His warm, infectious smile and genuinely upbeat and joyful demeanor make it hard to imagine the many adversities and tragedies the distinguished colonel has endured. War and hardships have not made him cynical or bitter, but rather have forged a great appreciation for life, and a unique ability to open doors to experiences others never thought possible.
Mozambican Col. Daniel “Hugo” Chabongo, whom U.S. Marine Maj. Keith Nunn called a visionary, is the chief training operations officer for the Armed Forces for the Defense of Mozambique (FADM) Headquarters General Staff. Chabongo is the Mozambican military’s maverick; his involvement in the organization of Exercise SHARED ACCORD 2010 was pivotal to its success. Yet, the FADM “visionary” was not even born in Mozambique. He was born in 1957 in Swaziland, while it was still under the direct control of the British Empire.
As a young child, Chabongo made the journey from his home country through the hills of Mozambique to settle in Sabie. His family had planned to raise cattle there, but they soon realized that life in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique was in many ways worse than the oppression they had left behind in Swaziland.
“The Portuguese rulers would not let the people accumulate any wealth,” said Chabongo. “For example, there was a limit to the amount cattle my family could raise. When we surpassed the limit, the Portuguese would either steal the cattle or kill and waste them.”
The conditions in Mozambique forced his father to return to Swaziland. Chabango had to lie about his age in order to attend school and not be conscripted into the colonial military. He enjoyed his education, and did well. When civil war threatened the newly won independence of Mozambique in 1977, 20-year-old Chabango, now married, responded to the call to arms and volunteered to join the FADM.
“I felt a great sense of patriotism,” said Chabango. “I wanted to fight to make sure the colonists never returned. I will never forget the memories of discrimination and poor treatment from my youth.”
During the Mozambican Civil War, personal tragedy struck Chabango. His wife became one of the 900,000 victims of the conflict and died from disease. He fought well through the hardships and became a decorated combat veteran. He said he is proud of his combat experience, of all the troops he has trained, and the fact that he is very young to be a FADM colonel.
Chabango is a well educated and well traveled individual. He has thirty three years of military service, speaks Portuguese, Zulu, English and two local tribal languages: Shon and Shangano. He has been to the Staff College in Portugal and a War College in China. His educated and worldly approach has been vital in the planning process for SA10, according to Nunn. Chabango ensured everything went according to schedule, and that there were no problems, cancelations or delays.
“There is always a brotherhood of arms,” said Nunn, lead SA10 exercise planner for U.S. Marine Forces Africa. “Chabango has been great to work with. I’ve enjoyed getting to know him, and I appreciate his professionalism on any issue. The way he tackles problems - he could be a colonel in the Marine Corps without a problem.”
Nunn shared a humorous story about Chabango.
“We took him to New York City in February 2010 for the main planning conference (for SA10),” said Nunn. “It dumped 20 inches of snow in four hours, and it was the first time Chabango had seen snow. We ended up having a snowball fight, and that experience helped us build our partnership. Chabango and the all the Mozambicans threw snowballs and experienced American culture for the first time. They took a thousand pictures and really enjoyed themselves.”
Chabango’s positive attitude and impact are a large part of what made SA10 possible. He said he is looking forward to the exercise, which is designed to help develop the FADM into a more high-tech, modern military better capable of responding to threats and regional crises.
“I love this partnership,” said a smiling Chabango. “I want to help this relationship develop, and for additional exercises between our two nations to occur. We are building lifelong friendships here that will be good for both of us. This exercise is not just militaries cooperating together; it is the development of real friendships that will have long-lasting positive impacts on the world.”
SHARED ACCORD is an annually scheduled, bi-lateral U.S. Africa Command-partner nation event. It is designed to build AFRICOM partner nation capacity for peace and stability operations. Previously, SA has taken place in locations such as Benin, Ghana, and Senegal. The exercise is coordinated by AFRICOM’s Marine component, U.S. Marine Forces Africa. The exercise is scheduled to conclude on or around Aug. 13. All troops will return to their home bases in Europe and the U.S. at the end of the exercise.