Who thinks like this?

Just reading an article from The Economist and was befuddled by the following ... who thinks like this?

 

... The US this month established a new Unified Combatant Command (Cocom) dedicated solely to the African continent (excluding Egypt), Africa Command (Africom). Africom is as a sub-unified command under the US European Command (Eucom) in Stuttgart, Germany ... Previously, Africa had been split between three Cocoms: Eucom, Central Command (Centcom); and Pacific Command (Pacom) ... Reactions to the announcement of Africom have been somewhat mixed ... the US Agency for International Development (USAID), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and charities.

 

... in late 2001 to establish the operations of the Combined Joint Task Force: Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) ... In 2003 the US announced funding of US$100m for the East Africa Counterterrorism Initiative (EACTI) to provide anti-terrorist equipment and training for ... In 2005 the PSI was transformed into the Trans Sahara Counter-Terrorism Initiative (TSCTI) ... The initiative is run by the US Naval Forces Europe (US Naveur) and involves ...

http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10054460

 

Who thinks up and then learns all of these acronyms? Imagine a potential conversation, like this:

 

Me:   Is that CoCom HQ?

 

Them: No, it's Africom, you've got a wrong number.

 

Me:   OK, then: I need Africom, too, cos you're about to involve EuCom and CentCom in some kind of operational deal with PaCom, financed by USAID and some other NGOs aren't you?

 

Them: Could be, who wants to know?

 

Me:   Me! I was with JTF-HOA, TSCTI and US Naveur last week ...

 

For goodness' sake!

 

DW