Frank Grass, who's since retired, to his official residence in Mons, Belgium. European Command and NATO's supreme allied commander Europe, invited the National Guard Bureau's then-Chief Army Gen. Phil Breedlove, who was dual-hatted as both commander of U.S. 20, 2014, Russia began annexing the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. Shortly afterward, Air Force Gen. The 1993 California-Ukraine pairing in the SPP had also been a textbook example of one of the messages Guard leaders repeat to partner nations: When you partner with a state, you partner with the entire National Guard. 'We can help Ukrainians translate, if you will, the great work that they're doing on behalf of, not just Ukraine, but NATO and the entire free world.' 'So, even though we are unable to execute SPP engagements in Ukraine during the conflict, we have been able to maintain those relationships.' 'We're maintaining a relatively persistent dialogue with our Ukrainian counterparts throughout the entire invasion,' Beevers said. Matthew Beevers, California's adjutant general, said that cooperation continues today. We have a huge history of cooperation with the California National Guard, which has given us good help.'Īrmy Maj. 'Modern warfare needs responsible, competent and motivated NCOs. Oleksandr Kosynskyi, senior enlisted leader of the Ukrainian armed forces.

'In this war, it doesn't matter which kind of technique or technology we use people are still critical - crucial,' said Chief Master Sgt. who he had trained with - an expert on the antitank missile system in question - and were later followed by a video of a destroyed Russian tank. Urgent text messages from a Ukrainian soldier experiencing a weapons malfunction were exchanged with a Washington National Guardsman back in the U.S. 'Because the Ukrainians felt comfortable with those they had developed for almost 30 years at that point, those were their friends, and they were the people they reached out to immediately.' Daniel Hokanson, the 29th chief of the National Guard Bureau. We've trained with them and learned from them, shoulder-to-shoulder. Spotlight: Support for Ukraine'California Guardsmen told me, 'Not so fast.

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