LIMA, Peru –
West Virginia National Guard (WVNG) senior leaders and members of the State Partnership Program (SPP) met with Peruvian military leadership in Lima, Peru Aug 22-24, 2022, to develop a path forward for future engagements in the coming months and years as a part of a key leader engagement.
The Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Bill Crane, and senior enlisted leader, Command Sgt. Maj. Dusty Jones, along with the SPP team and U.S. Embassy - Peru personnel, met individually and collectively with various high-ranking officials within the Peruvian military forces to establish priorities and opportunities for future bilateral engagements among the two militaries.
Altogether, meetings occurred between the WVNG and the Deputy Chief of Missions U.S. Embassy - Peru, Mr. John McNamara, as well as Peruvian Army, Air Force, Navy and Joint Command commanding generals, operations officers and other key leaders of the service branches and joint force.
“This visit was a great opportunity to further unite the WVNG and Peruvian military forces as we established opportunities for mutually beneficial engagements for the coming years,” stated Crane. “We have such a strong relationship with our partners in Peru and we are dedicated to assisting them in their endeavors to bolster their humanitarian assistance/disaster response, enlisted leader development, aeromedical and cyber capabilities and any other areas we can to help them grow and prosper militarily.”
“The Peruvians are very similar to West Virginians in the values they possess and their willingness to do whatever they can to help the people of Peru when they need them most. I am humbled to have had an opportunity to see firsthand the unique capabilities of their military forces and to engage one-on-one with their leaders,” Crane continued.
This week’s meetings afforded Crane and Jones an opportunity to visit Peruvian military leaders following Covid-19 restrictions that limited travel to the country. The visit was an important step for the newly appointed Adjutant General and Peruvian military leaders to ensure a strong partnership can continue between the two entities and to look for new opportunities for growth through the State Partnership Program.
Between the Peruvian Army, Air Force, Navy and Joint Command, a common theme of ensuring the military can provide help to citizens in a natural disaster or humanitarian crisis was at the top of the list for discussion points during the visit. With Peru’s mountainous terrain and sometimes unpredictable rain patterns, flooding is a major issue for many areas in the country, as well as the potential for catastrophic earthquakes or other natural disasters.
Through previous meetings between the two military forces, the WVNG has helped to establish and build upon current efforts within the Peruvian military to assist their citizens in a time of need. Such efforts have included subject matter expert training in cyber, aeromedical evacuation, and search and recovery, showcasing equipment capabilities such as the C-130H, and sharing lessons learned from disaster response and new program creation, and enlisted professional development.
The WVNG leaders and the SPP director and coordinator, in conjunction with the U.S. Embassy staff in Peru, will establish the guidelines and potential opportunities for engagement outlined during the meetings with key leaders that nest with U.S. Southern Command priorities and country plans.
West Virginia and Peru are jointly connected through the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program (SPP) and the two have been advising, training and assisting each other since 1996 and are celebrating their 25th partnership anniversary this year. Each year, the two forces are conducting roughly 15 or more engagements to build partner capabilities through the mutually beneficial endeavor.
The SPP was designed in 1992 to improve and build relations around the globe through 85 partnerships with 93 different countries. In just over 25 years, Peru and West Virginia have partnered together for more than 150 interactions between the forces providing insight into regional challenges facing the Andean Ridge, especially in the areas of counter-insurgency, anti-terrorism, emergency preparedness, risk mitigation, disaster response and recovery.