DVIDS – News – OK Guard celebrates 20th anniversary with Azerbaijan

Leaders with the Oklahoma National Guard, alongside the Governor and First Lady of Oklahoma and an Azerbaijan delegation, gathered on the Oklahoma City Museum of Art to rejoice the 20th anniversary of state partnership between Oklahoma and Azerbaijan.

“Over the last 20 years, Oklahoma has been proud and remains proud to serve next to you and work with you (Azerbaijan),” mentioned Brig. Gen. Thomas H. Mancino, adjutant common for Oklahoma, through the celebration dinner.

Gov. Kevin Stitt additionally attended the celebration, citing his household’s go to to Azerbaijan greater than a 12 months in the past.

“One thing that I really appreciated about the Azerbaijani people is their values,” mentioned Gov. Kevin Stitt, governor of Oklahoma. “It was all about family; it was all about taking care of our kids and giving better opportunities for them. The liberty and the freedoms that we talked about are really what we talk about here in the United States.”

The three-day go to included a tour of The Hamm Institute for American Energy at Oklahoma State University, the place the delegation realized how Oklahoma develops future power leaders by sensible, international and science-based mostly options by collaboration, analysis and improvement.

The delegation additionally realized about Western historical past, artwork and tradition throughout a tour of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Before departing the state, the delegation toured the 137th Special Operations Wing in Oklahoma City, the place they met with senior management and mentioned unit capabilities, toured the civil engineer amenities, hearth division, aeromedical unit and acquired and overview of the Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) mission set.

Administered by the National Guard Bureau in 1991 and guided by State Department international coverage objectives, the State Partnership Program has since developed the place it now maintains greater than 87 partnerships with 95 nations the world over.

For Oklahoma, the partnership with Azerbaijan started in 2002 and was matched because of financial similarities in 4 areas: power, agriculture, aviation and medical care and public well being.

“Almost exactly 20 years ago, I came to the state of Oklahoma as a junior diplomat when this state partnership program started,” mentioned Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim, Azeri ambassador to the United States. “I would never have imagined that we would expand this cooperation to economy, energy, culture, and more importantly, people to people.”

In the previous twenty years, there have been a number of coaching occasions between the Oklahoma National Guard and Azerbaijan held in each accomplice’s international locations. According to Lt. Col. Tonia Toben, incoming state partnership program supervisor, inside the previous 5 months alone, there have been 4 main engagements between the 2, together with medical care, employees coaching, cyber protection coaching and extra.

“Of course, those are a few very brief examples of two decades of multiple training and diplomatic events,” Toben mentioned. “It is also notable that Oklahoma and Azerbaijan share a commitment to peace, prosperity, security and stability. Azerbaijan’s leadership within the region on energy diversification, agricultural investment and development opportunities, make them a great friend and partner to Oklahoma and the United States of America.”

Overall, the partnership between Oklahoma and Azerbaijan continues to strengthen by sturdy relationships with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, U.S. Embassy, United States European Command, and different civilian companies.