Ohio National Guard State Partnership Program

A Soldier from the Serbian 63rd Parachutist Battalion, Special Forces Brigade, fires an M-240B machine gun June 12 on a Camp Grayling, Mich., firing range. About a dozen of the Serbian troops were training with the Ohio Army National Guard's Company B, 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, through an exchange with the National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program (SPP). The training included mission planning, weapons systems, demolitions and airborne operations. Sinisa Savic, a paratrooper with the Serbian 63rd Parachutist Battalion, Special Forces Brigade, and wife Sanja Savic, a journalist and editor with the Ministry of Defense Public Relations Department, greet each other June 12 on a Camp Grayling, Mich., firing range. Both were in the U.S. conducting exchanges with the Ohio National Guard - Sinisa with Ohio's Special Forces troops, and Sanja, with the public affairs office. An Ohio National Guard Special Forces Soldier briefs the Serbian 63rd Parachutist Battalion, Special Forces Brigade, June 12 on a Camp Grayling, Mich., firing range. The Serbian troops were training with the Ohio Army National Guard's Company B, 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, on mission planning, weapons systems, demolitions and airborne operations through an exchange with the National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program (SPP). A Soldier from the Serbian 63rd Parachutist Battalion, Special Forces Brigade, fires an M-240B machine gun June 12 on a Camp Grayling, Mich., firing range. About a dozen of the Serbian troops were training with the Ohio Army National Guard's Company B, 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, through an exchange with the National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program (SPP). The training included mission planning, weapons systems, demolitions and airborne operations.

Story and photos by Spc. Eunice Alicea Valentin
196th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP GRAYLING, Mich. - A small convoy of Humvees climbs up a dirt hill overlooking several acres of mounds on the outskirts of Camp Grayling, Mich. The convoy halts at the top and Soldiers jump out. A platter of decadent treats - M-240B and .50-caliber machine guns, MK-19 40mm grenade launchers and sniper rifles - is laid out along a table.

A Soldier from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, briefs his counterparts from the Serbian army's 63d Parachutist Battalion, Special Forces Brigade. Sgt. Ryan (due to the sensitive nature of their work, only first names will be used) runs ammo to the firing point, where the soldiers load the M-240B machine gun and begin familiarization fire on targets. Each paratrooper helps himself to a full-size serving.

The paratroopers were training together via the National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program, which links U.S. National Guard states with partnering countries to strengthen bilateral relationships. The annual training period-June 10-21-marked the second joint training exercise for the Ohio and Serbian Special Forces teams.

A large part of American diplomacy involves military forces, said Capt. Ryan, a liaison officer with Company B. