Cooperation with the New York National Guard strengthens the Swedish Armed Forces

12 July 2024 kl: 18.00

On 12 July, a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between Sweden and the US state of New York was signed. The partnership will primarily focus on cooperation between the Swedish Armed Forces and the National Guard in New York, within the framework of the US' so-called State Partnership Program (SPP).

Militärparad i New York.
Militärparad i New York.
New York Army National Guard. Photo: Mark Getman

The memorandum of understanding on cooperation was signed by the Deputy Secretary for Public Safety of New York Marcos Soler, as well as by Major General Raymond F Shields, the Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson and Major General Johan Pekkari. The signing took place at One World Trade Center in New York.

Fyra personer med flaggor i bakgrunden på kontor
The signing took place at One World Trade Center.

“Cooperation with the National Guard in New York will strengthen the Swedish Armed Forces’ capability development. Exercises and exchanges, together with the relationships that we build, will contribute to more interoperability for our respective units and capabilities”, says Major General Johan Pekkari, chief of the Defence Staff’s Strategy Unit.

In April 2023, the Swedish government applied to be nominated for the State Partnership Program, and on 3 July 2024, the US Secretary of Defence decided that Sweden would be offered a partnership with New York. This partnership strengthens the ties between Sweden and the US at state level, and contributes to predictability and long-term stability in the mutual relations.

“The New York National Guard has, among other things, divisional capabilities and extensive experience in training, educating, and exercising large unit formations, which is an important capability for the Swedish Armed Forces to develop. Other capabilities we look forward to collaborating on include the field of combat aviation and information exchange in the air domain”, says Major General Johan Pekkari.

In concrete terms, the collaboration is translated into a detailed plan with joint activities between the New York National Guard and the Swedish Armed Forces. Other actors, such as those within civil defence, may also benefit from the cooperation.

The partnership will be based on the different needs of the two parties and aims to enhance military capabilities. Joint activities might include sharing concepts, ideas, and lessons learned, conducting joint exercises, or participating in each other's training and educational activities. To support the collaboration, the New York National Guard plans to place a liaison officer at the US Embassy in Stockholm.

US National Guard

The US National Guard is a military part-time state-based reserve component of the US army and air force. Each Guard unit serves under the command of their state governor to respond to natural disasters or other state emergencies. Moreover, Guard units can be activated to defend the nation, when needed.

The US National Guard comprises more than 400 000 members, which make up 20 per cent of the total US defence forces.

The New York National Guard has some 20 000 members.

State Partnership Program

The State Partnership Program (SPP) was established in 1993 and includes all of the 54 US states and territories. The SPP has partnerships with more than 100 countries around the world. Among others, Norway has a partnership with Minnesota, and Finland with Virginia. Within the SPP framework, the New York National Guard has also forged bilateral partnerships with South Africa and Brazil.