Army Maj. Gen. David Baldwin, adjutant general of the California National Guard, talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, and California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, during their visit to the California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Air National Guard Base, Calif., in September 2021. (Duane Ramos/U.S. Army)
WASHINGTON — National Guard members from California have become vital partners to Ukraine and have helped troops there fight Russian forces on the battlefield for the past 17 months, a top Army official said Thursday.
Maj. Gen. William Zana, director of strategic plans and policy and international affairs for the National Guard, said the Guard’s State Partnership Program, which pairs troops from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and three territories with other nations for military training, has directly benefited Ukraine since the country was invaded by Russia in February 2022.
Ukraine’s partner in the program is California — and Guard troops from the state have been training Ukrainian troops in areas such as infantry tactics, weapons and equipment operation, and battlefield mobility.
“If you look at the small-unit tactics and success within Ukraine, I think part of that is attributed back to much of the [training] work that was done between Ukraine, California and other partners in the region,” Zana said Thursday at the Pentagon. “I think you can see the evidence that Ukraine has leveraged this [program] to great effect against Russian forces.”
Ukrainian forces have achieved some of their biggest victories in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, and Kherson, which they recaptured from Russian troops in the fall.
The California National Guard has been working with Ukraine’s military for three decades as part of the program, and the state increased its participation after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. The partnership has continued during the Russian invasion.
“Obviously, things have had to shift to areas where we could do that training safely,” Zana said. “[Training] has continued and will continue.”
The State Partnership Program began in 1993 and aligning the California National Guard with Ukraine was one of the program’s first pairings. The program was created initially so the United States military could give defense training to new countries that formed from the breakup of the Soviet Union — such as Ukraine. Smaller ally nations with a need for defensive assistance have since joined. In return, National Guard troops get to experience training operations in various regions of the world.
“The Guard is currently partnered with more than half of the world’s nations and we expect to see continued growth in the coming years,” Zana said.
Ukrainian troops have been able to successfully fend off Russian forces in many parts of the country with substantial U.S. military training and billions of dollars in weapons and equipment. Last week, the United States pledged another round of military aid worth $800 million.
“We see a galvanizing of the relationships of NATO and … the State Partnership Program,” Zana said. “You see the manifestation of that on the battlefield.”
Zana said National Guard troops from other states have also provided capabilities and support for Ukraine in the past year and some European nations not presently in the State Partnership Program have expressed interest in joining since Russia’s invasion.
“We see great interest from our Nordic partners and other [nations] in Europe,” the general said.
Of the Nordic countries, only Norway is in the State Partnership Program. It formally partnered with the Minnesota National Guard in February.
Since 1993, the program has created partnerships between 100 countries and 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia. The territories involved in the program are Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. Three nations in Africa — Gabon, Malawi and Zambia — are among those that are joining in 2023.
Europe has the most state partnerships with 25 and the Latin American region has 24.
“We have no hidden agenda,” Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, National Guard Bureau chief, said of the program. “We’re here to advance whatever is best for both America and our allies.”
