WEBVTT 00:17.739 --> 00:19.683 30 years of partnership means that 00:19.683 --> 00:21.850 we've seen this program evolve quite a 00:21.850 --> 00:24.128 bit . Uh , when the program kicked off , 00:24.128 --> 00:26.461 the Soviet Union had recently collapsed . 00:26.850 --> 00:29.319 Uh , we didn't know what direction some 00:29.329 --> 00:32.349 of those former , uh , Warsaw Pact , 00:32.360 --> 00:34.638 Soviet Union countries were gonna take . 00:34.638 --> 00:36.360 So the partnership program was 00:36.360 --> 00:38.471 established to partner National Guard 00:38.471 --> 00:41.959 States with those those countries , um , 00:42.299 --> 00:45.709 very similar scope , scale size and to 00:45.720 --> 00:47.919 build friendships , quite frankly , if 00:47.930 --> 00:50.152 I could put it in the simplest terms to 00:50.152 --> 00:52.319 build friendly relations and establish 00:52.319 --> 00:54.652 friendly relations with those countries , 00:54.652 --> 00:56.430 military to military . That's a 00:56.430 --> 00:58.597 fantastic feeling . I strongly believe 00:58.597 --> 01:00.541 that , you know , this year we are 01:00.541 --> 01:02.763 celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 01:02.763 --> 01:04.708 Cooper Operation of Ohio State and 01:04.708 --> 01:06.930 Hungary as a country and in between the 01:06.930 --> 01:06.370 military . That's awesome when you are 01:06.379 --> 01:08.546 coming to a point where we are sending 01:08.546 --> 01:10.712 soldiers here and you guys are sending 01:10.712 --> 01:12.935 soldiers to Hungary as well . I believe 01:12.935 --> 01:15.500 that interoperability , it means we can 01:15.510 --> 01:17.919 work along with other nations soldiers . 01:17.959 --> 01:19.737 It doesn't matter whether it is 01:19.737 --> 01:21.848 happening here in the US or happening 01:21.848 --> 01:23.792 here , Baghdad in Hungary . But at 01:23.792 --> 01:25.681 least we can have a common ground 01:25.681 --> 01:27.681 number on the language number two , 01:27.681 --> 01:29.903 knowing , knowing of TPP procedures and 01:29.903 --> 01:31.959 everything . So , if we can make the 01:31.959 --> 01:33.959 foundation here , we can work along 01:33.959 --> 01:36.015 anywhere in the world . You know , I 01:36.015 --> 01:38.237 think the value , the true value to our 01:38.237 --> 01:40.403 soldiers is the experiences being able 01:40.403 --> 01:43.709 to go to Europe to , to a partner 01:43.720 --> 01:45.831 country , to a NATO partner country . 01:46.319 --> 01:48.541 And I think there's a shared learning , 01:48.739 --> 01:50.683 uh , both ways . I think , I think 01:50.683 --> 01:52.795 sometimes there's a tendency to think 01:52.795 --> 01:52.610 that we're just going to go over there 01:52.620 --> 01:54.690 and teach . But , but when , when we 01:54.699 --> 01:56.709 get there , we find out that we're 01:56.720 --> 01:59.053 learning as much as we're teaching . So , 01:59.053 --> 02:01.053 so that's , that's the real value . 02:01.053 --> 02:03.276 It's very clear in the national defense 02:03.276 --> 02:05.730 strategy that partnerships and 02:05.819 --> 02:08.630 alliances are the way forward . They're 02:08.639 --> 02:12.029 the way that wars are prevented to be 02:12.039 --> 02:13.983 honest . And the State Partnership 02:13.983 --> 02:16.850 program is extremely important because 02:16.860 --> 02:20.520 we unlike active duty , we have people 02:20.529 --> 02:23.100 in similar or the same roles over the 02:23.110 --> 02:26.050 course of decades . And we , we asked 02:26.059 --> 02:28.880 frequently by our uconn counterparts to 02:28.889 --> 02:31.259 accompany them uh when they visit our 02:31.270 --> 02:33.492 partners and when they have events with 02:33.492 --> 02:35.381 our partners because we have that 02:35.381 --> 02:37.548 relationship . So when you walk in the 02:37.548 --> 02:39.714 door , there's someone already there , 02:39.714 --> 02:41.881 you know , with a friendly smile and a 02:41.881 --> 02:44.320 handshake . The highlights of our 02:44.330 --> 02:46.497 partnership with Hungary is definitely 02:46.497 --> 02:48.386 the code deployment . I think the 02:48.386 --> 02:50.552 ultimate goal of the state Partnership 02:50.552 --> 02:52.899 program is to be able to deploy and be 02:52.910 --> 02:55.199 present around the world to promote 02:55.210 --> 02:57.679 security . And so the examples of that 02:57.690 --> 02:59.857 partnership and the highlights of that 02:59.857 --> 03:02.023 partnership would be 10 co deployments 03:02.023 --> 03:04.179 to Afghanistan that we have done with 03:04.190 --> 03:07.660 Hungary and also co deployments to 03:07.669 --> 03:10.059 Kosovo as part of the peacekeeping 03:10.339 --> 03:13.585 force before we embedded our soldiers 03:13.595 --> 03:16.675 within the Hungarian contingent . And 03:16.684 --> 03:19.315 they have also done the same , the more 03:19.324 --> 03:21.904 we work together , the better we 03:21.914 --> 03:24.192 understand better , we know each other . 03:24.192 --> 03:25.914 Hungary is on the forefront of 03:25.914 --> 03:28.554 defending the entire Europe because we 03:28.565 --> 03:30.676 are one of the front line nations and 03:30.676 --> 03:32.509 we do have us forces deployed to 03:32.509 --> 03:34.565 Hungary . And the more time we spent 03:34.565 --> 03:36.787 together , not only with them but other 03:36.787 --> 03:38.898 nations soldiers as well . It's going 03:38.898 --> 03:41.121 to make the alliance stronger . Our end 03:41.121 --> 03:43.360 goal continues to be what it always has 03:43.369 --> 03:45.202 been in terms of the partnership 03:45.202 --> 03:47.202 program . And that's to continue to 03:47.202 --> 03:48.758 strengthen our mill to mill 03:48.758 --> 03:50.591 partnerships , continue building 03:50.591 --> 03:52.591 trusting relationships among senior 03:52.591 --> 03:54.702 leaders . When we talk about building 03:54.702 --> 03:56.758 trust , which I believe is truly the 03:56.758 --> 03:58.869 essence of the program . I'm not sure 03:58.869 --> 04:00.925 there's any better way to do it than 04:00.925 --> 04:00.699 one engagement at a time , one 04:00.710 --> 04:02.654 conversation at a time , one field 04:02.654 --> 04:05.330 exercise at a time until you understand 04:05.339 --> 04:07.690 each other and you know each other and 04:07.699 --> 04:09.910 you believe in each other and you know 04:09.919 --> 04:11.919 that you're gonna have each other's 04:11.919 --> 04:13.975 backs . And that's what I believe is 04:13.975 --> 04:13.419 the essence of the State Partnership 04:13.429 --> 04:13.850 program .