Cheyenne, Wyoming. (April 15, 2024): In this adorable photo by Master Sergeant Jon Alderman, the daughter of Air Force Major Christopher Valine shows off her new smile, minus a few teeth, since they had last seen each other. Major Valine is returning from a three-month deployment to the U.S. Africa Command. Headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, the Africa Command is responsible for 53 African nations with the exception of Egypt.

Air Force personnel typically deploy for between six to twelve months but they may also do a series of two to three months stints in quick succession. For military families, these rotating deployments can cause havoc with work, school schedules, and vacations.

The Africa Command performs critical missions including neutralizing terrorist groups like al-Shabaab and Boko Haram, interdicting illicit activity in the Gulf of Guinea, and providing humanitarian relief to our African partners.

The Command has military and civilian personnel stationed at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti; RAF Molesworth, United Kingdom, and at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. It also maintains offices of security cooperation in thirty-eight African countries.