SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The head of the Swedish air force got a first hand look at New York Air National Guard MQ-9 Reaper operations during his recent visit to Hancock Field Air National Guard Base.
Maj. Gen. Jonas Wikman of the Swedish air force learned how the 174th Attack Wing trains MQ-9 operators and maintenance personnel. He also learned how the Wing conducts MQ-9 operations remotely from the Syracuse base.
The April 7 visit to Hancock Field was part of a larger trip that included stops at the Eastern Air Defense Sector and an Air Force Research Laboratory facility in Rome, N.Y.
Wikman’s visit was part of the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program. The New York National Guard and the Swedish military have partnered 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.”
Col. Jonas Nellsjo, Sweden’s assistant air attaché to Canada and the United States, accompanied Wikman on his visit.
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, N.M.
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 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, Shields said the state’s service members also benefit from the ongoing partnership.
“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 [would be] working with their counterpart agencies within Sweden.”
The State Partnership Program is administered by the National Guard and guided by the State Department's foreign policy goals.
Through the SPP, the Guard conducts military-to-military engagements in support of defense security goals. The Guard also leverages relationships and capabilities to facilitate broader interagency engagements spanning military, government, economic and social spheres.