WASHINGTON, July 19, 2023 – 17 July 2023 saw the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the United States National Guard’s State Partnership Program (SPP), which aims to establish diplomatic relations, military training and expert assistance to a number of selected countries around the world. The conference this time held at the National Capital Region, Gaylord National Convention Center, Washington DC was attended by the Chief of Staff of the Malaysian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Datuk Arman Rumaizi bin Hj Ahmad representing the Malaysian Armed Forces, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, the Malaysian Ambassador to the United States and several Senior Officers from Malaysia.

This conference was held for two days from 17 to 18 July 23 involving 100 countries that are members of the SPP with the presence of 306 individuals from various countries who hold the positions of Minister of Defense, Commander of the Armed Forces, Defense Attaché and Ambassadors of the countries involved.

The conference this time began with a highlight of the 30th anniversary of SPP’s establishment by sharing SPP’s vision, achievements, past developments, current events and future plans. Then, the conference continued with panel discussions on current defense issues, individual focused sessions, updating the future vision, relations beyond military relations, cyber security and world climate change. Gen. Mark A. Milley, Chief of Staff of the Joint Forces of the United States, was the main speaker during the conference together with Gen. Daniel Hokanson, Chief of the National Guard Bureau and many other interested officials of the United States.

The SPP is a unique program that began in 1993. It pairs the United States National Guard with the newly independent countries of the former Soviet Union and countries emerging from the Warsaw Pact. “The program that started in 1993 with only 13 countries, has now grown to 100 countries,” said Major General William L. Zana, Director of Strategy, Planning and International Affairs, United States National Guard at the Pentagon on 13 July 23.

Malaysia and the United States have established SPP cooperation for the past seven years through an agreement signing ceremony held at the Malaysian Ministry of Defence between Maj Gen Bret D. Daugherty, Commander of the Washington National Guard representing the United States and Gen Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi bin Raja Mohamed Noor, the then Chief of Defence Force who represented Malaysia on 16 August 17.

The SPP cooperation between Malaysia and the United States is a continuation of the initial SPP cooperation between Thailand and the United States which was first signed in 2002. The United States sees cooperation with Malaysia and Thailand through the SPP as important because of the close relationship between these two countries in the Southeast Asian region and both share the same land, air and maritime borders.

Maj Gen Bret D. Daugherty also hopes to take advantage of this unique relationship between Malaysia and Thailand towards a tripartite relationship that can have a more positive impact. “When you see two other countries that share a lot of things in common and both of them are on another continent to your country, it is very good to cooperate and it is a very unique opportunity for us not only to be able to work only with Thailand or only with Malaysia, but to do a three-way cooperation between the three of us at some point in the future”.

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