MAINE NATIONAL GUARD AND ARMED FORCES OF MONTENEGRO CONTINUE PARTNERSHIP

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Richard Frost | Soldiers of the 251st Engineer Company, Maine Army National Guard, don gas masks to avoid exposure to CS gas deployed as part of a field training exercise at the Bog Brook training area in Gilead, Maine, March 2, 2025. The engineers spent two days in frigid temperatures, eating, sleeping, and training in the elements to sharpen their cold-weather combat skills. They were joined by counterparts from the Armed Forces of Montenegro Support Battalion, Engineer Company as part of the Maine National Guard’s State Partnership Program.  

GILEAD, MAINE, UNITED STATES

03.05.2025

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Richard Frost 

Joint Force Headquarters - Maine National Guard

Arctic temperatures and frozen terrain have long served as the backdrop for military campaigns throughout history, often alongside the challenge of training and fighting with Soldiers from different countries who spoke different languages. This was the experience that brought Soldiers together at a remote military training site in Maine, where they trained side by side in the heavily wooded, snow-covered, and rocky landscape, united despite coming from opposite sides of the Atlantic.
Soldiers of the Maine National Guard’s 251st Engineer Company spent the weekend of March 1st and 2nd conducting military training exercises and collaborating with the Armed Forces of Montenegro Support Battalion, Engineer Company as part of the National Guard’s State Partnership Program at Bog Brook Training Area in Gilead, Maine.
“What we’re doing here is conducting counter-mobility training with our Montenegrin counterparts,” said Capt. Corey Jones, commander for the 251st Engineer Company out of Norway, Maine. “We did this in a round-robin style: building obstacles, covering use of cratering charges, and even reviewing patrolling techniques. There was also a survivability aspect due to the extreme cold-weather, adding to the value of the training and improving how we can operate in the most restrictive, austere environments.”
Harsh conditions were in no short supply over the weekend, as temperatures on the first night quickly plummeted to single digits with 40 mile-per-hour wind gusts bringing those temperatures down to -20 degrees. But as Sgt. 1st Class Joe Smith, 1st Platoon Sgt. for the 251st Engineer Company put it, surviving the environment is just as important as surviving against the enemy.
“The survivability lanes are a cornerstone for cold-weather operations,” Smith said. “This training deepens our ability to successfully operate in this type of environment. With the mountainous portions of Montenegro, these skills are directly relevant in the winter for our partner forces.”
Those additional lanes were focused on making snow shelters, starting fires, creating potable water from snow, and even using trapping snares for food – all skills aimed at expanding knowledge on cold-weather operations.
It’s not surprising that Maine and Montenegro have become such effective partners considering some of their similarities. The Bobotov Kuk Mountain, Montenegro’s highest peak, is the exact same latitude as the entrance to Maine’s York Harbor. By appearances, many might find it difficult to distinguish between a photo of Montenegro’s Durmitor National Park and Maine’s Acadia National Park, both regions being dramatically shaped by glaciers and rivers. The terrain features shape the tactics that are used to defend against potential adversaries and create both challenges and opportunities for the two organizations as they train.
Training for wartime operations is not the only opportunity afforded to the State Partnership Program’s international participants. How the two military organizations address domestic disasters and support internal infrastructure are also of primary focus, according to program leadership.
“The State Partnership Program establishes alliances with critical partners,” said Maj. Patrick Rand, State Partnership Program Director for the Maine National Guard. “It links U.S. states with nations across the world to develop those partnerships, influence and improve interoperability, and even share our level of understanding on how we approach different problems.”
One example of this is involvement with domestic infrastructure, since organizations have systems in place that allow them to assist local governments with domestic projects outside the scope of military necessity. The building of roads and bridges and clearing land are all projects that these organizations support, especially if they have a positive effect on their training needs. Montenegro soldiers even participated in the Maine National Guard’s improvements at the Maine Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery late last year. In Montenegro, these types of projects are an enduring presence in their annual training calendar.
“We support infantry units with our engineering capabilities, [and] even provide EOD, (explosive ordnance disposal) units,” said Capt. Peko Nikolic of the Montenegrin Engineer Company. “But I’d say we spend almost half of our time supporting infrastructure projects for various municipalities. We get many requests and conduct recon missions to determine feasibility. Much of our training involves building roads and bridges, as this is conducive to our military training needs as well.”
Conducting these types of international knowledge-sharing events through the State Partnership Program on an ongoing basis is important, not just for the training benefit, but for the relationship value as well, according to Maj. Rand.
“Through implementation, participants develop relationships. Because the relationships are then in place and participants have already worked together through these events, when things do go bad, those nations tend to turn to the groups they trust and with whom they’ve already worked.”
Joint training events also give host nations a chance to share their cultures, expanding the learning and increasing the trust that can be built between participants.
“We were given a chance to do some shopping in one of your nearby towns while we were here in Maine,” said Spc. Ognjen Grba, a new engineer with the Armed Forces of Montenegro Support Battalion, and a first-time visitor to the U.S. “Even in my foreign uniform, I couldn’t believe how hospitable people were. I was thanked for my service multiple times while I was out. I’m not used to that at all and I really appreciated it. I can’t wait to come back again.”

• Date Taken: 03.05.2025
• Date Posted: 03.07.2025 08:45
• Story ID: 492203
• Location: GILEAD, MAINE, US
• Hometown: GILEAD, MAINE, US