SWJ Blog has had a couple of links to articles etc this month on the slow expansion of AFRICOM's on the ground commitments in Africa:

1) Starting with a training team in Tunisia:http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/...#axzz2vMIAB8IH

Within I noted the USMC ground & air mission to protect diplomats in South Sudan had a problem, which leads me to speculate whether a similar future mission would have CAS:
..the operation also highlighted the risks the Pentagon faces when it seeks to intervene with light forces in remote places. Three Ospreys were hit by gunfire and had to abort their mission.
2) AFRICOM's commander giving a threat briefing:http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/afr...-across-africa

Open Democracy today has a long article by a new name to me, Nick Turse the managing editor of TomDispatch.com. It covers the French too and refers to the various other European commitments - to training. It is critical, asking whether the missions are desirable, I'll leave it at that.

Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/opensec...ionary-warfare