North Carolina National Guard Welcomes New Zambian Partnership

North Carolina National Guard leaders join fellow U.S. Military and Zambian leaders at a State Partnership Program Signing Ceremony, Livingstone, Zambia, April 26, 2024. The leaders were invited to the ceremony as part of the NCNG’s expansion joining the Republic of Zambia and the Republic of Malawi in their State Partnership Program, a National Guard Bureau initiative joining individual state National Guards and host nations as part of U.S. security cooperation and international civil-military affairs.



By Maj. Ellis Parks North Carolina National Guard Livingstone, Zambia May 13, 2024
View Gallery
fallback
Gallery contains 3 images
What would make a member from the Governor’s Office of North Carolina, several members from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS), and a host of members from the North Carolina National Guard (NCNG) pack their bags, board a plane or two, and travel more than 18 hours, over 7,000 miles to the Republic of Zambia? What exercise or operation is so important that all three components of the U.S. Army, National Guard Bureau, and the North Carolina Army and Air National Guard would be called up to take part in this country of 20 million people? If the agriculture group is going, it must have something to do with farming, right? But if the military is involved, it must have something to do with conflict. Or is North Carolina and the NCNG setting the framework to be one of the most impactful and instrumental state partners on the African continent? The Chief of Staff for the governor’s office Kristi Jones, and 19 members from the NCNG joined NCDA&CS Chief of Staff Zane Hedgecock, Peter A. Thornton, the department’s director of marketing, and Associate Dean for North Carolina State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Dr. Richard Bonanno on April 22. The team boarded their Delta flight en route to take part in a ceremony that held the potential to be one of the most significant international endeavors that North Carolina has been part of in years, and possibly ever. After the long flight, the team touched down in Johannesburg and then made their way to the Republic of Zambia. There the team joined the Chargé D’affair for the United States Embassy, Republic of Zambia, Linnisa Wahid, the Secretary for the N.C. Department of Public Safety Eddie Buffaloe, Deputy Commander, U.S. Army Africa Command Army Lt. Gen. John Brennan, and Army Maj. Gen. Todd Hunt, the Adjutant General of North Carolina. After a day of getting acclimated to the change in time, season, and weather, this determined ensemble of leaders met with various members of the Republic of Zambia’s Army, Air Force, Ministry of Defense, and Ministry of Agriculture. The aim was to discuss various paths forward and ways in which both the Nation and the state could best help each other, and with these conversations, the State Partnership Program between the Republic of Zambia and North Carolina began. “Although, we are here to mark the official start of the state partnership between us (NCNG and Zambia),” said Hunt. “We have been working together for years already.” Daily, the two groups were allotted time to discuss the needs of the Zambian people and ways that the state government and the NCNG could assist. Simultaneously, the Zambian leaders shared with the N.C. team their best practices and lessons they have learned over the years. With more than 75% of the Zambian population working in agriculture and North Carolina being one of the biggest agriculture states, both vocationally and through the university systems, this amazing country and North Carolina’s partnership seemed almost destined. North Carolina continues to lead the U.S. in tobacco and potato production, which are Zambia’s main exports, showing a simple example of how closely knit the partners are. “We are more than excited to have Zambia as our state partners,” said Buffaloe. “This opportunity opens doors for both groups to share our cultures, our knowledge of the world, our military capabilities, and to improve upon our democratic ways of life.” The partnership could not have come at a better time, as Zambia is experiencing the worst drought in over 40 years. The country has massive bodies of water throughout it, and it shares Victoria Falls, the largest set of waterfalls in the world, with Zimbabwe. Currently, the Zambian people lack the resources to access and use the water from these waterways to properly irrigate their farmland. “The State Partnership Program between my country and North Carolina is one that I hope helps with ensuring food security for our people,” said Permanent Secretary for Zambia’s Ministry of Defence, Norman Chipakupaku. “We must learn to use our natural resources to help with our food insecurities. We feel if we work with North Carolina and Malawi, we can learn to use our water and land to be the food basket for all of South Africa.” The culminating event happened when Jones, Hunt joined the Republic of Zambia’s MP Minister of Defence the Honorable Ambrose Lwizhi Lufuma, SC MP Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security the Honorable Jack Mwiimbu, approximately 250 guests, and about 30 members of the press came together for the State Partnership Program Letter of Intent Signing Ceremony on April 26, 2024. The ceremony took less than two hours but the intent behind it will last, what many hope, is a lifetime. “We need the building of the relationships between North Carolina, Zambia, and Malawi to be a historical one,” said Chipakupaku.
