CHEYENNE, Wyo. - The African nation of Tunisia and the Wyoming National Guard are furthering their relationship a year after a Tunisian revolution kicked off the Arab Spring.
The two countries were paired together in 2004, through the National Guard Bureau's State Partnership Program. The NGB SPP is an almost 20-year endeavor to match states with nations of compatible interests, economies and other factors. Initial relationships between Wyoming and Tunisia were those between military leaders, and have grown to incorporate civilian endeavors.
Some of these endeavors and exchanges between the Wyoming National Guard and Tunisia were temporarily halted Dec. 18, 2010, as an uprising by Tunisian residents and subsequent overthrow of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali took place.
The Wyoming National Guard has two personnel assigned to their SPP with Tunisia. One of them is based in Tunisia and assigned as the bilateral affairs officer within the U.S. Embassy's Office of Security Cooperation there. The other is in Cheyenne, Wyo. as coordinator for the Wyoming State Partnership Program, coordinating military, cultural, and other events.
"The word that comes to mind is 'transition,'" said Army Maj. Corey Jones, the recently former state coordinator.
Army Capt. Eric McCoy is, who has filled Jones' position as the new state coordinator, said he has spent the past two months working with the U. S. Africa Command, the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia and the National Guard Bureau, as exchanges and cooperation with Tunisia begin to ramp up.
"It is absolutely fascinating with what we can do with the relationships we've built," McCoy said. "What we're currently working on is trying to get Tunisians to develop a five-year-plan, a mission on how they want to develop their [military] organization and ways that we can help them."
The partnership began with similarities on the military side, he said. Both the Wyoming National Guard and the Tunisian military operate C-130s and field artillery. Both also deal with potentially harsh weather systems.
But the coordination extends beyond military discussions. Interagency and corollary events are the terms used to describe civilian exchanges and cooperation facilitated by the State Partnership Program, Jones said.
These civilian exchanges include the one between the University of Wyoming, and the University of Sfax, in Tunisia, and also the relationships between municipal governments in Wyoming and Tunisia.
"Ultimately we will have a lot of engagements going on that [us], as the military, don't even know about due to the strong civilian-to-civilian partnerships and friendships that are growing," McCoy said. "The university is one of those things that prove that."
For example, the University of Wyoming recently extended opportunities for five Tunisian students to attend the school and complete bachelor's degrees at the in-state tuition rate.
Jones said he also anticipates civilian relationship growth where there are mutual interests, such as in wind power, agricultural irrigation, and the tourism industry.
McCoy said the bilateral affairs officer in Tunisia is also trying to coordinate a visit to Wyoming of representatives from Les Scouts Tunisians, the national scouting organization of Tunisia similar to the Boy Scouts of America, for a cultural exchange with the Boy Scouts of America.
In the meantime, "[The Tunisian military's] big concentration right now is developing their emergency reaction plans for natural disasters and such," McCoy said, citing the current direction of the military exchange between the two.
Jones said the future of the relationship between Wyoming and Tunisia is simply a matter of what changes occur within the African country.
"The question is to what level the new Tunisian government is going to continue to expand," Jones said.