Connecticut National Guard > About > State Partnership Program

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Uruguayan Air Force Col. Ruben Aquines and U.S. Air Force Col. Tom Olander discuss security cooperation en route to a UH-60M Blackhawk at the 1109th TASMG in Groton, Conn. on June 15, 2021. The visit was part of a bilateral State Partnership Program engagement.

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Staff Sgt. Kaitlin Cardello, 118th Airlift Squadron loadmaster, shows cell phone video of a Connecticut Air National Guard C-130H Hercules airdrop mission to Maj. Gen. Miguel Giordano, Uruguayan Army, and Col. Hugo Parentini, Uruguayan Air Force, during a State Partnership Program visit to Bradley Air National Guard Base, East Granby, Conn. Aug. 15, 2019. Connecticut and Uruguay are celebrating 20 years of partnership through SPP, a nationwide program the National Guard established in 1993 to promote enduring and mutually beneficial security relationships with ally nations. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Steven Tucker)

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Col. Hugo Parentini, Uruguayan Air Force, and Col. Stephen Gwinn, 103rd Airlift Wing Commander, operate the wing’s C-130H Hercules Multi-Misson Crew Trainer (MMCT) during a State Partnership Program visit to Bradley Air National Guard Base, East Granby, Conn. Aug. 15, 2019. Connecticut and Uruguay are celebrating 20 years of partnership through SPP, a nationwide program the National Guard established in 1993 to promote enduring and mutually beneficial security relationships with ally nations. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Steven Tucker)

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Command CMSgt James Traficante demonstrates cargo webbing used for airdrop operations for Uruguayan Army Maj. Gen. Hugo Rebollo at the 103rd Airlift Wing's Small Air Terminal in Windsor Locks, Conn. on June 15, 2021. The visit was part of a bilateral State Partnership Program engagement between the Armed Forces of Uruguay and the Connecticut National Guard.

Military officers walking in front of aircraft hangar

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Uruguayan Army Maj. Gen. Hugo Rebollo, U.S. Air Force Col. Tom Olander and U.S. Air Force Maj. Jaime Zambrano discuss tactical airlift operations at the 103rd Airlift Wing in Windsor Locks, Conn. on June 15, 2021. The visit was part of a bilateral State Partnership Program engagement.

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The flag of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay is displayed over the State Capitol Building in Hartford, Conn., June 15, 2021. The flag was flown as a gesture of solidarity between the Armed Forces of Uruguay and the Connecticut National Guard during a bilateral visit for the State Partnership Program.

The State Partnership Program (SPP) has been successfully building relationships for over 25 years and now includes 85 partnerships with 93 nations around the globe.

The SPP evolved from a 1991 U.S. European Command decision to set up the Joint Contact Team Program in the Baltic Region with Reserve component Soldiers and Airmen. A subsequent National Guard Bureau proposal paired U.S. states with three nations emerging from the former Soviet Bloc and the SPP was born, becoming a key U.S. security cooperation tool, facilitating cooperation across all aspects of international civil-military affairs and encouraging people-to-people ties at the state level.

This cost-effective program is administered by the National Guard Bureau, guided by State Department foreign policy goals, and executed by the state adjutants general in support of combatant commander and U.S. Chief of Mission security cooperation objectives and Department of Defense policy goals.

Through SPP, the National Guard conducts military-to-military engagements in support of defense security goals but also leverages whole-of-society relationships and capabilities to facilitate broader interagency and corollary engagements spanning military, government, economic and social spheres.

Uruguay and Connecticut's Partnership

Beginning in the year 2000, Uruguay and Connecticut launched their partnership. Since then we have engaged in military-to-military engagements on topics ranging medical care in austere environments, counter-IED techniques, tactical airlift, aviation safety and more.

During the pandemic we switched to virtual engagements, but have since resumed in-person visits and engagements in both Uruguay and Connecticut.

About the SPP

The State Partnership Program has been successfully building relationships for over 25 years and now includes 85 partnerships with 93 nations around the globe.