Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, TX –
More than 75 participants gathered at the Fort Sam Houston
Mission Training Complex Jan. 20-21 for an adjutant general conference.
The conference included adjutants and assistant adjutant
generals and command sergeants major representing 17 states, State Partnership
Program directors, representatives from U.S. Southern Command, Air Force and
Navy, as well as 10 Army section chiefs stationed at partner nation countries
and U.S. Army South staff.
Army South hosted the conference in order to synchronize its
efforts with the National Guard partner states and National Guard Bureau in
support of the U.S. Southern Command’s State Partnership Program.
“We have great relationships with a lot of countries because
of the State Partnership Program,” said Maj. Gen. K.K. Chinn, Army South
commanding general during his opening remarks. “This conference is about
collaboration, strengthening our relationship, and integrating and
synchronizing our resources to support the SPP’s mission.”
The U.S. Army National Guard’s State Partnership Program has
been successfully building relationships with partner nation forces for more
than 20 years through military-to-military engagements to support defense and
security cooperation around the world.
Within the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, 17
U.S. states have active partnerships with defense and security forces from 26
nations in the Caribbean, Central America and South America.
“Maj. Gen. Chinn has done an excellent job of reaching out
and trying to build a network that helps us encompass all of the state
partnerships and makes us stronger together,” said Brig. Gen. Harrison Gilliam,
assistant adjutant general for West Virginia which partners with Peru.
The state partnership engagements focus on security
cooperation, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, professional development,
medical and engineering.
Maj. Gen. William Reddel, New Hampshire Adjutant General,
believes the conference will allow him and the New Hampshire National Guard to
better serve his partner nation of El Salvador, which he described as “the
shining star for democracy in Central America.”
“The biggest thing for me is helping out our partner
nation,” Reddel said. “This conference helps us coordinate our efforts with the
limited amount of funds available to make it go further. This kind of
coordination will make it happen.”
Attendees were seated according to the U.S. Southern Command
regional area of operation in order to facilitate dialogues that allowed the
participants to focus on regional situations during their discussions.
During the conference, participants from every region shared
upcoming events and engagements with their respective partner nations and had
deep discussions on how they can collaborate their efforts to plan and execute
to accomplish the mission.
Gilliam admitted he learned a few things from his state
counterparts about the different engagements he would like to incorporate
within his state’s partner nation engagements.
“The most important thing I learned from the conference is
how other states are inviting their partner nations to participate in different
competitions like the ‘Best Warrior Competition’ and I think that is a good
idea we can take back and maybe incorporate that type of activity with our
Peruvian partners,” Gilliam said.
Acting Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy spoke to the
adjutant general conference attendees during his visit to Fort Sam Houston.
Murphy discussed the State Partnership Program with U.S. Army South and the
adjutant generals and received a command brief on U.S. Army South’s mission and
operation.