United States Africa Command Challenge Coins

Start Free Artwork & Quote Start Free Quote

Becoming fully operational in 2008, the United States Africa Command (U.S. AFRICOM) is one of six geographic combatant commands under the Department of Defense. The organization performs detailed planning, coordination with African allies, and command of military elements from every branch of the U.S. Military. From its command headquarters located in Kelly Barracks at Stuttgart, Germany, AFRICOM organizes missions in every country of Africa except for Egypt to disrupt and neutralize transnational threats, promote regional security and stability, and help train African partners in defense capability.

As a major command organization, AFRICOM rewards and recognizes its members through uniquely designed military challenge coins, custom medallions often emblazoned with organizational emblems and symbols. Challenge coins are usually awarded to individual soldiers as a sign of a commanding officer’s respect for outstanding service or commissioned for specific groups and units as “unit coin,” representing a soldier or staffer’s membership. With many subordinate commands and organizations organized under its auspices, U.S. AFRICOM units and commanders commission hundreds of different unique designs representative of either a specific organization or a specific commander.

Our company, Signature Coins, designs and produces high-quality challenge coins used by members of the military, law enforcement, and government officials to recognize outstanding servicemembers and represent their bonds of camaraderie. Since we started in 2000, we’ve been proud to create unique challenge coins that honor the Armed Forces and can be found in the collections and pouches of both deployed soldiers and honored veterans.

Operational Organization of U.S. Africa Command

The spirit, goals, and character of an organization are among the most important aspects of a challenge coin’s design. Despite its relatively recent development, AFRICOM has worked to distinguish itself as a partner to African nations by training security forces and identifying disruptive or terrorist elements. Like other Unified combatant commands, AFRICOM is made up of smaller command organizations and groups representing each of the major military branches and their component forces. Each of these component commands maintains their own organizational symbols, mottos, and insignias that represent their command and membership and are often used as design elements for unique challenge coins made by their staff and soldiers.

The component commands of U.S. AFRICOM include:

U.S. Army Africa
U.S. Air Forces Africa
U.S. Marine Corps Forces Africa
U.S. Naval Forces Africa
U.S. Special Operations Command Africa

Ready To Get Started?

Start Free Artwork & Quote Start Free Quote

Leadership of U.S. Africa Command

One of the most honored and respected traditions around challenge coins is for commanders to commission and then award unique challenge coins to outstanding soldiers or staff who have earned their personal respect or regard. These “commander coins” are distinct from a group or regiment’s “unit coin,” as they represent direct recognition from a commander or leader for the efforts of an individual. These types of challenge coins are often considered some of the rarest and most valuable challenge coins, with the most famous coin being the Presidential challenge coin commissioned since President Clinton’s time.

AFRICOM’s command is made up of dedicated commanders and staff who manage the organization’s resources and assets in the field. AFRICOM-specific challenge coins are often commissioned by these overall directorates and commanders to represent either a specific leader or the role of a command team in organizing AFRICOM.

The directorates and command roles of U.S. AFRICOM include:

J1 - Manpower and Personnel
J2 - Intelligence
J3 - Operations and Cyber
J4 - Logistics
J5 - Strategy, Engagement, and Programs
J6 - C4S Systems
J8 - Resources and Assessments
Headquarters Commandant
Office of the Command Chaplain
Office of the Command Surgeon
Office of the Foreign Policy Advisor
Office of the Legal Counsel
Office of the Inspector General
Office of Public Affairs and Communication Synchronization
USAID Developmental Advisor
Interagency Staff

Signature Coins AFRICOM Challenge Coins

Through the sheer size and scope of AFRICOM’s operations, there are conceivably hundreds of different variations and emblems that may be significant to an AFRICOM unit or commander. To accommodate the needs of our clients and ensure the ability to recreate an organization’s symbols, we provide a full host of customization options allowing clients to change and redesign almost every aspect of a challenge coin. Signature Coins accommodates all manner of special requests for the design ranging from the size, shape, color, and more. Our goal and promise to our customers is to make the process of ordering, designing, and creating custom challenge coins simple, easy, and fast.

With a staff including military veterans, our company understands the personal importance and significance of each challenge coin a service member receives. With over a decade of experience working with clients in the military and civilian sectors, we’ve developed a simple and easy to navigate three-step process for designing, ordering, and producing unique coins made out to every order.

Fill out our quote form with the basic details of your challenge coin design, and within 24 to 48 hours we’ll get back to you with a free art proof and preliminary quote for your order.
We don’t move forward with your order until you give us final approval on any design. If there’s any aspect of the initial art proof a client wants to be changed, we listen to feedback and offer free unlimited revisions on all orders until a customer is satisfied with our design.
Once you give us final approval and complete our order form, we immediately begin production and have your order delivered to your address within 14 days via free UPS Priority Air Shipping.

Signature Coins Services

Including an Area of Responsibility over every African country except Egypt, U.S. AFRICOM is a diverse team of professional military experts who plan extensive operations and trains local defense forces to secure stability in their regions. AFRICOM coordinates and works with partnered organizations throughout Africa and Signature Coins is proud to provide our products to honor the staff and soldiers under their leadership.

Clients who order our services receive experts providing a full design and production service. Over our 15 years of service, we have consistently crafted high-quality challenge coins that take into account all of the rich history and cultures of the organizations that come to us. Our team of professional artists works individually with each client to bring their ideas from a base concept to a fully-plated coin they can prize for years to come.

Trust us to provide quality services including: