About the State Partnership Program
New York National Guard-Brazil State Partnership relationship named best for 2022
A Brazilian delegation and New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen pose for a photograph at a Manhattan heliport as they prepare to board a New York Army National Guard UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation Regiment, for a flight to Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania on April 18, 2023. The Brazilians were heading to the Pennsylvania base to observe the New York National Guard Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear response team conducting a training exercise. The Brazilians were visiting New York as part of the New York National Guard's State Partnership Program relationship with that nation's military. Read Full Article
NY National Guard team heading to South African mil skills competition
New York Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Mavra throws a practice grenade on the range in Potchefstroom, South Africa, during the South African Military Skills Competition on October 23, 2019. The New York Army and Air National Guard is sending four Soldiers and one Airmen to the 2023 competition that begins on October 25, 2022. The New York National Guard has been linked to the South African National Defence Force through a State Partnership Program since 2003. ( Courtesy Photo) Read Full Article
NY Airmen discuss space operations with Brazilian counterparts
New York Air National Guard Airmen from the 222nd Command and Control Squadron, which augments the U.S. agency managing American surveillance satellites, pose with Brazilian officials at Brazil’s Space Operations Center in Brasilia, the country’s capital on April 19, 2022. The Guard Airmen were there as part of a State Partnership Program exchange. (Courtesy Capt. Leah Elsbeck) Read Full Article
NY National Guard cyber experts visit Brazil
New York National Guard cyber protection experts Capt. Andrew Carter, the information systems officer for the 42nd Infantry Division headquarters battalion, second from left, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nefertiti Stokes, a member of the 173rd Cyber Protection Team, second from right, stand with Brazilian counterparts during a visit to the Brazilian military communications school in Brasilia, Brazil on August 17, 2022. The two Americans took part in Brazil’s annual Cyber Guardian Exercise as part of the New York National Guard State Partnership Program relationship with Brazil. ( Photo Courtesy Capt. Andrew Carter) Read Full Article
South Africans Visit Harlem Armory
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) Read Full Article
Brazilian Air Force members visit New York Air Guard
New York Air National Guard Master Sgt. Eric Wintersteen, a crew chief assigned to the 174th Attak Wing's Maintenance Group, explains the airframe and engine inspection he is performing on an MQ-9 Repear remotely piloted aircraft to Brazilian Air Force officers visiting Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, in Syracuse, New York, on June 6, 2022. The Hancock Field stop was part of a week-long tour of New York Air National Guard facilities the Brazilian team of eight officers and NCOs was conducting as part of the State Partnership Program. (U.S. Air ational Guard photo by Master Sgt. Barbara Olney) Read Full Article
106th Rescue Wing conducts medical evacuation as part of Exercise Tapio
Senior Airman Matt Pluhoeski, at right, a pararescue Airmen assigned to the 103rd Rescue Squadron of the New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Squadron, works with a Brazilian counterpart, on a simulated casualty on board one of the wing’s HC-130 Combat King II search and rescue aircraft during a medical evacuation mission being conducted as part of Exercise Tapio, a joint Brazilian- U.S. training exercise, in Campo Grande, Brazil on August 24, 2022. The New York Air National Guard sent 100 personnel to participate in the exercise as part of the New York National Guard State Partnership Program relationship with Brazil. Read Full Article
NY Air Guard Airman gradutes Brazil Jungle Warfare Center course
New York Air National Guard Tech Sgt. Jeremy Miter, right, a member of the 274th Air Support Operations Squadron, is congratulated by the chief of Brazil’s world-famous Jungle Warfare Training School in Manas, Brazil on Nov. 17, 2022, after completing the international course taught annually by the school. Miter attended the course as part of the State Partnership Program agreement between Brazil and the New York National Guard. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech Sgt. Heather Riley) Read Full Article
NY Army and Air Guardsmen head to Brazilian jungle warfare school
Army Sgt. William Dunn, a member of the 101st Expeditionary Signal Battalion, left, and Air Force Tech Sgt. Jeremy Miter, assigned to the 274th Air Operations Support Squadron, will be representing the New York National Guard and the U.S. military at the annual international course taught at the Brazilian military's jungle warfare training school in Manas, Brazil. The New York National Guard has sent Soldiers and Airmen to the school since 2019 as part of a State Partnership Program agreement with Brazil's armed forces. (courtesy photos) Read Full Article
NY Army, Air Guardsman team up for African trade show
A New York Air National Guard LC-130 Hercules sits as a static display at Waterkloof Air Force Base, South Africa during the African Aerospace and Defense Exhibition, Sept. 22, 2018. The airshow is normally held every two years but was canceled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The New York Air National Guard has sent five aircraft and 60 personnel to participate in the 2022 show. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Julio A. Olivencia Jr.) Read Full Article
Mission
The New York National Guard State Partnership Program executes bilateral events, to include military and civilian engagements, with the Republic of South Africa, and Brazil, in order to increase partner capacity and capability. These efforts are in support of both US Africa Command’s, and US Southern Command’s Lines of Effort, and to promote regional stability in Africa and South America.
Vision
The New York National Guard fosters a strong and enduring State Partnership Program relationship with both of its partner nations through military to military and military to civilian engagements in support of the National Security Strategy, National Military Strategy, Department of State, US African Command, US Army Africa, Air Force Africa guidance and US Southern Command. The Republic of South Africa continues to be a capable and viable contributor to the long-term regional security on the African continent. Brazil is a leader on the Southern American continent and a growing global player on the world’s stage with the 12th largest economy.
History
The State Partnership Program links a State’s National Guard with the armed forces of a partner nation in a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship. There are currently 87 State Partnership Programs throughout the world. This program is administered by the National Guard Bureau, guided by State Department foreign policy goals, and executed by the State Adjutants General in support of the combatant commander, security cooperation objectives and Department of Defense policy goals. It builds capacity and capability within the partner nation’s security forces. It also cultivates personal, professional, and institutional relationships while training National Guardsmen for Title 10 and Title 32 missions.
Today the program has expanded to include creating strong and enduring military to civilian relationships with various government agencies within the partner nation.
The SPP evolved from a 1991 U.S. European Command decision to set up the Joint Contact Team Program in the Baltic Region with Reserve component Soldiers and Airmen. A subsequent National Guard Bureau proposal paired U.S. states with three nations emerging from the former Soviet Bloc and the SPP was born, becoming a key U.S. security cooperation tool, facilitating cooperation across all aspects of international civil-military affairs and encouraging people-to-people ties at the state level.
Currently there are 87 SPP partnerships encompassing 93 partner nations
- All 54 States and territories NGs participate
- The program continues to grow by an average of two new partnerships per year
State Partnership Program Leadership
MAJ Melanie Padilla
State Partnership Program Director (Brazil, South Africa), New York National Guard
Email: melanie.a.padilla2.mil@army.mil
Office: 518-786-6171
Mobile: 518-649-2916
