USAF PHOTO Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Cory Cummins is a builder with the Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 3 in Port Hueneme, Calif. He recently traveled to the Central African nation of Uganda to participate in Exercise Natural Fire 10, which included cooperation with five African militaries. KITGUM, UGANDA -- When the son of a Lampasas woman stepped onto the orange-red soil of this Central African nation, he could have been walking into a National Geographic special presentation.

Surrounded by Africans living in grass-roofed mud huts that dotted the countryside, 550 American military members would bring modern medical science and medication, sweat equity and supplies to rebuild old, rundown schools, and an open textbook in sharing non-lethal military tactics that Eastern African armies could use to bring civil order during future times of trouble.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Cory S. Cummins, son of Mary Caraway of Lampasas, recently spent a couple of weeks in Uganda supporting a military exercise that focused on humanitarian assistance to local Ugandans, along with cooperation between American troops and five area countries.

Exercise Natural Fire 10 created friends and partners from the nations of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and the United States in a remote, austere region of Northern Uganda, just south of Sudan.

Cummins is a builder with the Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 3 in Port Hueneme, Calif. He came to Uganda to share his technical expertise.

“We’re here for the humanitarian aid mission in Uganda,” said Cummins, a project supervisor on the Mucswini Primary School project. “My crew is replacing an old roof, painting and plastering the walls and putting concrete floors in the rooms.”

The exercise was led by U.S. Army Africa, but American participants included soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines from all over the globe.

Exercise highlights included American doctors, nurses, pharmacists and dentists working side-byside with African partner militaries and providing care to more than 12,000 local Ugandans.

Two local schools and a hospital had construction renovation projects completed by U.S. Navy construction specialists. American Marines were often covered in orange colored soil following their daily interaction with the African armies. They taught non-lethal tactics such as crowd control, shared with the Africans in each other’s weaponry and practiced peacekeeping operations.

Cummins and his American colleagues gained experience and learned about Africans in this remote place.

“I believe working with other nations helps because it helps nations that have been through war and depressions improve their tactics,” said Cummins. “It also helps America strengthen ties in this part of the world.”

The United States Africa Command and its subordinate command U.S. Army Africa are available to deploy to Africa in support of a crisis. They exist to promote security, stability and peace in Africa.

In recent years, Uganda has been subjected to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups, rebels, armed gangs, militias and various government forces that extend across its borders. Uganda is a host to hundreds of thousands of regional refugees.

Exercise officials said the exercise partner nations have extremely capable military organizations and that American and African militaries are actively learning from each other.

Through experiences while there, Cummins developed his own impressions of Ugandan culture. “This has been a great visit,” said Cummins.

“I love helping others in need, and the scenery is incredible. I love the outdoors and it doesn’t get any more outdoors than in Uganda.”

Cummins arrived in Africa with expertise based on his military career. He has been in the military for nine years and deployed to Afghanistan in 2008.

Although the backdrop to this military exercise conjures visions of a place fit for a safari, the Americans who made their way to this remote African location were much more likely to see a sick child, a hammer or a defensive shield than a monkey. But by helping locals who may know where those monkeys are, a strengthened cooperation between peoples may help keep the region safe and free, for those who prefer to enjoy its natural beauty.