Press Release
☷Hokanson Announces new State Partnership Program Nations
National Guard ( By Press Release office)
Mar 09,2024
| 22| 1
The National Guard ' s top officer recently announced that the Defense Department National Guard State Partnership Program will be expanding to include several new nations in 2024 . Finland , Palau , Saudi Arabia , Sierra Leone , Sweden , and Tanzania will be joining the program , which pairs the National Guard with foreign allies and partners . Army Gen . Daniel Hokanson emphasized the importance of building alliances and partnerships to uphold freedom and democracy . The State Partnership Program has been successful in fostering security cooperation and deeper relations between the National Guard and partner nations . The program originated after the collapse of the Soviet Union and has since grown to include 100 nations paired with states , territories , and Washington , D . C . The selection of partner nations is based on various factors such as demographics , economics , and military size and composition . Recently , Guardsmen have been doing around 1 , 000 training exchanges with foreign partners each year , covering a variety of topics like peacekeeping , NCO development , lifesaving skills , and cyber defense . In 2023 , over 9 , 000 Guardsmen participated in almost 1 , 500 engagements worldwide , showing how successful and important the program is . According to Hokanson , it ' s all about learning from each other and building mutually beneficial relationships . The National Guard is working on partnerships and alliances with other nations , helping them improve while also benefiting our own country . The State Partnership Program manages to achieve a lot with a small portion of the security cooperation budget . Hokanson emphasized that the true success of these partnerships lies in the lasting relationships formed between individuals , which continue throughout their careers . These relationships of trust and respect are crucial when it comes time to train , respond , or fight alongside our partners .
PLAY the NEWS
* May be useful for visually impaired persons .
Press release information:
Direct link to press release:
Click here .
