November GuardME Nov. 2013 | Page 24

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.”