Proposed new utility uniform unveiled(Air Force United Nations Blue

Air Force Times ^ | August 08, 2003 | By Diane Tsimekles

[comnet]

State Partnership Program (SPP)

US European Command's SPP background info paper

Information Paper

The National Guard State Partnership Program (SPP) links US states with partner countries’ defense ministries and other government agencies, primarily through the vehicle of the States’ National Guards, for the purpose of improving bilateral relations with the US. The program’s goals reflect an evolving international affairs mission for the National Guard, and are to promote regional stability and civil-military relationships in support of US policy objectives.

The SPP was established following the National Guard Bureau’s (NGB) proposal in the Spring of 1993 to pair State National Guards with the Baltic Countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The NGB proposal was prompted by CINCEUR’s Jan 93 decision to staff the Military Liaison Teams (MLTs) in the Baltics with Reserve Component personnel, in order avoid sending a provocative signal to the Russian Federation that might have been caused by assigning Active Duty soldiers. The SPP thus began as a bilateral military-to-military contact program with which to engage the countries of central and eastern Europe, and is a direct outgrowth of US European Command’s (USEUCOM) Joint Contact Team Program (JCTP): It since has grown far beyond JCTP and become a hybrid engagement tool, allowing interaction in social and economic—as well as military—spheres. The SPP actively supports the National Military Strategy’s mandate to shape the international security environment.

The value of the SPP is its ability to focus the attention of a small part of the Department of Defense (DoD)—a State National Guard—on a single country or region in support of US Government policies. This concentrated focus allows for the development of long term personal relationships and a mechanism to catalyze support from outside the DoD which otherwise would not occur but nevertheless complements US policy. The optimum SPP partnership is one in which: the Host Nation professes genuine interest in Partnership; US and Theater engagement objectives are satisfied; the Force Protection risk is low; a minimum of additional resources is required to execute engagement; and National Guard core engagement competencies, particularly military support to civil authority (MSCA), are heavily incorporated.

Today, a total of 30 US states and one territory are partnered with 29 countries around the world.

The 17 State Partnerships in the USEUCOM Area of Responsibility (AOR) are:

Alabama – Romania

California & Kansas – Ukraine

Colorado – Slovenia Georgia – Republic of Georgia

Illinois – Poland Indiana – Slovakia

Maryland – Estonia Michigan – Latvia Minnesota – Croatia North Carolina – Moldova

Ohio – Hungary Pennsylvania – Lithuania

South Carolina – Albania Tennessee – Bulgaria

Utah – Belarus Vermont – Macedonia

Texas & Nebraska – Czech Republic

The four State Partnerships in the US Central Command (USCENTCOM) AOR are:

Arizona – Kazakhstan Louisiana – Uzbekistan

Montana – Kyrgyzstan Nevada - Turkmenistan

The eight State Partnerships in the US Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) AOR are:

Florida – Venezuela Kentucky – Ecuador

Mississippi - Bolivia Missouri – Panama

Puerto Rico – Honduras West Virginia – Peru

Louisiana & New Hampshire – Belize

Washington, D.C. - Jamaica

The one State Partnership in the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) AOR is Hawaii – Philippines.

The State Partners actively participate in a host of engagement activities, ranging from bilateral training and familiarization events, to exercises, to fellowship-style internships, to civic leader visits. All activities are coordinated through the Theater Commanders-in-Chief and the US Ambassadors’ country teams, and other agencies as appropriate, to ensure that National Guard support is tailored optimally to US and country requirements.

[defensorfortis]

Correction-- Air Force personnel DO have to iron and starch their uniforms, ESPECIALLY for Security Forces. We have to have perfect creases, black mirror boots, the whole nine yards. And as a member of a security forces squadron in the North West, I can assure you blue tiger stripes aren't going to camoflauge jack in a primarily woodland environment (the 142nd Fighter Wing is located here, as well as a couple others in Oregon (ANG)). So some camo IS needed for AF members.