Photo By David Lipp | From right to left, U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Doug Faldet and Airman 1st Class...... read more read more
FARGO, N.D. - As the State Partnership Program marks its 20th anniversary this summer, the North Dakota National Guard heads into its ninth year of having a formal relationship with the African country of Ghana. Recent months have been filled with events that brought the state and country - that have more in common than one might imagine - together.
"Just like the North Dakota National Guard, the Ghana Armed Forces remain actively employed in responding to flooding and in deploying around the globe," said Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, North Dakota adjutant general.
"We also share commonalities in our goals to reach out to military families and continually improve the reintegration process. These similarities have grown into a robust and close-knit partnership from which we're both greatly benefiting. In turn, our communities, state and nation benefit from the skills our Guard members have been refining in prevention and response capabilities for natural and man-made disasters, as well as in teamwork on a global scale while developing ways to support education and health initiatives. These skills are being implemented not only while our men and women are wearing the uniform, but in their civilian work and education."
Besides military exchanges, the Partnership Program has incorporated universities and businesses in North Dakota. Recent missions, however, have focused on the military angle.
Just last week, chaplains, safety officers and maintenance personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces visited the state during a partnership trip that connected them with their North Dakota Air National Guard counterparts.
"I am enjoying things. I have learned a lot," said Warrant Officer Eric Adomako, a safety officer with the Ghana army. "... We have a lot of things to tell and teach our people back in Ghana" as a result of the visit.
While Adomako and Sgt. Raphael Goka were busy reviewing ways to enhance both military's safety programs, three maintenance officers, including one from Togo, learned about electronic tools and discussed maintenance practices, procedures and documentation. Three chaplains - two from Ghana and one from Togo - also accompanied them, working alongside North Dakota National Guard chaplains while exploring ways to better serve military men and women and their families.
It's the first time the North Dakota National Guard has had a visitor from Togo, as well, said Maj. Brock Larson, State Partnership Program director for the North Dakota National Guard.
"It was very instructive," said Fatima Taki as she interpreted the French spoken by M. Sebastein Adjogah, Togo military chaplain. "It has contributed to the reinforcing of our capacity, especially in terms of what he learned about the chaplain and chaplain assistant [roles]. The way it's organized, he thinks it's very helpful for him."
Chaplain (Lt. Col.) John Flowers, North Dakota National Guard state chaplain, said it was "great to meet colleagues in ministry from African partner nations."
"We were reminded once again how blessed we are in the American military to have our chaplain assistants, enlisted partners, to share the load," Flowers said. "Our African colleagues do not have chaplain assistants, and they were very impressed with our enlisted support."
Adjogah also felt he benefited from seeing how the Guard chaplains work with those at the Veterans Affairs hospital and other military retirees.
"He learned that it is very good not to forget about the veterans, even if they are retired now," Taki said on behalf of Adjogah. "... We still pay attention to them and meet their needs."
Earlier this month, an engineer exchange took place at Camp Grafton Training Center, Devils Lake, N.D. Guardsmen and Ghanaians learned from one another on instructing and engineer tactics and techniques, from construction to demolition.
Prior to this month's visits, several other events brought North Dakotans and Ghanaians together to continue to foster the Department of Defense-sponsored partnership. In June, Command Sgt. Maj. Harley Schwind, the senior enlisted leader for the North Dakota Army National Guard, and Staff Sgt. David Rohrich traveled to Ghana for a Non-commissioned Officer Guest Lecture Series.
The weeklong engagement coincided with the Ghana Armed Forces' Sergeants Major Course and incorporated discussions on roles and responsibilities of operations NCOs and senior NCOs.
As the visit ended, the North Dakotans escorted Lt. Frank Amponsah to the state, where he took part in a combat engineer familiarization event at Camp Grafton.
The month prior, two North Dakota National Guard groups took part in back-to-back missions. Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Pearson and Sgt. 1st Class Paul Deegan, both engineer class instructors at the 164th Regional Training Institute at Camp Grafton, traveled to Ghana as part of a mission focusing on engineers in a peacekeeping environment. They worked with 40 Ghanaian military engineers in identifying and reporting procedures for unexploded ordnance, identifying and neutralizing booby traps, minefield extraction techniques, and identifying improvised explosive devices and clearing roadways.
"I considered myself lucky to be chosen last year, but the second trip far outweighed the first in that I was greeted with hugs and handshakes from officers, NCOs and civilians alike. The bonds built in this program transcend from professional to personal easily," said Deegan, who has worked with the Ghana Armed Forces twice in Africa and several times at Camp Grafton during engineer exchanges.
Also in May, Lt. Col. Brent Naslund and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Kari Pearson, who work in the North Dakota National Guard's Joint Operations Center, conducted a workshop on how to establish, set-up and operate a JOC to improve response to attacks as well as natural and man-made disasters.
Nationally, the State Partnership Program marks its 20th anniversary this year. The program has grown to include 63 partnerships, eight of which are in Africa. Army Gen. Carter F. Ham recently called the program "one of the most important tools that we have in our collective kit bag," and expressed interest in growing the African partnerships by another four in the next two years.
The program works to achieve four strategic goals: First, to build preventative capabilities to dissuade or avert an attack as well as to prevent natural and man-made disasters; second, to build responsive capabilities to the same; third, to transform defense structures and personnel to meet 21st century challenges; and fourth, to build capabilities to cooperate and collaborate regionally and globally on security and socio-political issues in support of the Department of State and other agencies in areas such as health, education, environment, agriculture and economics.
To facilitate the partnership, the North Dakota National Guard employs a bilateral affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana. Naslund served in that role during the first three years of the partnership, and Maj. Craig Hillig currently fills that position.
| Date Taken: | 06.21.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.24.2012 13:46 |
| Story ID: | 93765 |
| Location: | FARGO, ND, US |
| Web Views: | 127 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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