falling behind on the continent is in the area of information warfare, where the Chinese and Russian advantage has only been exacerbated by the dismantlement of Voice of America.
“I believe that the Russian influence and information operations were critical in turning populations against the French in the Sahel. I think it is very much not in our interest what the Russians are doing in the information domain.”
Asked if the US was losing the war for truth, he said it was a risk.
“The truth is incredibly powerful. We have that, still. We are still a very credible [and] powerful source of information. We need to leverage that. I think we need to be more aggressive about that,” he said. “I wouldn’t say we’re necessarily losing it, but if we do not engage, we risk losing it.”
