Georgia National Guard enhances NATO’s mission with European allies – Savannah Morning News

Exercise Noble Partner 2017 is underway and your Georgia National Guard is critically involved.

On Tuesday, July 25, 2017, three C-130 H3 cargo aircraft departed Savannah with three crews, aircraft maintainers, and members of the Georgia Army National Guard for exercises as the state of Georgia is a partner with the Republic of Georgia in preparing their troops for NATO response forces. Exercise Noble Partner is part of the National Guard State Partnership program under the Department of Defense which includes security cooperation and global engagement.

For members of the 165th Airlift Wing, Georgia Air National Guard, based out of Savannah International Airport, the mission was an essential part of helping their sister country with training their force to enhance the NATO military force. This includes training the Georgians in C-130 interoperability and cargo loading and unloading and with joint airdrop training and foreign jumper familiarization training which will include parachutists with the Georgia Army National Guard, the Georgian infantry and members of Great Britains military.

Other countries participating in Noble Partner include Armenia, Germany, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and the Ukraine.

For the United States, U.S. Army Europe will lead exercise Noble Partner 2017 at Vaziani and Camp Norio training areas in the country of Georgia to support the training, progression, and eventual certification of the Republic of Georgias second light infantry company. These exercises also provide the participating nations with the opportunity to engage in realistic and challenging multi-national training environments while enhancing their interoperability for real world crisis events.

Lieutenant Colonel Jon Mims, a navigator for the 165th AW and the chief planner for the Wings participation in the exercise, is looking forward to the real-world training. This is an excellent opportunity for us to train with our partner nations in NATO in conducting exercises which may have to be utilized in the future, said Lt. Col. Mims. For both our preparedness and our partners preparedness, these exercises are the cornerstone of what we bring to NATO and helping our partner nations develop a better military structure.

According to Major Erika Wonn, Commander of the 165th Maintenance Squadron, Its an honor to work with our partner, Georgia, who has been such a valuable ally. Partnerships are a key component to what makes the National Guard so imperative to the nations warfight. Were proud to be part of our nations state partnership program with our partnership with the Republic of Georgia.

For the next several weeks, your Georgia National Guard will be preparing for the future of NATO and the world in order to protect freedom.

Lt. Col. David Simons is the Public Affairs Officer for the 165th Airlift Wing, Georgia Air National Guard.

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Georgia National Guard enhances NATO's mission with European allies - Savannah Morning News