Africa Command

This Thursday the Belfer Center will host a senior military leaders from the US Africa Command, Vice Admiral Michael T. Franken, Deputy Commander for Military Operations. VADM Franken is the U.S. Africa Command’s deputy for military operations. He is responsible to the commander for promoting the national security interests of the United States by strengthening the security capabilities of African nations, to include the conduct of military operations that create an environment conducive to development and responsible governance. Franken is from rural Iowa and graduated from the College of Engineering at the University of Nebraska and from the College of Physics at the Naval Postgraduate School. He attended the Brookings Institute, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI program, the Darden School and various other executive education courses. Franken’s previous flag assignments include: director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, special assistant to director of the Navy Staff, Joint Staff J5 interim chief of staff, Department of the Navy Chief of Legislative Affairs, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HoA) in Djibouti, Africa, and nearly three years as vice director, Strategy, Plans and Policy (J5) at U.S. Central Command. If interested, please email BG Kevin Ryan, Director, Defense and Intelligence Projects.