{"id":437133,"date":"2025-05-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=437133"},"modified":"2025-05-06T14:53:58","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T14:53:58","slug":"new-jersey-new-york-officer-candidates-train-with-albanian-kosovar-cadets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=437133","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey, New York Officer Candidates Train with Albanian, Kosovar Cadets"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n New Jersey and New York Officer Candidates conduct Situational Tactical Exercise lanes with cadets from Albania and Kosovo. The New Jersey National Guard and Albanian have been partners for over 20 years in the U.S. Department of Defense State Partnership Program.
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\n New Jersey and New York Officer Candidates and Cadets from the Albanian Armed Forces Military Academy conduct situational tactical exercise lanes during a field training exercise in Rreth-Greth, Albania on April 21st, 2025. The New Jersey National Guard and Albanian have been partners for over 20 years in the U.S. Department of Defense State Partnership Program.
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\n Officer Candidates from the New Jersey and New York Army National Guard copy notes during an operation order brief during a field training exercise in Rreth-Greth, Albania.
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\n U.S. Army Maj. Pedro Zamora, commander of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, Echo Company, 254th Regiment, briefs an operation order to New Jersey and New York Officer Candidates and Cadets from the Albanian Armed Forces Military Academy during a field training exercise in Rreth-Greth, Albania on April 21st, 2025. The New Jersey National Guard and Albanian have been partners for over 20 years in the U.S. Department of Defense State Partnership Program.
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RRETH-GRETH, Albania \u2013 Officer candidates from the New Jersey and New York Army National Guard traveled to Albania for the fifth consecutive year to conduct a field training exercise with cadets from the Albanian Military Academy.<\/p>\n

This exercise is part of the New Jersey National Guard\u2019s long-standing participation in the Department of Defense National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program with the Albanian Armed Forces.<\/p>\n

From April 19 to April 30, officer candidates and cadets tested their tactical and leadership skills while leading mixed squads of U.S. peers and cadets from Albania and Kosovo. This year\u2019s event also featured a collaboration with cadre from the Colorado and Connecticut National Guards, further strengthening inter-state and international ties.<\/p>\n

Upon arrival in Albania, OCS candidates spent several days leading their squads through Situational Tactical Exercise \u201clanes.\u201d These lanes included movement to contact, knocking out a bunker, squad attacks, conducting ambushes, reacting to ambushes and reconnaissance missions. The varied challenges are designed and evaluated by OCS cadre to sharpen candidates\u2019 decision-making skills under pressure and build battle-drill proficiency.<\/p>\n

Albanian Armed Forces leadership emphasized the importance of integrating cadets into mixed squads to promote effective communication and leadership in dynamic environments.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the participants in this exercise learned from each other, and it\u2019s important to continue to build on the progress we made here,\u201d said Maj. Besnik Tusha, Head of Tactics at the Albanian Armed Forces Academy. \u201cPlanning and executing this training mission with our American counterparts is a great opportunity to strengthen our relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Candidates and cadets also participated in cultural visits to the cities of Berat and Durres, exploring historical landmarks such as the Durres Amphitheater and the Berat Castle. These cultural exchanges provided additional bonding opportunities that enriched the training experience.<\/p>\n

For many U.S. officer candidates, this marked the first opportunity to apply classroom instruction in a realistic, multinational field environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first the language barrier seemed to be an obstacle, but it ultimately helped with dissemination in the field by having to give clear tasks,\u201d Officer Candidate James Kemp of New Jersey\u2019s OCS Class 68 said.<\/p>\n

The success of the 2025 training iteration underscores the enduring value of the State Partnership Program and its role in preparing future leaders for the demands of multinational cooperation.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraining events like this are great for strengthening our relationship with our Albanian partners,\u201d said Maj. Pedro Zamora, commander of the New Jersey Army National Guard OCS. \u201cThis year was unique with the addition of Kosovo\u2019s participation and our collaboration with OCS cadre from New York, Connecticut and Colorado National Guard. It\u2019s exciting to see the expansion of this exercise year to year and I would love to see it continue.\u201d<\/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":"

1 \/ 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 New Jersey and New York Officer Candidates conduct Situational Tactical Exercise lanes with cadets from Albania and Kosovo. The New Jersey National Guard and Albanian have been partners for over 20 years in the U.S. Department of Defense State Partnership Program. (Photo Credit: Capt. Kyle Marr) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437135,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-437133","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\/437133","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=437133"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":437140,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437133\/revisions\/437140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/437135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=437133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=437133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=437133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}