An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | March 15, 2016

Nevada National Guard Soldiers sharpen communication skills with Tongan military

By Lt. Col. Mickey Kirschenbaum Joint Force Headquarters Public Affairs

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga – Last week, several members of the Nevada National Guard traveled across the globe to interact and exchange techniques for communicating with members of His Majesty's Armed Forces, the Army, Navy and Marines of the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific.

Several members of the Nevada National Guard's 422nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion and the Nevada Air National Guard worked with the Tongan forces to set up, operate and troubleshoot U.S. and Australian radios and communication base stations at locations across the island nation and with one of its naval vessels at sea.

The Nevada National Guard and the Kingdom of Tonga signed a Declaration of Partnership under the auspices of the National Guard Bureau's State Partnership Program on April 11, 2014.

The State Partnership Program (SPP) links a unique component of the Department of Defense – a state’s National Guard – with the armed forces of a partner country in a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship.

The SPP is administered by the National Guard Bureau, guided by State Department foreign policy goals, and executed by the adjutants general in support of combatant commanders and Department of Defense policy goals.

Past exchange topics have included military and maritime legal aspects, military police techniques, night vision equipment and Combat Life Savers.

Nevada and Tonga have also partnered in several Pacific Command and South Pacific exercises that include active duty, guard and reserve U.S. forces, as well as military personnel from Australia, New Zealand and several other Pacific Rim nations.

The exchange enhanced communication knowledge and focused on radio and equipment care and maintenance, command and control, emergency preparedness and standardizing radio procedures.

Maj. Jerome Guerrero, executive officer of 422nd ESB, was impressed with the knowledge and ingenuity of his Tongan counterparts. "Their ability to persevere despite limited equipment assets and compatibility was impressive," Guerrero said.

The team from Nevada also visited several Tongan military installations, toured the nation's newest naval ship and observed newly-created basic training classes.

Capt. Alex Kassebaum, a Reno Police Department detective and a member of the 152nd Airlift Wing Operations Group, visited the Women and Children Crisis Centre with Col. JoAnn Meacham, Headquarters Nevada Air National Guard, to support the Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan through high-level discussions with female senior leaders and female Tongan officers.

Discussions included domestic violence within His Majesty's Armed Forces and reporting procedures used in the U.S. military and Nevada National Guard.

"The approach to protecting these women and providing them with a way out is similar to programs here in Nevada and something both communities could expand upon," Kassebaum said.

 

 

Related Articles
Alaska Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 2 David Berg, a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter pilot, assigned to A Company, 1-168th General Support Aviation Battalion, conducts flight operations over Southeast Alaska near Juneau, Jan. 24, 2025. The Juneau-based Black Hawk aircrew conducts their federal mission training requirements and, when available, can respond to emergency requests by the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center or the State Emergency Operations Center.
Alaska Army National Guard Conducts Medevac Mission
By Dana Rosso, | June 5, 2025
JUNEAUA, Alaska – A UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter assigned to A Company, 1-168th General Support Aviation Battalion, transported a patient from Skagway to Juneau June 3, following a medical evacuation request from the Alaska...

U.S. Air National Guard civilian firefighters, assigned to the Vermont Air National Guard Fire Department, pose in front of the fire truck that was the first on scene, South Burlington, VT, June 4, 2025. These firefighters provided the first fire truck on scene to a local fire.
Vermont Air Guard First on Scene of South Burlington Fire
By Airman Raymond LaChance, | June 4, 2025
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – Doireann Chesbrough, a civilian firefighter for the Vermont Air National Guard Fire Department, was sitting next to the radio in the dayroom of the station as the sun began to set over the Green...

Paratroopers from the Colorado National Guard and the Jordanian Armed Forces stand together before the first joint Colorado-Jordan airborne Friendship Jump, Watkins, Colorado, April 23, 2025. Members parachuted from a CH-47 Chinook as part of an event to strengthen interoperability and deepen the partnership between the two forces.
Airborne Operation Strengthens Colorado Guard, Jordan Partnership
By Senior Airman Melissa Escobar-Pereira, | June 4, 2025
CENTENNIAL, Colo. – In a display of cooperation and capability, Soldiers from the Colorado Army National Guard and the Jordanian Armed Forces recently conducted a joint airborne operation in Watkins, Colorado.The April 23...