American military advisers in Uganda are drawing on lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan to help train African Union soldiers to fight Somalia's most powerful insurgent group, al-Shabab.

Earlier this year, a small contingent of U.S. Marines joined American military contractors at a training base nestled in Uganda's rolling countryside about 2 1/2 hours drive from the capital, helping fill gaps where the al-Qaida-linked fighters have found weaknesses. The base, called Singo, was built by the U.S. and is a key part of the Obama administration's strategy to bring stability to Somalia.

The United States has sent in only small units of Special Forces to attack al-Qaida members in Somalia or hostage-taking pirates since U.S. troops withdrew from the nation in 1994, while other African countries have deployed thousands of troops to bring order to a country plagued by lawlessness, insurgents and hunger.