COLUMBUS — The Ohio National Guard has expanded its international partnerships by adding the Republic of Angola to its State Partnership Program.
This move is expected to strengthen U.S. engagement and cooperation in Africa, building on Ohio’s existing partnerships with Hungary and Serbia that date back to 1993 and 2006, according to an announcement.
The State Partnership Program, managed by the U.S. Department of Defense, currently pairs 115 nations with U.S. state or territorial National Guards, serving as mentors and colleagues to their assigned countries. It was created in the 1990s to help former Warsaw Pact and Eastern European nations transition after Soviet influence and has since grown to include military-to-civilian and civilian-to-civilian relationships.
The State Partnership Program promotes U.S. regional security cooperation intentions and Department of Defense goals while supporting key government, economic, education and social objectives, according to the announcement.
With Angola’s addition, 26 African nations now participate in the program.
This story was created by Jane Imbody, jimbody@gannett.com, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct/.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Ohio National Guard now partners with Angola in global program
