Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Shane Mills, readiness non-commissioned officer for the 246th...... read more read more
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FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – The State Partnership Program between the Michigan National Guard (MING) and the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) – established in 2024 – took another step forward April 11-18 with three separate engagements conducted at various RSLAF facilities in Sierra Leone’s capital region. Cooperation focused on the areas of professional military education, vehicle operations & fleet management, disaster response planning & interagency cooperation.
Each event supported the priorities identified for the SPP by Sierra Leone’s senior military leaders in 2024. After a formal signing ceremony in September, teams from Michigan visited Freetown in November 2024 to establish the professional military education and vehicle operations lines of effort, in addition to promoting military justice and the rule of law.
“We are moving forward to deepen ties with our partners in the RSLAF and to support lines of effort that make both our organizations stronger, more fluent, and more prepared to conduct our respective missions,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Scott House, the Michigan National Guard’s executive integrator for the Sierra Leone SPP. “Less than one year into this relationship, we’ve already conducted six events in Sierra Leone, setting a foundation for mutual understanding that we will keep building upon.”
Planning is underway for members of the RSLAF to observe exercise Northern Strike in Michigan this August. Northern Strike is one of the Department of Defense’s largest reserve component exercises, hosted annually at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center in Northern Michigan. This year’s iteration of Northern Strike is expected to draw approximately 7,000 participants from nearly every service component and branch of the U.S. armed forces.
“We appreciate this partnership with the Michigan National Guard and look forward to developing the full benefit of our cooperation,” said RSLAF Brig. Gen. Sahr David Ngaujah, RSLAF Chief of General Staff. “There are more good things to come as our relationship grows.”
The SPP supports U.S. State Department and Department of Defense objectives by linking the National Guard of a U.S. state with the armed forces of a sovereign partner nation for mutually beneficial security cooperation. The SPP began in 1993 with 13 partners and has grown to include 105 partnerships with 115 nations.
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2025 11:13 |
| Story ID: | 496692 |
| Location: | FREETOWN, SL |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Michigan-Sierra Leone SPP moves ahead with multidisciplinary engagements, by Capt. Andrew Layton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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