{"id":17400,"date":"2023-06-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=17400"},"modified":"2023-07-03T06:41:47","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T06:41:47","slug":"hokanson-reinforces-national-guard-partnership-with-americas-longest-standing-indo-pacific-ally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=17400","title":{"rendered":"Hokanson Reinforces National Guard Partnership with America\u2019s Longest-standing Indo-Pacific Ally"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief, National Guard Bureau, met with Philippine military leaders to discuss enhancing the security cooperation partnership between the Southeast Asian island nation and the Hawaii National Guard and Guam National Guard in Manila, Philippines, May 20, 2023. This image was acquired using a cellular device. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Jim Greenhill)
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MANILA, Philippines \u2013 The U.S. National Guard\u2019s top general met with Philippine military leaders recently to discuss enhancing the security cooperation partnership between the Southeast Asian island nation and the Hawaii and Guam National Guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many benefits to our cooperation,\u201d U.S. Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson said. \u201cStronger diplomatic relations, greater prosperity, advanced disaster recovery, improved resilience in the face of adversity, and a stable, more peaceful world for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

This more than 7,000-island archipelago in the Philippine Sea on the western margin of the Pacific Ocean was the chief of the National Guard Bureau\u2019s final stop on a three-nation Indo-Pacific trip to nurture National Guard relationships in the region and explore ways to boost support to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Philippines is the United States\u2019 oldest ally in the Indo-Pacific,\u201d Hokanson said. \u201cFor more than 70 years, our alliance has advanced the peace, prosperity and security of both our nations and the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hawaii National Guard and Guam National Guard have had a security cooperation partnership with the Philippines under the 100-nation Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program since 2000. Hokanson joined Guardsmen for the closing ceremony of a leadership development training exchange during his visit May 20-21.<\/p>\n

Initially established in Europe in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the SPP has grown to include relationships between state or territory National Guards and countries in every U.S. geographic combatant command. This year is the 30th anniversary of the growing program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese relationships not only improve our nations\u2019 readiness and interoperability, they also deepen friendships and understanding,\u201d Hokanson said. \u201cYes, we enhance our capabilities. Yes, we gain essential experience. But we also establish ties that withstand the tests of time and distance. We cannot surge trust \u2014 we can only build it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In discussions, Hokanson and senior Philippine Army, Air Force and Reserve leaders sought ways in which the SPP can further contribute to enhancing the readiness and interoperability of U.S. and Philippine military forces, including bolstering reserve components and strengthening the U.S.-Philippine defense alliance.<\/p>\n

U.S. Army Col. Mike Cruz, the Guam National Guard\u2019s newly appointed adjutant general, joined Hokanson for this portion of his Indo-Pacific trip.<\/p>\n

With a slightly larger total landmass than Arizona, the Philippines is home to more than 116 million people, with 140,000 active-duty troops and 365,000 reservists.<\/p>\n

Among recent SPP exchanges, the Guam National Guard has conducted leadership development exchanges with Philippine reservists, and the Hawaii National Guard has worked with the Philippine Air Defense Command on air space management.<\/p>\n

Humanitarian assistance, disaster response, urban search and rescue, peacekeeping operations, cybersecurity, tactical casualty combat care, officer training, noncommissioned officer development, and engineering were focus areas of other recent SPP exchanges or ones planned soon between Guam, Hawaii and the Philippines.<\/p>\n

Hokanson, joined by his wife, Kelly, also laid a wreath at the Manila American Cemetery, an island of crosses and monuments meticulously groomed and managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission in the heart of bustling Manila. American and Philippine service members are memorialized here, and it is the only one of the\u00a024 U.S. overseas military cemeteries where the Stars and Stripes and host nation flags are flown together.<\/p>\n

This hallowed ground bears silent testimony to the enduring alliance between the United States and the Philippines, commemorating American and Philippine troops who fought shoulder-to-shoulder and died in the Pacific theater of World War II.<\/p>\n

Many of the 300,000 American citizens living in the Philippines are military retirees, and the nation is home to the only Veterans Affairs clinic in a foreign country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching our forces work together and learn from each other, as they have for decades, I was struck by our commonality and the opportunities and challenges of our shared world,\u201d Hokanson said after his visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur National Defense Strategy is clear: Mutually beneficial alliances and partnerships are an enduring strength and will be more critical in the years ahead,\u201d Hokanson said. \u201cThat\u2019s why the SPP is so important. And that\u2019s why the relationship between the Philippines and the Hawaii and Guam National Guards is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

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National Guard Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief, National Guard Bureau, met with Philippine military leaders to discuss enhancing the security cooperation partnership between the Southeast Asian island nation and the Hawaii National Guard and Guam National Guard in Manila, Philippines, May 20, 2023. This image was acquired using a cellular device. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17402,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17400"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17403,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17400\/revisions\/17403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}