{"id":424195,"date":"2025-04-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=424195"},"modified":"2025-04-24T10:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T10:48:09","slug":"virginia-army-guard-soldiers-tajikistan-conduct-battle-exchange-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=424195","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Army Guard Soldiers, Tajikistan Conduct Battle Exchange Training"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Four Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers conduct a close-quarters battle exchange with members of the Tajik military April 7 – 11, 2025, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The engagement was conducted in support of the Department of Defense\u2019s State Partnership Program, which has connected Virginia and Tajikistan since 2003.
\n (Photo Credit: Contributed VNG)<\/span>
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\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
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DUSHANBE, Tajikistan \u2013 Four Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers recently conducted a close-quarters battle exchange training with members of the Tajik military.<\/p>\n

The engagement was conducted April 7-11 through the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program, which has paired Virginia and Tajikistan since 2003.<\/p>\n

The Guard team comprised 1st Lt. Josh Jeffcoat, 1st Lt. Zane Seymore and Staff Sgt. Eric Shively, all of whom are assigned to the Lynchburg-based 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and Master Sgt. John Luther, who is assigned to the Fort Belvoir-based 29th Infantry Division.<\/p>\n

The exchange focused on developing and refining close-quarters battle fundamentals while fostering collaboration between U.S. and Tajik forces. Thirty Tajik participants, representing three sectors of the nation\u2019s defense forces, participated in the training. Their ranks ranged from junior officers to senior colonels.<\/p>\n

Training occurred over five days of progressive instruction in a purpose-built shoot house with a catwalk. The exchange began with a focus on M4 rifle handling, stance and exterior movement to a building. Participants also were trained on room-clearing techniques, two and four-man entries, room-to-room transitions and hallway tactics.<\/p>\n

The last two days of the exchange focused on full nine-man squad-level operations and executing a full-building clearance in a scenario that incorporated simulated civilian presence and enemy combatants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis exchange marked another successful event in the ongoing partnership, delivering key CQB instructions while encouraging the development of new standard operating procedures for Tajik defense forces,\u201d said Maj. Isaac Rivera, the VNG\u2019s SPP coordinator. \u201cThe two-way engagement provided valuable insight into each nation\u2019s tactical approach and strengthened mutual respect and interoperability between forces.\u201d<\/p>\n

This event reinforces the growing relationship between the Virginia Army National Guard and Tajikistan, promoting regional stability and long-term cooperation.<\/p>\n

In July 2023, the Guard and Tajikistan celebrated the 20th anniversary of their formal partnership through the State Partnership Program. The program just celebrated its 30th anniversary. The relationship has benefited all parties and has resulted in shared subject matter expertise during 200 military-to-military engagements. Those engagements help counter terrorism, deter violent extremism, expand emergency response capabilities, develop professionalism among leaders and staff and promote shared values in national sovereignty and security.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.nationalguard.mil<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheNationalGuard<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/USNationalGuard<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.nationalguard.mil\/Leadership\/Joint-Staff\/J-5\/International-Affairs-Division\/State-Partnership-Program\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four Virginia Army National Guard Soldiers conduct a close-quarters battle exchange with members of the Tajik military April 7 – 11, 2025, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The engagement was conducted in support of the Department of Defense\u2019s State Partnership Program, which has connected Virginia and Tajikistan since 2003. (Photo Credit: Contributed VNG) VIEW ORIGINAL DUSHANBE, Tajikistan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424197,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-424195","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\/424195","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=424195"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":424198,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424195\/revisions\/424198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/424197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=424195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=424195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=424195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}