Photo By Spc. Alicia Clark | Lt. Col. Rodney P. Rose, director, Host Nation Affairs, Area Support Group - Kuwait,...... read more read more
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By Pfc. Alicia Torbush
20th Public Affairs Detachment
Kuwait - Every service member and Department of Defense civilian in Kuwait is an ambassador," said Lt. Col. Rodney P. Rose, director, Host Nation Affairs, Area Support Group - Kuwait. "We must all understand what we must protect."
The mission of Host Nation Affairs is to build and maintain good relations with Kuwait while providing support to Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.
"One of my directives is to build goodwill capital by treating everyone with dignity and respect," said Kuwait Ministry of Defense liaison, Staff Sgt. Jose Zarate, Host Nation Affairs, ASG-KU.
In order to operate within Kuwait, a relationship must be built and maintained. Most host nations and the U.S. military operate under a Status of Forces Agreement.
According to the Global Security website, a SOFA allows the U.S. military to operate within a host nation and allows for entry and exit of forces to that nation.
"The SOFA does not apply in Kuwait," said Rose.
Kuwait and the U.S. have a Defense Cooperation Agreement. The DCA has an indefinite timeline for U.S. presence in Kuwait and allows for cooperation between the two countries. Either nation can give one year notice to terminate the agreement.
As part of the current DCA, Kuwait provides almost a half billion dollars worth of goods and services and the U.S. military provides training for the Kuwaiti army.
"The Kuwaiti military depends on the training that it gets from the U.S. Army," said Kuwait army Chief Warrant Officer Al-Shamari Sabih, liaison, Kuwait ministry of defense.
In turn, the U.S. military depends on the mission-critical goods and services that Kuwait provides, such as use of ports, bases, ranges and training facilities.
The Kuwaiti government also provides host nation and third country national labor force, the use of Kuwait City International Airport, use of bands and frequencies for communication, funding for facility maintenance, dining facilities, free use of facilities and a customs fee wavier for equipment passing through Kuwait on its way to Iraq or Afghanistan.
"We could not do all the things we are doing in Iraq and some parts of Afghanistan if we did not have Kuwait as a place to stage personnel and equipment," said Rose.
Maintaining good host nation relations between ASG-KU and Kuwait is essential to OIF and OEF.
| Date Taken: | 10.29.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 10.29.2008 12:18 |
| Story ID: | 25681 |
| Location: | KW |
| Web Views: | 675 |
| Downloads: | 315 |
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