A Light Footprint: The Pentagon's Unusual African Arm - The Economist. BLUF: On USAFRICOM - "A quarter of Africom's staff is meant to be made up of linguists, historians and other specialists. Yet 99.5% of Africom personnel are Pentagon employees. The State Department and other government agencies are too stretched to send experts. Congress happily pays for weapons but despises weaselly diplomats and woolly development aid, yet they are vital to ensuring that arms stay sheathed."