BEAUFORT, S.C. - When the European nation of Moldova is the host of a six-nation disaster response exercise in May, it will be utilizing some of the lessons learned in the Lowcountry of South Carolina to ensure things run smooth.
A team of seven members of the Moldova military spent part of April in Beaufort County, S.C., to observe Vigilant Guard 2008, one of the largest disaster response training exercises in the history of the National Guard. National Guard units from about a dozen states responded along with local, state and federal agencies to a simulated earthquake centered in Beaufort County. The exercise runs April 21-24, 2008.
During Vigilant Guard, the Moldova soldiers were invited as guests of the North Carolina National Guard. North Carolina and Moldova work together in the National Guard's State Partnership Program. Under the SPP, 59 foreign countries are matched with U.S. states. Some states have more than one partner.
SPP activities include exchanges by high-level military and civilian leaders. Military-to-military contacts bring state National Guard members together with foreign troops. Military-to-civilian activities focus on homeland defense, homeland security and military support to civilian authorities, including disaster preparedness, emergency response and consequence management.
"We were happy to be able extend the invitation to our Moldovan partners to observe this exercise," said 1st Lt. Alfonz Markovics, partnership program coordinator for North Carolina. "We hope that they see a few things at this exercise that they can take back home and utilize next month when they host a six nation response exercise."
Among the Moldovan visitors were five officers in the Moldovan Army and two members of the Moldovan Dept. of Emergency Situations, the rough equivalent to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is part of the ministry of defense in Moldova.
The partnerships can address a wide variety of shared security issues, including border security and migration, combat medical training, computer and financial crime, defeating improvised explosive devices, disaster response, humanitarian assistance, illegal drugs, military support to civilian authorities, peacekeeping operations, port security and weapons proliferation.
The SPP started in the Baltic region of Europe in 1993 after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, focused on matching U.S. states with former Soviet satellite nations. The SPP later expanded to South and Central America. Central Asia, the Middle East, the Pacific and Africa came next. The U.S. in October established Africa Command (AFRICOM).
No SPP relationship has ended and none has failed since the program's inception 15 years ago.