SPEAR trainees get first lessons in Diplomatic Security Service standards and practices
Special Program for Embassy Augmentation Response (SPEAR) trainees Djibril and Eric fired away on their M-4s, striking target sheets at a rapid pace before slinging the weapon and reaching for holstered pistols, unleashing several more rounds as they practiced quick and effective transitions between the two weapons.
Djibril is from Niger and Eric from Mali. The two were among the 10 individuals from six African countries who attended SPEAR training at a range in Senegal in August 2024. The two are also SPEAR veterans, with a combined 19 years of experience in the Diplomatic Security Service’s (DSS) Office of Antiterrorism Assistance’s training program.
DSS stood up the SPEAR program within the Office of Antiterrorism Assistance after the 2012 terrorist attack on a U.S. Special Mission facility in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead.
SPEAR aims to enhance the capabilities of designated host nation security forces so they can more effectively respond to an emergency at U.S. diplomatic facilities in coordination with regional security officers. There are currently 14 nations participating in the SPEAR program.
This round of training marked the first time SPEAR trainees were instructed to the standards, practices, and language of the DSS special agents. The training covered terminology as well as firearms instruction, all of it intended to enhance their ability to work closely and consistently with DSS in response to a threat to U.S. diplomatic facilities or personnel. This will remain the approach going forward with the partner nations under SPEAR firearms training.
“We are doing this, so operations are done together with a collective capability,” Djibril said in French through a translator during a break on the range. “They are giving us techniques that we can take back to our countries and be better coaches.”
Djibril is a lieutenant in Niger’s federal police force known as Group Intervention Police National. Eric is a staff sergeant in the Malian National Guard, part of the Malian Armed Forces. Both are also instructors training elite forces how to combat terrorism and respond in the event of a crisis or attack. They apply the lessons from SPEAR to the training they lead back home.
“Back home, this training will make me a better instructor, because I am a shooting instructor, and it gives me much more information to provide to my students,” Eric said, also speaking French while adding that his nine years in SPEAR has made him better at recognizing potential threats.
“It has given me a lot of experience, helped me be aware of our level of vulnerability,” he said. “SPEAR opened our eyes to lots of the vulnerabilities that we didn’t recognize before.”
Instructors from the DSS Foreign Affairs Security Training Center (FASTC) carried out the training. It was the first time they participated in the SPEAR program. Planning the collaboration began about a year ago. The instructors continued to build upon their past experience and hone skills such as working with translators and planning complex courses in non-familiar environments. They will share lessons learned with their colleagues for continued success.
Other students representing Central African Republic, Chad, Kenya, and Senegal participated in the one-week course.