Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Army Gen. William "Kip" Ward, commander, U.S. Africa Command, meet with National Guard adutant generals and Defense Department leaders at the 2010 National Guard State Partnership Program Conference at Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany, on Aug. 11, 2010. The 62-nation SPP is a superb tool for Africa Command, the combatant commander has said. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

STUTTGART, Germany — National Guard adjutants general and Defense Department leaders here this week are hearing how the Guard’s 17-year-old State Partnership Program is boosting the partnership capacity of one of the nation’s newest combatant commands.

“The benefits … are many and impressive,” Army Gen. William “Kip” Ward, commander of U.S. Africa Command, said in his 2010 posture statement.

Adjutants general whose states are partnered with countries within AFRICOM’s 53-nation area of responsibility and leaders including Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Dennis McCarthy, assistant secretary of defense for Reserve Affairs, are here for the 2010 State Partnership Program Conference hosted by AFRICOM. Ward is scheduled to speak to the group today.

The SPP started with European Command partners in 1993 following the collapse of the Iron Curtain. EUCOM spawned AFRICOM in 2007, and there are now eight National Guard states partnered with African nations.

State partnerships foster military-to-military, military-to-civilian and civilian-to-civilian cooperation.

“The [SPP] delivers programs and activities that build broad capabilities with our African partners,” Ward said. “The habitual relationships this builds adds tremendous value to our efforts. This program is very valuable to [AFRICOM], and we look forward to expanding it as our African partners request greater participation.”

Resiliency is one key to preventing suicide, said Army Capt. Tanya Phillips, suicide prevention program manager for the Arkansas National Guard, seen here after leading training at Camp Joseph T. Robinson in Little Rock, Ark., on April 17, 2010. "The resilience is not learned as it might have been in past generations," Phillips said. (U.S. Army photo by SSG Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

CAMP JOSEPH T. ROBINSON, Ark. – Two uniformed Arkansas National Guard Soldiers visit homeless shelters and food pantries in a Little Rock neighborhood, joined by a dozen police officers.

Someone has called to report concern about a servicemember’s welfare. Neither the Guard nor police nor other civilian agencies have been able to track down the troop, and it has come down to house-by-house inquiries in an area where a cell phone provider has reported the servicemember last used his phone.

“The Arkansas National Guard cares about every Soldier and every Airman and – our adjutant general has said – every servicemember that is in our state boundaries … and they served their country, we care enough to drop everything and help them,” said Army Capt. Tanya Phillips, suicide prevention program manager.

Arkansas is one of many National Guard states – others include California, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin  – that have gone above and beyond in responding to a spike in military suicides. Arkansas had one such death in 2008, seven in 2009.

What Arkansas has done in the last 14 months makes for a case study in response.

"We all come from this legacy," Gen. William E. Ward, commander of U.S. Africa Command, told attendees at the USEUCOM Adjutants General State Partnership Program Conference in Germany in 2007. Ward said that the only way he can tell the difference between a National Guard Citizen-Soldier and an active Army Soldier in combat zones is by the state patch Guardmembers wear on their left shoulder. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Guard’s State Partnership Program is a superb tool for Africa Command, the combatant commander told a congressional committee on Tuesday.

“The benefits … are many and impressive,” Army Gen. William E. Ward said in his 2010 posture statement presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The SPP started in 1993 following the collapse of the Iron Curtain with European Command partners. EUCOM spawned AFRICOM in 2007, and there are now eight National Guard states partnered with African nations.

State partnerships foster military-to-military, military-to-civilian and civilian-to-civilian cooperation.

“The [SPP] delivers programs and activities that build broad capabilities with our African partners,” Ward told the committee. “The habitual relationships this builds adds tremendous value to our efforts. This program is very valuable to [AFRICOM], and we look forward to expanding it as our African partners request greater participation.”

Ward’s area of responsibility is 3.5 times the size of the continental United States. Africa includes 53 countries that are home to a billion people who speak 1,000 languages, and its population growth rate is the world’s highest.

Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie, the adjutant general of the Vermont National Guard, receives an update on the African nation of Senegal at 17th Air Force at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on June 17, 2009. Vermont is paired with Senegal in the National Guard's State Partnership Program. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill) (Released)

By Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

GERMANY — In June 2009, the adjutant general of the Vermont National Guard sat in a wood-paneled brie!ng room at Ramstein Air Force Base for an update on the African nation of Senegal.

Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael Dubie was making office calls with staff at U.S. Air Forces in Europe and 17th Air Force.

For 14 years, the Vermont National Guard has been in the National Guard’s State Partnership Program with the Balkan nation of Macedonia, part of the former Yugoslavia, and now Vermont also is partnered with Senegal.

USAFE’s area of responsibility includes Macedonia, and 17th Air Force supports U.S. Africa Command, which includes Senegal.

Adjutant generals are increasingly looking to Africa as the National Guard’s 16-year-old, 62-nation State Partnership Program expands.

Seven nations in Africa Command’s purview have partnerships and two more are on the horizon. The seven include: California and Nigeria, New York and South Africa, North Carolina and Botswana, North Dakota and Ghana, Utah and Morocco, Vermont and Senegal and  Wyoming and Tunisia.

Partnerships with Liberia and Kenya are expected to be announced in the coming months, Guard officials said.

Adjutant generals view office calls like the one Dubie made as mandatory stops as they pursue SPP activities with their partner nations. The National Guard is one part of a larger team bent on improving partnership capacity.