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The National Guard State Partnership Program (SPP) is a United States Department of Defense program managed by the National Guard that links U.S. States with partner countries around the world for the purpose of supporting the security cooperation objectives of the geographic Combatant Commands (CCMDs).〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.army.mil/article/72048/State_partnership_program_emphasizes_building_relationships/ )〕 By linking U.S. states with designated partner countries, the SPP aims to promote access, enhance military capabilities, improve interoperability and enhance the principles of responsible governance.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.eucom.mil/key-activities/partnership-programs/state-partnership-program )〕 Furthermore, the SPP aims to support several areas of potential interest to the US Congress, such as: * helping prevent failed states and creating stable regions * improving the capabilities of partner nations to protect their citizens * strengthening relationships to facilitate access and interoperability * improving cultural awareness and skills among U.S. military personnel * fostering the integration of reserve and active component forces into a "total force" All SPP activities are coordinated through the geographic Combatant Commanders, the U.S. Ambassadors' country teams, the partner State, and other agencies as appropriate, to ensure that National Guard support is tailored to meet both U.S. and country objectives. Specifically, all activities must support the Theater Campaign Plan (TCP) as well as individual U.S. Ambassador mission plans in the countries where they operate.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.eucom.mil/key-activities/partnership-programs/state-partnership-program )〕 The unique civil-military nature of the National Guard allows active participation in a wide range of security cooperation activities, such as:〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.eucom.mil/key-activities/partnership-programs/state-partnership-program )〕 * emergency management and disaster response * border and port security * leadership and NCO development * medical capacities * economic security * natural resource protection * peacekeeping operations * counter trafficking * counter proliferation * counter terrorism ==History== As the Soviet Union disintegrated between 1989 and 1991, U.S. government officials explored options to minimize instability and encourage democratic governments in the former Soviet bloc nations. One effort to address these policy goals was to expand military-to-military contacts with the newly independent states of Central and Eastern Europe to promote subordination to civilian leadership, respect for human rights, and a defensively oriented military posture. At the time, most of these newly independent states had militaries that were based on the Soviet model and focused on countering threats from NATO nations.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66807 )〕 Sparking the program was a request from the Latvian government for help in developing a military based on the National Guard’s citizen-soldier model. Army Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs at the time and Army General John Shalikashvili, then European Command (EUCOM) commander, embraced the concept as a way to build partnerships with non-NATO countries in the region as they established democratic governments and market economies.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=116355 )〕 The United States EUCOM took the lead in this effort by establishing the Joint Contact Team Program (JCTP) in 1992. The JCTP was originally composed of active component personnel and included members of the special forces because of their language skills. However, when the JCTP began to engage the Baltic nations of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, senior defense officials insisted that National Guard and Reserve personnel play a leading role in any military liaison teams operating in those countries, apparently in response to those governments’ desire to establish reserve-centric defense establishments and to assuage Russian concerns about U.S. expansion into its former satellites. “The U.S. was trying to engage with the former communist nations that were in the Warsaw Pact, and using active duty troops might have been a little too offensive to the Russians or the folks that were in there, so the idea was to use the small footprint of National Guard troops,” said Air Force Col. Joey Booher, Chief of International Affairs for the National Guard Bureau.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66807 )〕 In November 1992, Lieutenant General John Conaway, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Brigadier General Thomas Lennon, head of the JCTP, visited the Baltics. A few months after their trip, in early 1993, the National Guard initiated the first state partnerships: Maryland-Estonia, Michigan-Latvia, and Pennsylvania-Lithuania. Additional partnerships were proposed later in 1993 for Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. The SPP assisted the JCTP by providing additional personnel, funding, and access to military personnel from U.S. ethnic-heritage communities who often had relevant language and cultural skills.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66807 )〕 Today, 50 U.S. states, two territories, and the District of Columbia are partnered with 65 countries around the world. Two bilateral relationships also exist between NGB and Israel and between Minnesota and Norway.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=https://g1arng.army.pentagon.mil/Pages/DisplayFeaturedNewsItem.aspx?FeaturedNewsItemID=82 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「State Partnership Program」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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