Naval Medical Research Unit EURAFCENT Advances Force Health Protection During African Lion 26

NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Italy — Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) EURAFCENT personnel took part in African Lion 2026, U.S. Africa Command’s (AFRICOM) largest joint exercise hosted in Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia from mid April to early May.

NAMRU EURAFCENT’s involvement supported the Defense Health Agency’s (DHA) Global Emerging Infections Surveillance (GEIS) real-world biosurveillance mission, aimed at providing real-time force health protection capabilities to over 1,000 U.S. service members operating at three distinct locations: Southern Zone, Tifnit and Tan-Tan.

Cmdr. Benjamin Espinosa, science director for NAMRU EURAFCENT, leveraged insights from African Lion 26 to help shape the command’s overall research direction within the AFRICOM area of responsibility (AOR). His participation enabled informed decision-making in coordinating research assets, partnerships, laboratory capabilities and subject matter experts in alignment with research needs.

For NAMRU EURAFCENT, the exercise underscores the command’s commitment to delivering operationally relevant science in direct support of the warfighter and force health protection.

“Our mission at African Lion directly supported the GEIS strategic vision of providing rapid, actionable surveillance data to operational commanders,” Espinosa said. “By characterizing pathogens like Norovirus and Dengue Virus in under 90 minutes, we shift from a posture of reactive medicine to proactive force health protection. We empower leaders with the immediate, data-driven intelligence they require to preserve the readiness and lethality of the joint force."

By integrating expeditionary laboratory capabilities into a multinational, multi-domain exercise, the command demonstrated its ability to deliver timely, actionable health intelligence in complex and austere environments, reinforcing its role as a trusted forward-deployed partner to the AFRICOM AOR.

Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Michael Scaife, a lab technician with NAMRU EURAFCENT, supported African Lion 2026, providing the delivery of rapid laboratory analysis, real-time reporting and pre-exercise health risk assessments essential to timely decision-making and operational readiness.

“The exercise provided a blueprint for deploying a small joint-service team of scientists and technicians to provide a wide array of testing capabilities far beyond the normal scope of standard role 1 & role 2 laboratories,” said Scaife.

During the exercise, command personnel trained to perform in real-world operational medical environments where disease surveillance, trauma care, limited laboratory capacities, novel field technologies and environmental health challenges all intersected under austere conditions.

“NAMRU EURAFCENT didn't just deploy advanced diagnostic equipment to the austere environment of a military exercise; it brought a framework for interoperability,” said Espinosa. “By seamlessly integrating our Navy laboratory expertise with our Army and partner nation colleagues, we ensured the combined biosurveillance team functioned as a unified, force-multiplying asset. We delivered critical health intelligence directly to the point of need, protecting the force from biological threats.”

African Lion 2026 provided a key opportunity to align force health protection priorities with NAMRU EURAFCENT’s understanding of infectious disease risks impacting deployed forces. These efforts reinforce that health security is operational security: a core principle of the command’s mission.

The exercise also reinforced NAMRU EURAFCENT’s role as an integrated partner in global security, embedded alongside joint and multinational forces rather than operating in isolation.

As global health threats continue to evolve, NAMRU EURAFCENT remains postured to detect and mitigate risks, ensuring U.S. forces remain medically prepared, resilient and capable across the African continent.

NAMRU EURAFCENT, part of Navy Medicine Research & Development, conducts research, surveillance and studies of vaccines, therapeutic agents, diagnostic assays, and vector control measures in the EUCOM, AFRICOM and CENTCOM Areas of Responsibility to better prevent and treat infectious diseases in support of Navy, Marine Corps and joint U.S. warfighter health, readiness and lethality.