The Maryland National Guard hosted more than 30 public officials, academics and security analysts from NATO member states and aspirant countries via the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program at Martin State Air National Guard Base, Middle River, Maryland on Oct. 25, 2024.
The group visited Washington D.C. and surrounding areas, Norfolk and Colorado Springs, in coordination with the State Department for the “The Enduring Legacy of Collective Defense: 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” which highlighted the enduring importance of collective defense and NATO’s pivotal role in global security over the past 75 years.
“Some of the people in this group do not work in the defense industry, so we want them to understand what the National Guard does,” said Rachel Sunden, Department of State Liaison to the Department of Defense for the International Visitor Leadership Program. “They also want to understand how the guard model operates with a part-time force, as well as to learn specifically about the Department of Defense State Partnership Program.”
During the visit to Martin State Air National Guard Base, the group learned about the Maryland Air National Guard’s flying mission and cyberspace operations mission. Additionally, they learned about the decades long partnership between the Maryland National Guard and its state partners Estonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Defense Department’s State Partnership Program.
“The Maryland National Guard is proud to host the International Visitor Leadership Program, sponsored by the U.S. State Department. This is a valuable opportunity to celebrate Maryland’s important international relationships and showcase Maryland Guard soldiers’ and airmen’s professional training and mentorship in aviation, cyber defense, military medicine, policing and more,” said Maryland Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Janeen L. Birckhead, adjutant general for Maryland. “Through three decades of professional military exchanges with partners Estonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Maryland Guard has contributed directly to NATO’s goals of peace, stability and security.”
The day started with opening remarks by Birckhead and were followed by an A-10 static display tour where the group was able to see the aircraft and learn about the aircraft from pilots and maintenance airmen. The group then transitioned to a series of briefings geared toward learning about the mission of the 175th Operations Group, who fly the A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft, and also the mission of the 175th Cyberspace Operations Group, who perform offensive and defensive cyber operations.
“I want everyone to understand what information technology operations and cyber intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance are, how they integrate together and to comprehend the importance of our State Partnership Program,” said Maryland Air National Guard Lt. Col. Eric Burdon, 275th Operations Support Squadron commander. “I hope today’s biggest takeaway is having an understanding of the collaboration and partnership in addressing cyber threats.”
After speaking about the 175th Cyberspace Operations Group mission, he turned the focus to the critical partnership between the Maryland National Guard and Estonia. “Estonia had a cyber incident occur in 2008 which drove the initiative for that nation to really understand what they needed to change in their model to be able to perform more secure IT operations and drive their efforts from a cyber security and cyber operations perspective,” said Burdon. “By utilizing those lessons learned, we’ve been able to link together and iterate over the last 10 years and really drive towards IT and cybersecurity efforts to help actual cyber operations in a combined coalition type manner.” Burdon also explained that the Maryland Army National Guard works directly with Bosnia and Herzegovina to enhance their cyber capabilities.
Zebulon Carlander, a former political advisor to the Swedish Foreign Minister, said, “We are a new participant in the State Partnership Program and were recently partnered with New York and we are very excited to develop that cooperation. This visit gave me a better perspective on what it means to be a partner with a state. I was very impressed by all of the presentations we’ve gotten from the service members here at the Maryland National Guard.”
The visit concluded with a State Partnership Program overview briefing by Maryland Army National Guard Maj. Jason Booth, Maryland National Guard State Partnership Program director. Booth discussed the collaborative efforts between the Maryland National Guard and partners, Estonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Booth emphasized to the group, “everything we have talked about today is the State Partnership Program. It is the collaborative work that we’re able to do with our partners, not just in Maryland, but also with the National Guard Bureau, and the great opportunities that those relationships provide. The State Partnership Program is able to tie pieces together and make things happen.”
