Photo By Alexander Rector | United States Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael Bank, the commander of the New York Air...... read more read more
Subscribe
SYRACUSE, NY – The head of the Swedish air force got a first hand look at New York Air National Guard MQ-9 Reaper operations during a visit to Hancock Field Air National Guard Base on April 7, 20205.
Maj. Gen. Jonas Wikman, the Swedish air force, learns how the 174th Attack Wing trains MQ-9 operators and maintenance personnel and also conducts MQ-9 operations remotely from the Syracuse base.
The visit to Hancock Field was part of a larger visit which included stops at the Eastern Air Defense Sector and an Air Force Research Laboratory facility in Rome, NY.
Wikman’s visit was conducted as part of the National Guard’s State Partnership Program. The New York National Guard and Swedish military have had a partnership arrangement since 2024.
“The partnership program is important for New York, as an avenue for us to be able to engage with another nation and another air force, said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael Bank, commander of the New York Air National Guard. “We’re working with Sweden to be able to do just that, build those relationships, find out where we can help each other, and enhance our capabilities going forward.”
Accompanying Wikman on his visit was Swedish air force Col. Jonas Nellsjo, Sweden's assistant air attaché to Canada and the United States.
While at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, Wikman and Nellsjo received a briefing on the capabilities of the MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft and piloted an MQ-9 simulator at the base’s schoolhouse.
The Field Training Unit, or FTU instructs U.S. Air Force and sister service warfighters on how to pilot and crew the MQ-9 Reaper. The FTU is operated jointly with the 491st Attack Squadron, an active duty geographically separated unit of the 49th Attack Wing at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.
Consisting of five wings and the Eastern Air Defense Sector, the New York Air National Guard is the largest Air National Guard in the country.
“There are 106 partnerships spread across the 54 states and territories,” said Maj. Gen. Raymond Shields, the adjutant general for New York State. “New York in particular, has three state partners. We’ve had South Africa since 2003, Brazil since 2018 and Sweden since 2024.
Since signing the state partnership agreement last year, the New York National Guard has conducted almost 50 different engagements with their Swedish military counterparts. “This is just further strengthening the alliance between the United States and NATO and the relationship between Sweden,” Shields said.
Aside from the strategic benefits of the SPP, the state's service members also benefit from the ongoing partnership, Shields explained.
"The State Partnership Program is a great way to participate in exercises in Brazil, to participate in exercises in South Africa and Sweden and throughout the world where those countries are involved,” Shields said. “So it further provides an opportunity for us, for retention purposes, for our Soldiers and Airmen to be involved with more overseas training deployments.”
As the military-led partnership between New York State and Sweden continues to grow, new opportunities are on the horizon.
“The governor's office is very interested in expanding the relationship from military to military to civilian agencies,” Shields said. “So the Department of Education, the Department of Health, Homeland Security and Emergency Services working with their counterpart agencies within Sweden.”
This State Partnership Program is administered by the National Guard Bureau and guided by State Department foreign policy goals.
Through the SPP, the National Guard conducts military-to-military engagements in support of defense security goals but also leverages relationships and capabilities to facilitate broader interagency engagements spanning military, government, economic and social spheres.
| Date Taken: | 04.07.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.14.2025 13:04 |
| Story ID: | 495124 |
| Location: | SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 94 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, New York National Guard Hosts Swedish Air Force Chief During State Partnership Program Visit, by Alexander Rector, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
