State Partnership Program with the Nation of Georgia The National Guard State Partnership Program was established in 1993 in response to the radically changed political-military situation following the collapse of communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The SPP began as a bilateral military-to-military contact program to engage the countries of central and Eastern Europe, and is a direct growth of the United States European Command Joint Contact Team Program. The SPP has grown far beyond JCTP and is now a key security cooperation tool, facilitating interaction in all aspects of civilmilitary cooperation. The Georgia National Guard has a strong State Partnership program with the Country of Georgia. This relationship began in 1995. In 2010, the partnership focused
on helping Georgians identify and find their own solutions to the challenges they face today. The future of the partnership will be based on continuing to build upon the already robust 15-year old partnership, with the intent of building defense, interagency, and crisis management capacity within the partner country. Over the course of the Georgia SPP, the nation of Georgia has come to the brink of becoming an official member of NATO – thanks, in no small part, to the State Partnership Program. In 2010, the Georgia National Guard helped train over 2,000 Georgian Soldiers. It is worth noting that embedded Georgia National Guard Soldiers have fought side-byside with Georgian Soldiers in Iraq. In fact, the country of Georgia is the 3rd largest contributor of coalition forces currently in Iraq The Georgian Armed Forces are currently providing one battalion to the coalition forces in Afghanistan with an additional battalion in training. The State of Georgia
supports the U.S. Marine Corps as they train multiple Georgian battalions for combat in Afghanistan. Disaster response/interagency coordination efforts within the SPP will reach a milestone in June 2011 when the nation of Georgia conducts its first large-scale, multi-agency disaster response exercise under the watchful eye of National Guard mentors. The State of Georgia is the home of the second-largest diaspora of Georgians outside the country of Georgia. Many National Guardsmen are active in the Atlanta-Tbilisi Sister City Committee, which contributes to building relationships within the State. Through the SPP, the State of Georgia benefits by being able to play a role in overall United States security assistance and foreign policy initiatives. The state also benefits from the extensive experience Guardsmen procure while working with the country of Georgia on a variety of missions.
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