absolutely imperative to
anyone who is going to
fight in wars today. Our
soldiers are preparing
to fight in other nations,
we don’t go as just the
United States, and we go
as coalition forces. So this
exposure with a foreign
military is a wonderful
experience for Maine
soldiers.”
Campbell sees the SPP as
a huge advantage for all
states that participate in
it. Soldiers are able to gain
the experience of working
with multinational soldiers,
customs, and equipment
variances all while working
towards a common goal,
without having to be in a
deployed environment first.
“The SPP is the only way
we have right now of
building these bilateral
exchanges without going
on combat deployments,”
said Campbell. “Personally,
I would rather have our
soldiers and airmen working
through this to gain that
experience, rather than
sending them into harm’s
way.”
For the Montenegrins, their
primary objective is to
achieve NATO membership.
Elgee, who lives in Gray,
Maine said that working
with the United States helps
them develop the model
that NATO looks for.
“In a lot of ways we are the
NATO standard bearers,”
said Elgee. “So when they
are trying to become the
next nation in NATO, we
bring them that experience
and knowledge.”
Campbell met with
Milica Pejanovic-Djurisic,
Montenegrin minister of
defense during his visit.
According to Dakovic,
who serves as the head of
development department
for the Armed Forces of
Montenegro, their military
has made great progress
since being teamed with
Maine. They have learned
about family support
programs and psychological
preparation for
multinational operations.
“Their nuclear, biological
and chemical unit has been
improved through a series
of joint activities,” said
Dakovic. “Furthermore,
by performing activities
in Maine and Montenegro,
we have improved our
soldiers ability to operate in
extreme climate conditions,
while building on our
partnership.”
Together, the minster
of defense and general
specified the next goals
for the SPP to work
on. Montenegro is very
focused on developing
training programs for
troops deploying to
Afghanistan, gaining more
experience in civil-military
cooperation, especially in
emergency management
disaster preparedness, and
completing more joint
training missions.
As the relationship between
Maine and Montenegro
matures,Campbell hopes
the partnership helps the
state of Maine develop
better service members
while also helping the
Montenegrins grow and
develop their programs.
Since his 2012 visit, Maine
has sent a group of ROTC
cadets and instructors to
train with the Montenegrins,
and they have visited
here, most recently, taking
part in one of the largest
training exercises in the
country, Vigiliant Guard.
“I hope we can continue
this into the foreseeable
future,” said Campbell.
“This is a great program,
not only for Maine, but for
all the states and territories
that participate in this
program. There are over 60
state partnership programs.
It’s a great added value for
the military to allow the
National Guard to do this
because it allows the active
duty military to do some
other things. It increases
the strength of the National
Guard to be able to do
these things at all levels.
I think that the skill sets
and ability developed, the
leader engagement are
important to the National
Guard. I think that by
broadening this program
we will continue to develop
those skills and continue to
be a valuable asset into the
future.”