STUTTGART, Germany — Before the boss walks into the room, the waiting reporters get a little briefing.

Most recently it was in Tanzania and Mozambique, but it happens pretty much everywhere Gen. William "Kip" Ward goes in Africa.

When Ward, commander of the U.S. Africa Command, tours the continent, it makes news. He meets with defense ministers and presidents and even royalty. But before the local reporters get their shot at Ward, they get Col. Franklin Childress, AFRICOM’s public affairs director.

At a recent media event in Maputo, Mozambique, Childress provided some background on what AFRCOM does. Then Childress tried to address the one question that never seems to go away:

"We will not put a base in Mozambique. We will stay in Stuttgart for the foreseeable future," Childress tells the group of journalists, hoping to put the issue to rest.

But sure enough, just like everywhere else, this assurance usually doesn’t leave the reporters feeling assured. Instead, the people want to hear it from the general’s mouth.

And so it goes for Ward, who, after a year of repeatedly answering such questions, continues to hammer home the same message.

"It’s a matter of them wanting to hear me say it," Ward said at the conclusion of last week’s tour of southeast African countries. "It’s the type of thing where you just keep saying it and eventually it will [go away]."

Remarkably, Ward doesn’t seem to lose patience with the skeptical audiences he encounters or grow frustrated with the repetitive questions. In fact, he says he’s optimistic that progress is being made as AFRICOM continues to explain itself and build partnerships with militaries across the 53-nation continent.

The public relations and outreach, whether in the form of news conferences or op-ed columns submitted to the local newspapers, is just one part of the job for Ward on his frequent visits to Africa. There’s also the primary mission, which involves private discussions with defense leaders where the subject matter concerns the ways the U.S. can support their efforts to enhance the capacity of their militaries. AFRICOM’s mantra centers on the notion that by helping African countries professionalize their militaries, they will be better positioned to secure borders, ensure rule of law and, by extension, prevent large-scale conflicts from starting.

When Ward talks, he stays focused on that message like a political candidate on the campaign trail. When AFRICOM sets up a training partnership, it’s at the invitation of that respective country, Ward tells his audiences. Rather than coming to dictate, AFRICOM comes to listen and learn, Ward always asserts.

"The days when great deserts and huge oceans separated countries, those days are gone," Ward said during an appearance in Tanzania. Whether it is piracy, the illegal trafficking of narcotics and people or illegal fishing: "These are all international issues."

But all of AFRICOM’s work happens against an ever-shifting political backdrop, where a new crisis can pop at anytime and longtime hot spots continue to cause concern.

In the case of Somalia, conditions continue to worsen as Islamic extremists with al-Qaida links fight to gain control of the country. While the consensus among most Somalia watchers is that the solution to the piracy problem lies in establishing rule of law on land, the fledgling central government has struggled to assert itself both against the extremists and the pirates.

When asked about AFRICOM and its potential role in Somalia, Ward points out that AFRICOM doesn’t set U.S. foreign policy. Those are matters for the president and Congress, he said.

Nonetheless, Ward is well-versed in the challenges Somalia poses. In 1993, Ward was a brigade commander with the 10th Mountain Division, serving in Mogadishu during the intervention there in which 18 Americans were killed.

"It is no less complex today," said Ward, who still wears the 10th Mountain patch.

Regarding the current crisis, Ward said: "We pay attention to what goes on there, but at the same time we are not involved in that. But we’re clearly supportive of that transitional federal government and its attempt to gain authority and exert its control over its territorial borders."

While U.S. policy on Somalia continues to be reviewed by the White House, Ward said he doesn’t envision any kind of scenario in which U.S. troops would be playing a major role.

"Do I anticipate a situation any place in Africa where there are substantial elements or numbers of U.S. forces committed? I don’t," Ward said.

Rather, much of AFRICOM’s work is aimed at preventing another Somalia through its military-to-military training engagements.

"Because of its size, because of its location, because of the role it can play in the world, especially 30, 50 years from now, we pay attention to it now," Ward said.

AFRICOM officially stood up as the U.S. military’s sixth unified command in October, inheriting an area of responsibility that previously fell under three other commands: U.S. European Command, Central Command and Pacific Command.

One aspect that separates AFRICOM from those commands is its structure, which includes senior diplomat Mary Carlin Yates, the civilian deputy in charge of civil-military activities. In addition to Yates, a host of other interagency staffers from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development are incorporated into the command structure.

The interagency approach is something other commands could possibly learn from, Ward said. "Defense activities alone don’t bring security," he said. "Defense activities coordinated with developmental activities, diplomatic activities help ensure the stability you need."

Yet one of the frequent criticisms of AFRICOM is that it represents the militarization of U.S. foreign policy on the resource-rich continent, where the main interest is hunting down terrorists and ensuring access to oil.

Ward, who rebuts the idea that U.S. interest is rooted in a grab for resources, disagrees with the characterization that AFRICOM is militarizing the continent.

"It’s almost the opposite," Ward said. "Our military activities are now very heavily influenced by what’s happening in the developmental sphere and the diplomatic sphere.

"All those facts cause this command to approach what we do in a different way."

On such a large continent, where no two countries are like, it’s difficult to make blanket statements about what people make of AFRICOM.

Khalfan Said, a newspaper reporter in Tanzania, said people in his country tend to have mixed feelings. They like the military partnerships and support in the form of training and equipment, but people also are suspicious that the U.S. is looking for more, he said.

"For Tanzanians, this kind of assistance is good for us," Said says. "But Tanzanians are concerned the U.S. is going to maybe make a base near the Indian Ocean. People are a little scared about that."

While Ward continues to work against those sentiments, he insists there’s been a decided shift in the past year regarding the base question and the purpose of the command.

"It’s only asked one time instead of getting repeatedly asked. We’re making progress," he said. "The other thing that is pretty key is it’s no longer really a question about why the command [exists]. Those questions have turned to ‘How are you going to help us?’ I count all of that as progress."

As he headed back to Stuttgart, wrapping up a whirlwind trip of four African countries in five days and logging more than 10,000 miles in the air, Ward appeared energized. After all his meetings with defense ministers and political leaders, he made a final stop in Djibouti to meet with U.S. commanders at Camp Lemonier. Ward then participated in a promotion ceremony for a Navy noncommissioned officer and mingled with those in the enlisted ranks.

As he stepped back onto the plane, the Army man with nearly 38 years of service glistened with sweat. He says all of his activities don’t wear him down. Those promotion ceremonies: "That’s where you get your energy," Ward said.