Washington Air Guardsmen train with Pacific Air Forces, focus on State Partnership Program

Photo By Jason Kriess | Maj. Gen. Bret D. Daugherty, commander of the Washington National Guard, signs an agreement with General Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi bin Raja Mohamed Noor, Chief of Defence Force, Malaysia during a signing ceremony at the Malaysian Ministry of Defence solidifying Malaysia as a partner nation with Washington state under the State Partnership Program. The SPP links a state's National Guard with the armed forces of a partner country in a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship by means of tailored, small footprint, high-impact security cooperation engagements that foster long-term enduring relationships with U.S. friends and allies around the world. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jason Kriess)  

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HI, UNITED STATES

09.14.2018

Story by Tech. Sgt. Timothy Chacon 

Washington Air National Guard

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii - It would be easy to look at the Washington Air National Guard and think that their reach extends only as far as the borders of the Evergreen State, but with programs like the State Partnership Program, the impact the Air Guard is a global affair.
The SPP was a main point of focus for the 21 WA ANG Headquarters’ Guardsmen during annual training at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Sept. 9-16, 2018.

Since the early 1990s, SPP has linked states’ National Guard forces with a partner nation’s military or security forces to build mutually beneficial personal and institutional relationships through repeated engagements.

The Washington headquarters’ Guardsmen paired up with their counterparts for the week at the Pacific Air Forces Headquarters and worked hand-in-hand for the week to hone their skills and gain exposure to the PACAF mission and how SPP ties in with it.

“We wanted to expose our Airmen to the bigger picture,” said Brig. Gen. Jeremy Horn, Washington Air National Guard Commander. “We also had the opportunity to learn more about how the Pacific Air Forces operate and embed our Airmen here so that if we had a large crisis in the Pacific Region our staff could come over and augment the PACAF staff.”

Washington’s SPP partners are Malaysia and Thailand and their locations within the PACAF area of responsibility makes the value of a strong PACAF relationship even more vital.

“We are unique that we have two Pacific partners, Malaysia and Thailand. We were able to come here and learn more about the context of why we do and what we do with those countries through the SPP,” Horn said.

Thanks to a significant amount of pre-planning and coordination, Guardsmen quickly integrated into their respective duty sections and started making an impact.

“We are looking to see how we can connect with their lines of effort for our SPP program,” said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Todd Luce, WA ANG HQ. “I’m here coordinating with the joint force chaplain on how we can get religious support teams into these exercises and engagements at the right places that meets our objectives for the SPP.”

The ANG working with active duty is not a new concept, but the specific integration of the ANG for the SPP within the PACAF AOR is new and something many hope will continue on.

According to Lt. Col. Otto Lawrence, ANG Forces HQ PACAF Deputy Director, there were three goals with this training.

The first goal, he says: prove that the ANG can integrate with PACAF by bolstering the ANG brand of war fighter as a plug and play asset for the total force that can work shoulder to shoulder with the PACAF active duty Airmen. The second goal is to give PACAF an option for tapping Guardsmen with Indo-Pacific Command experience for exercises and real world operations.

“Three, we want to utilize ANG organizations that have a direct affiliation with the PACAF Theater through the SPP program, like the WA ANG,” Lawrence said. “The ANG units are ideal for the SPP because of the continuity and the longevity of the relationships they can have with their SPP partners."

Knowing how to do your job is one thing, but when working with a major command and other countries, sometimes who you know is just as important as what you know.

“Developing these relationships is critical and what better time to do so than when we are at peace and in a beautiful area that has such heritage,” said Chief Master Sergeant Max Tidwell, WA ANG Command Chief. “This investment is going to go a long way in making us more consistent and understanding the big picture.”

• Date Taken: 09.14.2018
• Date Posted: 09.20.2018 12:06
• Story ID: 293709
• Location: JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HI, US