Emerald Coast Times

U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz (FL-01) has formally reached out to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, seeking information from the Department of Defense about the troop withdrawal from N’djamena, Chad. The New York Times reported on April 25th, 2024 that the Department of Defense planned to remove approximately 75 Green Berets from Chad following a demand by the country's government. Subsequently, on May 1st, 2024, CNN reported that half of the U.S. service members stationed at a French military base in Chad had been relocated to Germany.

Congressman Gaetz's letter calls for information regarding this troop withdrawal from both the Department of Defense and AFRICOM by May 30th, 2024. The full text of the letter addressed to Secretary Austin is available HERE.

In his letter, Congressman Gaetz requests details on several key points including plans for a safe and secure retrograde of all U.S. personnel from Chad; strategies for returning all movable U.S. assets in Chad back to the U.S.; potential charges to the Chadian government for unmovable assets left behind; risks of nullification of status of forces agreements with other African countries; plans to counter influence campaigns by China and Russia within AFRICOM's Area of Responsibility; presence of Russian, Chinese or non-friendly forces sharing battle space with U.S. forces in Africa; and impacts on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in Chad and Niger following U.S. troops' withdrawal.

The Congressman has asked Secretary Austin to coordinate responses with his Military Legislative Assistant, Mr. Derrick Miller, as well as House Armed Services Committee staff member Michael Kirlin by May 30th, 2024.