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Lawmakers discussed the possible expansion of the National Guard’s State Partnership Program last week as a means of delivering Peace through Strength at a hearing of the Military and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
The SPP ensures regular military cooperation between 115 partner nations and the Guard units in all 50 states to support U.S. strategic security objectives. On average, Guard troops engage with international partners in more than 1,000 exercises a year which cover a wide variety of activities to promote both defense and goodwill.
“These partnerships extend beyond traditional military training, encompassing disaster response, border security and cyberdefense,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Partnerships Christopher Mamaux at the hearing.
“A key example of the SPP’s strategic impact can be seen in our relationship with Colombia, a strategic partner for the United States in South America, and instrumental in our shared efforts to counter transnational organized crime, narcotics, and illegal migration,” Mamaux noted.
Army Maj. Gen. William Edwards, the director for the National Guard Bureau’s Strategic Plans and Policy, drew attention to the fact that the SPP forms an arena in which America’s adversaries cannot compete.
“The State Partnership Program is a unique tool in the security cooperation toolbox. It is the only security cooperation program that delivers sustained, enduring relationships with our partners that our competitors simply cannot match,” Edwards said.
Rep. William Timmons, R-S.C., the subcommittee chairman, hailed SPP’s achievements —noting that despite its budget of 1% of the overall defense security cooperation budget, it is responsible for 30% of engagements with allied nations.
“From Eastern Europe to the islands in the South Pacific, the State Partnership Program has helped the United States deter our adversaries, enhance allied interoperability and promote regional stability,” Timmons said, and expressed his wish for the SPP to receive added funding.
—By Zita Fletcher, with reporting from Maj. John LaDue, National Guard Bureau
