U.S. Military's Africa Command Alarms Aid Workers.

"The command was presented as this massive integrated platform," said Jennifer Cooke, codirector of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.

She said greater coordination between U.S. agencies was a good idea but even the appearance that the Pentagon was in charge of that process sent the wrong signals.

The command should concentrate on the core mission of building relationships with African militaries to allay concerns about its role, Cooke said.

"The military needs to stick with its value-added, what it does best," she said. "There's just plenty to be done on that front."

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