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International visitors involved in emergency preparedness and crisis response came to the Pentagon for a day last week to learn more about the National Guard.
The visit was part of a larger trip to understand emergency preparedness, management, planning, funding and coordination among federal, state and local government organizations, as well as the private sector.
The State Department’s long-standing International Visitor Leadership Program began in 1940 to advance national security strategy priorities and build long-term relationships between Americans and international leaders in government, business, academia and other fields.
In Washington, D.C., participants in this IVLP trip — which runs through May 24 — met mostly with federal organizations. At the Pentagon, they learned how the Guard supports its states, neighboring states, the federal government and other nations as part of the State Partnership Program.
During an hourlong briefing, the participants learned how the Guard in a state responds to hurricanes, floods, wildfires and tornadoes, as well as how, through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, it can assist other states.
Part of the discussion involved the Guard operations from 2024. Last year, more than 800,000 personnel days were used to support border missions, 927 personnel days were used for search and rescue missions, more than 5,000 personnel days were used for severe weather emergencies and 154,000 personnel days were used for wildfire-related missions.
The SPP was of special interest to about half the participants, whose own nations have program agreements with the Guard.
Within the program, states partner with the militaries of U.S. partner allies — about 115 total.
The program supports the security cooperation objectives of the United States and geographic combatant commands by developing enduring relationships with partner countries.
Josephina Chan Ting, principal disaster risk-reduction officer from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in Samoa, was one of the participants.
Samoa doesn’t have a military of its own, but the nation partnered with the Nevada National Guard through the SPP, and Chan Ting said it’s an asset for the island nation.
“It’s really getting that exposure to expertise,” she said. “So, with the program currently, what we’re doing is emphasizing that subject matter expert exchange, where we have the National Guard come over to Samoa and we share best practices.”
Previously, the Guard in Nevada partnered only with Samoa’s police force and fire and emergency services. However, that has expanded to include the disaster management office.
Ahmed Mohammed serves as a police officer and branch manager of information on command- and-control systems with the Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters in the United Arab Emirates.
He said he was impressed with the independence of organizations like the Guard.
“Each organization knows its roles and responsibilities and...which phases it comes [in at] regarding responding to an incident or an emergency,” he said. “I was amazed by the National Guard, how independent they are, and how they know their specific roles and responsibilities.”
The UAE recently established its own concept, which is like the Guard.
“National Guard is a new concept for us in the UAE,” he said. “But today I saw how smoothly the National Guard here in the States works and how independent and authorized [they are] to go through any incident with the support of their governor, on the local phase, and on the federal level. The program is amazing, and it’s fruitful.”
─ By C. Todd Lopez, DOD News
