RATTLER CONTRIBUTES TO STABILITY IN AFRICA THROUGH CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
BY [ Christopher GARDNER ]
Wale Adelakun, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers special projects engineer
When Wale Adelakun graduated from Florida A&M University in 2009 with a mechanical engineering degree, he didn’t quite know what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew he wanted to do it somewhere interesting. Fellow Rattler, Daniel Francois, had graduated just a bit before Adelakun and told him about an opening with him working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Germany, he jumped at the opportunity. “When I graduated I always wanted to work overseas, but it was a very open and nebulous
concept that I want to work overseas,” Adelakun said. “Daniel graduated a year ahead of me and he reached back to me once he was in the position and said, ‘Hey, they’re looking for more people, you should consider applying.’ I thought well, Germany, absolutely let’s do it. The alumni network is strong and vast and there are FAMU graduates absolutely everywhere in the world.” Fast forward to present day and Adelakun is still working for the Europe District, but is now a part of that global alumni network from his office in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. After roughly a decade of supporting U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects throughout Europe and Africa as part of the Europe District based in Wiesbaden, Germany, Adelakun moved into a new role as the first enduring on-the-ground presence for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the continent of Africa at the end of 2020. “I always advocated opening up a slot that put a project engineer on the African continent since it’s so hard to get eyes on projects,” Adelakun said. “To be there on the continent is a huge step forward in order to deliver high quality construction to our stakeholders.” In addition to managing a large construction mission building facilities for U.S. forces and partner nations throughout Europe, the Europe
22 // FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY // A&M MAGAZINE
Wale Adelakun, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers special projects engineer, stands in front of a recently delivered A-29 Super Tucano aircraft in Nigeria where he lives while working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is managing the construction of infrastructure to support the new aircraft and Adelakun supports the work as a “forward-deployed” member of the A-29 project delivery team. Adelakun, who graduated from Florida A&M University in 2009, has been working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District since soon after graduation and has supported countless construction projects on the African continent over the years, in addition to throughout Europe.
District also has projects in several countries throughout Africa in support of the U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM. These range from humanitarian assistance projects like classrooms and clinics to projects geared toward building partner capacity like training ranges for the military in Senegal (which is a top provider of peacekeeping forces to UN missions in Africa) to delivering infrastructure for A-29 aircraft for the Nigerian Air Force to aid in their battle against violent extremist organizations that plague West Africa. Now stationed in Nigeria, Adelakun directly supports the largest of those programs - the A-29 Super Tucano project, delivering a light attack, combat and reconnaissance aircraft storage facility for the Nigerian Air Force at Kainji Airbase. The project consists of a $36.1 million contract for facilities to support a dozen A-29 aircraft. The work involves the construction of a new airfield hot cargo pad, perimeter and security fencing, munitions assembly and storage, small arms storage, earth-covered magazines, aircraft sunshades, a flight annex wing building for simulator training, airfield lights, and various airfield apron, parking, hangar and entry control point enhancements.
