State Partnership Program Events

New York National Guard Maj. Gen Michel Natali, the assistant adjutant general, presents a plaque to Brigadier Gen. Richard Maponyane, the South Africa Defense Attaché based in Washington D.C., , in Manhattan on December 9, 2021 during a meeting held to discuss State Partnership Program initiatives. The New York Army National Guard and South Africa have participated together in the State Partnership Program since 2003 and was the first partnership in Africa. (New York Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Jonathan Pietrantoni)

Tech. Sgt. Paul Cange, far left, and Cpl. Dakoatah Miller, far right, join the other American graduates for the Brazilian Jungle Operations International Course after the completion of the course in Manuas, Brazil, on Nov. 11, 2021. Brazil’s Jungle Warfare Center, known as CIGS, the abbreviation for it’s Portuguese name of Centro de Instruçao de Guerra na Selva, conducts a special shortened course for foreign students each fall. (Courtesy photo)

Brazilian Army Col. Anderson Pedreira Silva, and Army Sgt Major Robert Jenks, New York Army National Guard, pose with a New York City firefighter on board one of the city's fire boats during a National Guard State Partnership Program visit to the Fire Department New York's Randall's Island training site in New York City on October 20 2021. Pedreira Silva has now retired from Brazil's army but will continue to work as a civilian on the Brazilian army General Staff where he will coordinate State Partnership Program activities as one of his duties. (U.S. Air National Guard Photo by Maj. Michael O’Hagan)

Brazilian Airmen and pararescue Airmen from the New York Air National Guard's 106th Rescue Wing exit an HH-60 Pave Hawk while participating in Execise Tapio 2021, a Brazilian Air Force exercise at Campo Grande Air Base, Campo Grande, Brazil.One hundred and twenty members of the NewYork Air , mostly from the 106th Rescue Wing and 105th Airlift Wing, National Guard participated in the Brazilian Air Force exercise as part of the National Guard's State Partnership Program from August 19 to 31. New York has had a partnership with Brazil since 2019. (Brazil Air Force photo by Anderson Soares)

New York Army National Guard Corporal Dakoatah Miller takes a break during the Army National Guard Best Warrior competition at at Florence Military Reservation, Arizona, on July 20, 2021. Miller, a member of the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment, will be attending the special international students class at the Brazilian Jungle Warfare Training Center in October and November.(US Army photo by Sgt. Thurman Snyder).

New York Army National Guard Maj. Del Gustave, assigned to the 24th Civil Support Team, briefs Israeli Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, commander of the Israeli Defense Force Home Front Command, center, and Lt. Col. Hal Rekah, the Home Front Command liaison officer for the National Guard Bureau, during a capabilities brief of the CST for Home Front Command at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, N.Y. on June 28, 2021. Gordin met with National Guard members to discuss civil support operations and strengthen the security cooperation agreement between Home Front Command and the New York National Guard. (U.S. National Guard photo by New York Guard Captain Mark Getman)

New York Army National Guard Major Anthony McLean, the executive officer of the 369th Sustainment Brigade, conducts a tour of the brigade’s historic Harlem Armory, in New York, for a delegation of South African officers and academics on April 21, 2022. The South Africans met with officials at the United States Military Academy at West Point on April 20 to sign an agreement setting up an exchange program with South Africa’s officer education program. The New York National Guard has had a State Partnership Program agreement with the South African National Defence Force since 2003. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Major Michael O’Hagan)

Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston Capt. Jason Smith presents a gift to Brazilian Navy Capt. Carlos Considera while visiting the Brazilian Navy Training Ship Brasil in Galveston, Texas, Nov. 19, 2020. Relationship building between foreign allies serves as a vital objective toward executing Coast Guard missions worldwide. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Paige Hause)

New York Air National Guard Senior Airman Caleb Lapinel trains on tactical swimming in a Brazilian river in October 2020 while attending the international course conducted annually by the Brazil Jungle Warfare Center, known as CIGS for its Portugese initials. Lapinel was the only American in the class of ten.( Courtesy Photo)

Maj. Amy Crounse, New York National Guard State Partnership Program officer, begins a Zoom call with representatives from Brazil to discuss how the two sides responded to COVID-19, New York National Guard Headquarters, Latham, N.Y., Sept. 29, 2020. The call was aimed at discussion what worked best when handling the pandemic and how New York and Brazil can continue to work together on the issue. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Ryan Campbell)

Lt. Col. Hai Rekah of the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command, with members of the New York National Guard, observes intake procedures for motorists at the drive-thru swabbing site at Glen Island Park in New Rochelle, N.Y., July 15, 2020. Rekah was in New York to meet with New York National Guard leaders to see parts of New York’s multi agency response to COVID-19, as Israel’s Homefront Command responds to the pandemic. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Sean Madden)

U.S. Army Maj. Todd Meskil, the U.S. Embassy Army Attache assigned in Pretoria, South Africa, passes protective equipment supplies to Rudolph Stroebel, the South African High Commission Maseru First Secretary during a supply transfer at the Maseru Bridge Border Post crossing between South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho on June 25, 2020. Military personnel assigned to the U.S. embassy in South Africa delivered 12,000 medical grade face masks, 11,000 face shields and 256 thermometers to their counterparts from the U.S. embassy in the Kingdom of Lesotho. (U.S. National Guard photo by Lt. Col. Alvin Phillips, New York National Guard)

Officials involved in the handover of medical personal protective equipment from the United States Embassy to the South African Military Health Service at the American Community Center in Pretoria, South Africa pose for a photograph during the ceremony on June 19, 2020. Pictured are, from left, Dhiren Vanmali, Ford Executive Director of Government Affairs for Africa; U.S. Ambassador Lana Marks; South African National Defence Force Major General General Peter Maphaha. ( U.S. Army Photo by Lt. Col. Al Phillips)

Lana. J.Marks, center left, the United States Ambassador to South Africa, joins South African Deputy Health Minister Dr. Joe Phaala, center right, in marking the delivery of 720,000 FFP2 protective masks to to South Africa's National Department of Heatlh from the U.S. Department of Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Biological Threat Reduction Program at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa on May 15, 2020. Also pictured are U.S. Navy Capt. Steven Morgenfeld, the Senior Defense Attache at the U.S. Embassy, far left, and Lt. Col. Darrick Mosley, the U.S. Office of Defense Cooperation Chief in South Africa. Photo by Army Lt. Col. Al Phillips, U.S. Embassy Pretoria.

South African Military Health Service Deputy Surgeon General, Maj. Gen. Noel Ndhlovu and U.S. Navy Captain Steven Morgenfeld, the Senior Defense Attaché at the U.S. Embassy mark the delivery of N95 anti-virual masks provided to the Military Health Service by the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, on April 23, 2020. The use of humanitarian funds to purchase the personal protective equipment marks the determination of the two nations to work together to control the coronavirus pandemic. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Lt. Col. Al Phillips)

New York Air National Guard Chaplain (Lt. Col. ) Jacob Marvel conduct Easter Mass for service members at the Javits Convention Center in New York City while following social distancing guidelines on April 12, 2020. New York Army and Air National Guard chaplains, like their counterparts in the South African National Defence Force are focused on providing religious opportunities and counseling to troops involved in efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. ( U.S. Air National Guard photo by Major Patrick Cordova)