Greece and Florida: first visit by a Greek delegation to the Florida National Guard since joining the State Partnership Program

Days after Greece officially joined the US National Guard’s State Partnership Program, a Greek military delegation visited Florida, the state that will now be the country’s partner. The visit took place on October 8 at the Camp Blanding Joint Training Center, according to photographs and captions published by the Florida National Guard on DVIDS, the US military media platform.

According to the official captions, senior leaders of the Florida National Guard welcomed the Hellenic delegation for tours of training facilities and demonstrations of capabilities. “The visit marked Greece’s new partnership with Florida under the State Partnership Program,” the captions say.

Who met

The Greek delegation was led by Brigadier General Paschalis Filousis. He was received by Maj. Gen. Robert Carruthers, Assistant Adjutant General-Army and commander of the Florida Army National Guard, who briefed the delegation on the training areas. At the end of the visit, Col. Todd Hopkins, commander of the Camp Blanding Joint Training Center, presented a plaque to Brig. Gen. Filousis.

Emphasis on civil protection

A large part of the programme concerned the Florida National Guard’s CERFP unit (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and High-Yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package), which specialises in responding to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats and large explosions. Soldiers and airmen of the unit briefed the Greek brigadier general on their search and rescue capabilities and demonstrated extraction procedures for casualties. The choice is not accidental: Florida has extensive experience with hurricanes, while Greece faces wildfires, earthquakes and floods every year.

The National Guard’s photographs show Greek officers in Hellenic Army camouflage uniforms watching the demonstrations and talking with the American commanders on the ranges. Cooperation on civil protection and disaster response is expected to be one of the first areas where the new relationship takes on practical content.

What the State Partnership Program is

The programme of the National Guard Bureau links a country’s armed forces with the National Guard of a US state for joint training, exchanges and cooperation on military matters and crisis management. Greece’s entry, with Florida as its partner, was finalised at the sixth round of the Strategic Dialogue. In the joint statement of Athens and Washington, the two sides said they “finalized Greece’s participation in the U.S. National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program with Florida, and enhanced interoperability through the provision of Stryker vehicles to Greece”. For what the vehicles mean for the Hellenic Army, see Geopolitiki’s analysis of the Stryker. The programme opens a permanent channel of contacts at unit level, which could lead to joint exercises and personnel exchanges in the coming years.