Photo By Staff Sgt. Tori Miller | Major General Thomas Carden, Adjutant General of the Georgia National Guard, cuts the...... read more read more
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The Georgia National Guard and country of Georgia formally celebrated the 25th anniversary of the signing of their State Partnership Program agreement at the Georgia National Guard Joint Force Headquarters in Marietta, Georgia on November 19th, 2019.
The State Partnership Program originated in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In April 1992, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Colin Powell, presented a new program called the Joint Contact Team Program. The purpose of this program was for the Department of Defense to partner with newly independent Eastern Bloc states to promote enduring, mutually beneficial security relationships. Gen. John B. Conway, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, offered to Powell the services of the National Guard to fulfill this new program.
The State Partnership Program evolved from the Joint Contact Team Program in which the first state partnerships formed in 1993. Signed on October 3rd, 1994, the agreement between both Georgias was the 17th partnership in the program’s history.
Over the course of twenty-five years, the partnership has grown beyond focusing on military development. “This partnership is not just a military to military partnership,” said Maj. Gen. Thomas Carden Jr., the Adjutant General of the Georgia National Guard. “We train doctors as a part of this partnership, we emphasize rule of law and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that has been a part of this partnership, we develop public health in respect to this partnership, and many other areas where we all benefit and is larger than just a uniformed military.”
Lt. Col. Colin Thompson, the Georgia National Guard State Partnership Program Director iterated how the agreement is more than a military relationship. He explained that the Emory School of Medicine and Tbilisi State Medical University participate in an exchange program that trains and degrees Georgian physicians. According to Thompson, private businesses and non-profit organizations followed the Georgia National Guard’s example to serve the country of Georgia.
Georgian dignitaries attending the ceremony included Irakli Garibashvili, the Minister of Defense of the country of Georgia, David Bakradze, the Georgian ambassador to the United States, and Lela Chikovani, the First Deputy Minister of Defense of the country of Georgia. Garibashvili and Bakradze expressed the importance of the partnership and their gratitude to the United States and state of Georgia in their speeches.
“American support of our country has been unwavering, and all Georgian people are thankful,” remarked Garibashvili. “For nearly three decades, this relationship has been our interest; has centered on shared values in our belief in democratic principles, rule of law, and inherent right to existence. We have fought together, sustained losses together, and we will continue to serve together.”
Bakradze followed by stating, “Georgia has proven that a small nation can be a big friend, and we are very proud of this partnership. Georgia faces its own challenges, but we have never felt alone; we have never felt abandoned.”
After a video presentation and gift exchanges, Carden presented Garibashvili and Chikovani with the Oglethorpe Distinguished Service Medal. This was followed by Georgia National Guard leadership and the dignitaries from Georgia signing a commemorative document that recognized the 25th anniversary and reaffirmed the State Partnership Program agreement.
Carden concluded his remarks stating, “It is my honor to stand before you today, and thank you and our distinct Georgian delegation for all that you have done and continue to do to make this partnership an example for the world to emulate.”
| Date Taken: | 11.19.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.31.2019 14:47 |
| Story ID: | 352567 |
| Location: | MARIETTA, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 242 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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