Royal Thai Army Commander visits Washington National Guard leaders

Photo By Joseph Siemandel | Gen. Narongpan Jittkaewtae, Commander-in-Chief, Royal Thai Army and Maj. Gen. Bret Daugherty, the adjutant general, share a laugh at the Washington National Guard Museum at Camp Murray, Wash on May 25, 2023. During the visit to Camp Murray, Jittkaewtae and his staff got a better understanding of the Washington National Guard’s force structure, training and abilities. (U.S. National Guard photo by Joseph Siemandel)  

CAMP MURRAY, WA, UNITED STATES

05.30.2023

Story by Joseph Siemandel  

Joint Force Headquarters - Washington National Guard

His visit came several years later than he had hoped, but the end-result was worth waiting for.

“I made plans to come four years ago, and wanted to travel here, but had to postpone,” said Gen. Narongpan Jittkaewtae, Commander-in-Chief, Royal Thai Army. “Then we talked in Thailand and decided to make it happen.”

The visit to Camp Murray on May 25, 2023, helped Jittkaewtae and his staff better understand the Washington National Guard’s force structure, training and abilities. The Royal Thai Army officers and Washington National Guard team discussed topics such as aviation subject matter expert exchanges, Stryker fighting vehicle operations and maintenance exchanges. The Washington Army National Guard conducted its first Stryker engagements last year with the Royal Thai Army’s newly formed 112th Stryker Regimental Combat Team. The group also visited the Washington National Guard’s Joint Operations Center to learn more about the Washington National Guard’s domestic response processes. The conversation was part of an on-going dialogue about how the Royal Thai Armed Forces supports homeland assistance disaster response efforts in the Kingdom of Thailand.

“This organization encompasses everything we are training and planning on in Thailand,” said Jittkaewtae. “Homeland response, combat readiness, we even saw wildland firefighting training earlier this year.”

While the visit covered specific topics, it was another chance to nurture and support the relationship between the Royal Thai Army and the Washington National Guard. The Washington Army National Guard is on pace to conduct 13 engagements with the Royal Thai Army this fiscal year. This is in addition to our 230 citizen-soldiers who participated in Exercise Cobra Gold in March 2023, and more than 500 scheduled to participate in Hanuman Guardian in July 2023.

“Our partnership is now more than 20 years old, one of the longest in the National Guard SPP,” said Maj. Gen. Bret Daugherty, adjutant general. “We are so excited to continue and expand this incredible relationship and share a common path forward together.”

The cost-effective program is administered by the National Guard Bureau, guided by State Department foreign policy goals, and executed by the state adjutants general in support of combatant commander and U.S. Chief of Mission security cooperation objectives and Department of Defense policy goals.

Through SPP, the National Guard conducts military-to-military engagements in support of defense security goals but also leverages whole-of-society relationships and capabilities to facilitate broader interagency and corollary engagements spanning military, government, economic and social spheres.

• Date Taken: 05.30.2023
• Date Posted: 05.30.2023 17:52
• Story ID: 445809
• Location: CAMP MURRAY, WA, US