USMC Gen. Michael E. Langley

African Union Chairman Azali Assoumani warned the UN Security Council earlier this year that terrorism and violent extremism have “really exploded in Africa” fueled by drivers such as poverty, weak governance, and online platforms of terror propaganda that reach every corner of the globe. As terrorist groups including al-Qaeda, ISIS, and al-Shabaab recruit, the U.S. Africa Command commander has led extensive groundwork to support and enhance the capacity of African nations’ counterterrorism efforts. Gen. Michael E. Langley, U.S. Marine Corps, became the sixth commander of AFRICOM in August 2022. A native of Shreveport, La., Langley graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington and commissioned in 1985. He commanded at every level from platoon to regiment – including Battery K, 5th Battalion, 11th Marines, in support of Operation WILDFIRE in the Western U.S.; battalion and regimental commands in 12th Marines forward deployed in Okinawa, Japan; and both the 201st Regional Corps Advisory Command-Central and Regional Support Command – Southwest in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM in Afghanistan. As a general officer, his command assignments include Deputy Commanding General, II Marine Expeditionary Force and Commanding General, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade; Commander, Marine Forces Europe and Africa; and Deputy Commanding General, culminating as Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic; and Deputy Commander, culminating as Commanding General, Marine Forces Command and Marine Forces Northern Command. “Terrorism, poverty, food insecurity, climate change, and mass migration shatter African lives and sow the seeds of violent extremism and Russian exploitation,” Langley told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March. “Solutions to these colossal problems must be a shared burden and African nations need to be at the helm of a concerted international effort to produce sustainable results, sustainable outcomes.”