By Staff Sgt. Benjamin Crane, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
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Army Maj. Lawrence Carta, State Partnership Program director for Kentucky, speaks with the Djiboutian Soldiers about the importance of the joint program during the logistics conference at the Sheraton Hotel In Djibouti City, Djibouti, April 2, 2019. Soldiers from the Kentucky National Guard logistics unit took part in the joint conference with Soldiers from the Djiboutian military as part of the Guards State Partnership Program with the African Nation. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Benjamin Crane)
DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti, – Soldiers from Kentucky National Guard logistical units took part in a joint conference with Soldiers from the Djiboutian military at the Sheraton Hotel, March 29-Apr. 4, as part of Kentucky’s State Partnership Program.
Both sides listened to instructors from the Defense Governance Management Team go over issues that applied to both countries and opened up a chance to teach the logisticians how to best use their resources to find success in their field.
For the National Guardsmen there, it was an opportunity to meet their counterparts and collaborate on best practices.
“This trip was the beginning of an effective working relationship between us and our Djiboutian military counterparts to help maintain equipment and provide the supplies that Soldiers need,” said Army Capt. Eric Green, 149th Brigade Support Battalion Supply Officer as well as the superintendent at the Maneuver Area Training Equipment Site (MATES) in Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Working with Djibouti to develop their logistic capabilities will allow the U.S. and the Guard to get a return on its investment through the partnerships.
“If we can partner with them to find effective ways to organize classes of supplies and maintain their equipment, the program and relationship becomes incredibly stronger,” said Green. “This will build the kind of trust needed to strengthen the partnership between our countries.”
For more than two decades, the National Guard State Partnership Program has successfully built and sustained enduring relationships with America’s global partners. The Republic of Djibouti and the Commonwealth of Kentucky forged the National Guard’s newest partnership in June, 2015. This partnership expands the footprint of SPP to include 69 security partnerships, involving 75 nations around the globe. The program links a unique component of the Department of Defense, a state’s National Guard, with the armed forces or equivalent of a partner country in a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship.