LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced Nov. 17 that the Nebraska National Guard, alongside the Guam National Guard, has been selected to partner with the Republic of the Marshall Islands through the Department of War National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program, or SPP.
“I have seen first-hand the tremendous value of the State Partnership Program (SPP) through the Nebraska National Guard,” Pillen said. “Developing this relationship with a nation in the Pacific Rim, not far from our trade partners in Japan, further aligns mutually shared interests and presents multiple benefits.”
According to the adjutants general of the Nebraska and Guam National Guards, both organizations bring unique qualifications to the new partnership with the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The new partnership will initially focus on disaster response, capacity building, maritime security, counter-drug and cybersecurity.
“We are extremely proud to have been selected with the Guam National Guard to lay the foundations for this critically important partnership with the Republic of the Marshall Islands,” said Maj. Gen. Craig Strong, Nebraska National Guard adjutant general. “As the President and the Secretary of War have stated, the Indo-Pacific region is the critical theater in support of our National Defense Strategy.”
“Our new partnership with the Republic of the Marshall Islands will allow the Nebraska and Guam National Guard to directly contribute to the Indo-Pacific Command by developing trust, facilitating collaboration and innovation and creating opportunities for people-to-people engagements between Nebraska, Guam and the Republic of the Marshall Islands,” Strong said. “I firmly believe that together, we can build one of the strongest SPP relationships in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.”
Brig. Gen. Mike Cruz, Guam adjutant general, also commented.
"For thousands of years, our seafaring ancestors sailed the free and open waters between Guam and the Marshall Islands, exchanging goods, knowledge, and culture. They bravely navigated using the stars, knowledge of weather patterns and ocean currents in the face of great adversity,” Cruz said. “We also share the painful memories of the bloody battles fought during the last great Pacific War.”
“Now, 81 years after the battles of Majuro, Kwajalein, Eniwetok and Guam, once again we find ourselves at a crossroads in history,” Cruz said. “This is why it’s so important that our neighborhood in the Indo-Pacific is further recognized by this State Partnership. And this is why, together with Major General Strong and the mighty Nebraska National Guard, we will bravely navigate together once again, our challenges in the face of great adversity."
This will mark the third SPP partnership for the Guam National Guard, which has been partnered with the Philippines (with the Hawaii National Guard) since 2000 and Palau since 2024. It will be the fourth SPP partnership for the Nebraska National Guard, which has been matched with the Czech Republic (with the Texas National Guard) since 1993, Rwanda since 2019 and Tanzania since 2024.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands consists of five islands and 29 low-lying atolls located in two island chains in the central Pacific Ocean. It has a population of 82,011, according to 2024 census estimates. The islands are located about halfway between Hawaii and Australia.
A formal SPP signing ceremony between the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Guam and Nebraska National Guards is expected in early 2026.
The State Partnership Program has been successfully building relations for more than 30 years and now includes more than 106 partnerships with 115 nations around the globe. The SPP evolved from a 1991 U.S. European Command decision to set up the Joint Contact Team Program in the Baltic Region with Reserve component Soldiers and Airmen. A subsequent National Guard Bureau proposal paired U.S. states with three nations emerging from the former Soviet Bloc, and the SPP was born. It became a key U.S. security cooperation tool, facilitating cooperation across all aspects of international civil-military affairs and encouraging people-to-people ties at the state level.
Through the State Partnership Program, the National Guard directly advances U.S. national security interests by building shared capacity with partners to promote stability and preserve peace through strength. SPP forges unique peer-to-peer relationships between National Guard Soldiers and Airmen with their partners, building lasting trust and rapport. SPP offers National Guard organizations unique readiness advantages through training with foreign partners, allowing Guard units to operate in realistic, yet unfamiliar environments, collaborate with foreign militaries and gain experience with a wider range of equipment.
Additionally, SPP delivers an exceptional Return on Investment: State National Guards conduct 30% of all U.S. security cooperation activities, while the SPP costs just 1% of the Department of War’s security cooperation budget.