On the eve of its 30th anniversary, the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program has matured into thriving security cooperation relationships with 100 nations.
The National Guard’s most senior officer sees potential for about 30 more countries to enter into the security cooperation agreements with the guard over the next decade.
The DOD program is closely coordinated with the geographic combatant commands; the State Department; the U.S. embassies and their chiefs of mission; each partner nation; and the National Guard in the partner state, territory or District of Columbia.
For almost 30 years, since the founding of the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program, California National Guardsmen and their Ukrainian counterparts have held exchanges, trained together and built troop-to-troop friendships.
The nations in the U.S. Central Command area of operations remain important to the National Defense Strategy and figure in the world of strategic competition, a senior defense official said.
During a conversation with Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III explained the impact the lawmaker’s holds are having on military readiness and uncertainty within the force.
President Joe Biden issued an executive order approving the mobilization of select reserve forces with up to 3,000 personnel, augmenting the armed forces in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
The National Guard’s State Partnership Program, which began in 1993 with 13 countries, has grown to 100 nations — more than half the countries in the world.