More in Partnerships
Army lawyers provide training on rules for armed conflict at exercise Justified Accord
NAIROBI, Kenya – Among the flurry of tactical live fires and squad movement drills, air ground integration and even the humanitarian initiatives at exercise Justified Accord 2025 (JA25), lies the one thing those who serve in any armed force must follow: The Law. The Law of Armed Conflict, or LOAC, is a key aspect of training for any military. JA25’s academics course aimed at learning from the international legal lessons of previous wars in an effort to reduce the amount of human suffering in future conflicts. “The soldier’s rules are a broad set of rules that we have pulled from the large breadth of international law,” said U.S. Army Maj. Tim Olliges, an operational law attorney assigned to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), the lead U.S. Army command and planner of JA25. “The LOAC is extensive and can be complex, so we pull out the ten most critical concepts that every soldier, right down to the private, should know before they go into combat.”
Read more
US, Kenya prepare for the unimaginable CBRN threat
NAIROBI, Kenya – Imagine two scenarios. Scenario 1: Dawn breaks over the capital of Kenya. A U.S. diplomat leaves his residence for the embassy. After a 20-minute ride, his car arrives at the gate and he enters. He sits in his office to begin the day when, all of a sudden, he hears an explosion through the open window. It seems far off; it is not a large explosion. He thinks maybe it was just a car accident, but minutes later he smells something bitter in the air. His eyes water, sirens blare and a U.S. Marine Corps security detail enters his office wearing gas masks. They put a mask on him and tell him they must evacuate immediately because a deadly chemical is blowing over the compound. Scenario 2: U.S. intelligence receives credible information that radiological material is being loaded onto a ship in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. Time is short and no one knows which ship, only that it will embark soon, possibly bound for the hands of violent extremists or other state actors looking to imperil the U.S. homeland. There is no time to send U.S. security forces to intercept the package. Instead, the Kenyan Disaster Response Battalion (DRB) mobilizes and arrives at the port. Using tactics and tools gained from years of training with the United States, they find the ship and the weapon, placed there by a violent extremist organization, and prevent its departure, defeating the threat to America and its citizens. Similar scenarios have happened before in other areas of the world.
Read more
36th Annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference and First Chaplain Africa Forum held in Brussels
The U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and Belgian Ministry of Defence, in partnership with U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and U.S. Indo Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Chaplain Directorates, hosted the world’s largest annual meeting of senior military religious leaders at the 36th Annual NATO & Partner International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference (IMCCC) in Brussels, Belgium, January 27-31, 2025.
Read more
More in Partnerships
Army lawyers provide training on rules for armed conflict at exercise Justified Accord
NAIROBI, Kenya – Among the flurry of tactical live fires and squad movement drills, air ground integration and even the humanitarian initiatives at exercise Justified Accord 2025 (JA25), lies the one thing those who serve in any armed force must follow: The Law. The Law of Armed Conflict, or LOAC, is a key aspect of training for any military. JA25’s academics course aimed at learning from the international legal lessons of previous wars in an effort to reduce the amount of human suffering in future conflicts. “The soldier’s rules are a broad set of rules that we have pulled from the large breadth of international law,” said U.S. Army Maj. Tim Olliges, an operational law attorney assigned to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), the lead U.S. Army command and planner of JA25. “The LOAC is extensive and can be complex, so we pull out the ten most critical concepts that every soldier, right down to the private, should know before they go into combat.”
