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The United States European Command State Partnership Program (EUCOM SPP) is a National Guard program that links U.S. States with partner countries in the European Theater for the purpose of supporting the security cooperation objectives of United States European Command (EUCOM).〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.eucom.mil/key-activities/partnership-programs/state-partnership-program )〕 Currently, 22 Partnerships exist with former Soviet, Yugoslav and Warsaw Pact countries in the EUCOM Area of Responsibility. The program is a component of the larger (global) State Partnership Program, which oversees the program of each of the six geographic Combatant Commands. By linking U.S. States with designated partner countries, the SPP stated aim is 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 EUCOM SPP activities are coordinated through 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 EUCOM 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== With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, an opportunity emerged for bilateral relations with the 15 former Soviet Republics. Such relations were necessary to maintain regional stability and to ensure the development of civilian-controlled militaries. The SPP evolved from the 1991 U.S. European Command decision to set up a Joint Contact Team Program in the Baltic Region with Reserve component Soldiers and Airmen. A subsequent National Guard Bureau proposal paired U.S. states with three nations emerging from the former Soviet Bloc (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) and the SPP was born, becoming a key U.S. security cooperation tool, facilitating cooperation across all aspects of international civil-military affairs and encouraging people-to-people ties at the state level.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.nationalguard.mil/features/spp/default.aspx )〕 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 Gen. John Shalikashvili, then 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 European Command (USEUCOM) 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.〔 Today, 21 U.S. states are partnered with 22 European countries. Two bilateral relationships also exist between NGB and Israel as well as 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「U.S. European Command State Partnership Program」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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