The State Partnership Program, Relationships, and Building Partner Capability
Building Partner Capability is Job #1 here at EUCOM. Partners are the heart and soul of SPP--they are in the program's DNA. From its inception, the strength of the SPP is the depth and breadth of the partnerships the program builds on the personal level as well as the governmental level. Many of the personal relationships last an entire career as officers and NCOs rise through the ranks and remain in contact and engaged together in various capability building programs.
Increasingly, these relationships are also forged in the fires of combat. Many of the states in the EUCOM SPP have deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq with their partner nations. In some cases, the partner nation requested their co-deployment based on the strength of their relationship. Poland and Illinois comes to mind, as does Georgia and Georgia. In other cases, the state provides critical capabilities to enable the partner deployment. Great examples are the co-deployment Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams (OMLT). Michigan-Latvia, Tennessee-Bulgaria, Hungary-Ohio, and Minnesota-Croatia are good examples and the list is growing.
Yes, relationships matter. They are the bedrock upon which any meaningful engagement and capabilities building program are built. SPP provides EUCOM with extremely strong relationships in the 20 countries that participate in the SPP. As we move forward with our partners to jointly pursue key capabilities building programs, the relationships built in the SPP will pay enormous dividends for both our partners and the US.
BG Jeffrey Marshall
Director, EUCOM Directorate of Mobilization and Reserve Affairs
Comments: 1
Sir, I couldn’t agree more. Having worked four years doing military to military engagement planning at EUCOM, I had the privilege to work hand in hand with many of the top notch soldiers and airmen from states involved in the state partnership program. The high level of expertise and professionalism they brought to engagements was, and I trust still is, a huge enabler to U.S. partner relationships, regional integration and interoperability. I’m currently a student attending Intermediate Level Education at Fort Lee and it’s been good to see that SPP is captured in the curriculum as one of the DoD’s key security cooperation programs. Clearly, the “Big Army” sees the importance of the program, too. MAJ Erik Bauer (The views expressed in this blog are from Erik Bauer and does not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S Government.)