Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army LTC Kenny Schlittenhart, Director of the State Partnership Program,...... read more read more
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The Washington National Guard’s State Partnership Program earned national recognition for its work with partners in Thailand and Malaysia, during the National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program conference in Savannah, Georgia, August 11-13, 2026.
The Washington National Guard received the Preparedness Engagement of the Year award for its long-running disaster preparedness partnership with the Port of Laem Chabang, Thailand, while Lt. Col. Jason Silves was named Bilateral Affairs Officer of the Year for a large embassy military group for his work advancing security cooperation with Malaysia.
"The State Partnership Program gives us something that cannot be generated overnight, mutual trust and strong relationships, these are built through years of consistent engagement," said Maj. Gen. Gent Welsh, the adjutant general, Washington National Guard. "Our partnerships with Thailand and Malaysia are producing increasingly sophisticated opportunities to train together, solve shared challenges and strengthen regional security. These awards validate the work of our people, but the greater measure of success is the capability and trust we are building with our partners for the future."
The recognition comes as Washington continues to expand two critical partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, with Thailand dating to 2002 and a partnership with Malaysia established in 2017.
The Preparedness Engagement of the Year award recognized the Washington National Guard’s 24th annual Port of Laem Chabang Subject Matter Expert Exchange, conducted Aug. 18-25, 2025. Led by Capt. Matt Carey, the four-person Washington National Guard team included Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kristen Rutherford, 1st Sgt. Juan Zaragoza and Sgt. 1st Class Ricky Manglona.
The exchange brought together 170 Thai participants from organizations including port authorities, law enforcement, customs, public health agencies, hospitals and provincial and municipal disaster management organizations. The event culminated in a full-scale exercise simulating a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that challenged participants to respond to chemical contamination, mass casualties, infrastructure damage and disrupted communications.
The engagement focused on Incident Command System procedures, medical response, hazardous materials operations, decontamination and the establishment of an integrated command center during a complex, multiagency disaster response. It also demonstrated significant improvement in communication between the incident command center and first responders, while Thai medical personnel established separate HAZMAT and non-HAZMAT triage lanes and adapted to simulated power and communication failures.
The engagement represents more than two decades of cooperation between Washington and the Port of Laem Chabang, evolving from a recurring exchange into a mature preparedness program designed to build Thai capacity to independently respond to major disasters.The effort also carries broader strategic importance. As Thailand’s largest deep-water port, Laem Chabang is a critical part of the country’s economy and international supply chains. Strengthening the port’s ability to continue operations or rapidly recover following a disaster helps reduce cascading economic and security effects across the region.
Future exchanges will evolve, examining additional fire, HAZMAT and medical training as well as emerging areas such as cyber and counter-unmanned aircraft systems. The Washington National Guard is also working to expand the successful model to the Port of Phuket.
“The Port of Laem Chabang exchange is truly a legacy mission for the Washington National Guard. For more than two decades, generations of our Soldiers and Airmen have contributed their expertise, built relationships and then handed that mission to the next team to carry forward,” said Lt. Col. Kenny Schlittenhart, Director of the Washington National Guard’s State Partnership Program. “What started as an exchange focused on specific emergency response capabilities has grown into a mature partnership where our Thai counterparts are leading increasingly complex scenarios and identifying the capabilities they need for the future. That continuity, trust and shared commitment is exactly what the State Partnership Program is about.”
While the preparedness award highlighted Washington’s long-standing partnership with Thailand, Silves’ selection as Bilateral Affairs Officer of the Year recognized the growing depth of the Washington-Malaysia relationship.
Serving as the bilateral affairs officer in Malaysia, Silves has helped translate U.S. national security objectives into tangible security cooperation initiatives. His award nomination highlighted his role in coordinating a $47 million security assistance project focused on Malaysian air-domain awareness and supporting an $18.5 million secure communications infrastructure initiative designed to strengthen Malaysia’s cyber capabilities.
Silves also leveraged National Guard relationships to bring two High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems to Exercise Keris Strike 2025, contributing to the first HIMARS live-fire event in Malaysia. He helped oversee two bilateral exercises involving more than 700 U.S. participants and managed more than $1 million in U.S. grants that enabled 247 Malaysian partners to attend U.S.-sponsored conferences. Additionally, his work extended across the U.S. interagency and regional partners. Silves represented U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and five U.S. Embassy country teams during a multilateral cyber engagement and helped coordinate efforts among U.S., Malaysian and Thai officials to improve cybersecurity cooperation and information sharing.
“The Bilateral Affairs Officer position is one of the most interesting and rewarding jobs I’ve have in my career,” said Silves. “It provides a unique ability to marry tactical engagements with strategic goals. This award is representative of the power “Guard Nation” brings to our partnerships. I didn’t do any of these things alone and am grateful for an awesome supporting cast.”
Washington submitted a third nomination for Building Partner Capacity Engagement of the Year for Enduring Partners 2025. Although it did not win the category, the nomination reflected the increasing scale and sophistication of the Washington-Thailand partnership.
Enduring Partners 2025 brought together 151 U.S. Army and Air National Guard personnel across 12 lines of effort designed to improve combat readiness and joint interoperability with the Royal Thai Air Force. Training included air-to-air refueling, UH-60 aviation, tactical air control, pararescue, cyber, space, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, intelligence, combat communications and ground-controlled intercept operations.
The exercise produced several milestones, including the first joint Army-Air National Guard iteration of Enduring Partners, the deployment of two Washington Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to Thailand and the first Royal Thai Air Force AT-6 and U.S. weapons systems officer integration. The exercise also integrated combined mission planning, air-to-air refueling, cyber, space, medical and command-and-control capabilities.
| Date Taken: | 08.17.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 08.17.2026 10:29 |
| Story ID: | 572542 |
| Location: | CAMP MURRAY, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 30 |
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This work, Washington National Guard State Partnership Program earns two National Guard Bureau awards, by Joseph Siemandel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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