Horn of Africa covered the Simien and Bale Mountains but melted at the beginning of the Holocene. The mountains descend in a huge escarpment to the Red Sea and more steadily to the Indian Ocean. Socotra is a small island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. Its size is 3,600 km (1,390 sq mi) and it is a territory of Yemen. The lowlands of the Horn are generally arid in spite of their proximity to the equator. This is because the winds of the tropical monsoons that give seasonal rains to the Sahel and the Sudan blow from the west.
Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa and regional stability and security. Regional stability is increased through capacity-building operations such as civil affairs and military-to-military training; engineering and humanitarian support; medical, dental, and veterinarian civic action programs (MEDCAP, DENTCAP, VETCAP); security training for border and coastal areas; and counter-IED (C-IED) integration training. About 1,800 personnel from each branch of the U.S. military, civilian employees, and representatives from coalition and partner nations make up CJTF-HOA. CJTF-HOA was established at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina on October 19, 2002. In November 2002, personnel embarked to the region aboard USS "Mount Whitney" and arrived at the Horn of Africa on December