Read more
US, Kenya prepare for the unimaginable CBRN threat
NAIROBI, Kenya – Imagine two scenarios. Scenario 1: Dawn breaks over the capital of Kenya. A U.S. diplomat leaves his residence for the embassy. After a 20-minute ride, his car arrives at the gate and he enters. He sits in his office to begin the day when, all of a sudden, he hears an explosion through the open window. It seems far off; it is not a large explosion. He thinks maybe it was just a car accident, but minutes later he smells something bitter in the air. His eyes water, sirens blare and a U.S. Marine Corps security detail enters his office wearing gas masks. They put a mask on him and tell him they must evacuate immediately because a deadly chemical is blowing over the compound. Scenario 2: U.S. intelligence receives credible information that radiological material is being loaded onto a ship in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. Time is short and no one knows which ship, only that it will embark soon, possibly bound for the hands of violent extremists or other state actors looking to imperil the U.S. homeland. There is no time to send U.S. security forces to intercept the package. Instead, the Kenyan Disaster Response Battalion (DRB) mobilizes and arrives at the port. Using tactics and tools gained from years of training with the United States, they find the ship and the weapon, placed there by a violent extremist organization, and prevent its departure, defeating the threat to America and its citizens. Similar scenarios have happened before in other areas of the world.
Read more
36th Annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference and First Chaplain Africa Forum held in Brussels
The U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and Belgian Ministry of Defence, in partnership with U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and U.S. Indo Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Chaplain Directorates, hosted the world’s largest annual meeting of senior military religious leaders at the 36th Annual NATO & Partner International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference (IMCCC) in Brussels, Belgium, January 27-31, 2025.
Read more
More in Partnerships
Army lawyers provide training on rules for armed conflict at exercise Justified Accord
NAIROBI, Kenya – Among the flurry of tactical live fires and squad movement drills, air ground integration and even the humanitarian initiatives at exercise Justified Accord 2025 (JA25), lies the one thing those who serve in any armed force must follow: The Law. The Law of Armed Conflict, or LOAC, is a key aspect of training for any military. JA25’s academics course aimed at learning from the international legal lessons of previous wars in an effort to reduce the amount of human suffering in future conflicts. “The soldier’s rules are a broad set of rules that we have pulled from the large breadth of international law,” said U.S. Army Maj. Tim Olliges, an operational law attorney assigned to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), the lead U.S. Army command and planner of JA25. “The LOAC is extensive and can be complex, so we pull out the ten most critical concepts that every soldier, right down to the private, should know before they go into combat.”
Read more
US, Kenya prepare for the unimaginable CBRN threat
NAIROBI, Kenya – Imagine two scenarios. Scenario 1: Dawn breaks over the capital of Kenya. A U.S. diplomat leaves his residence for the embassy. After a 20-minute ride, his car arrives at the gate and he enters. He sits in his office to begin the day when, all of a sudden, he hears an explosion through the open window. It seems far off; it is not a large explosion. He thinks maybe it was just a car accident, but minutes later he smells something bitter in the air. His eyes water, sirens blare and a U.S. Marine Corps security detail enters his office wearing gas masks. They put a mask on him and tell him they must evacuate immediately because a deadly chemical is blowing over the compound. Scenario 2: U.S. intelligence receives credible information that radiological material is being loaded onto a ship in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. Time is short and no one knows which ship, only that it will embark soon, possibly bound for the hands of violent extremists or other state actors looking to imperil the U.S. homeland. There is no time to send U.S. security forces to intercept the package. Instead, the Kenyan Disaster Response Battalion (DRB) mobilizes and arrives at the port. Using tactics and tools gained from years of training with the United States, they find the ship and the weapon, placed there by a violent extremist organization, and prevent its departure, defeating the threat to America and its citizens. Similar scenarios have happened before in other areas of the world.
Read more
36th Annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference and First Chaplain Africa Forum held in Brussels
The U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and Belgian Ministry of Defence, in partnership with U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and U.S. Indo Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Chaplain Directorates, hosted the world’s largest annual meeting of senior military religious leaders at the 36th Annual NATO & Partner International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference (IMCCC) in Brussels, Belgium, January 27-31, 2025.
Read more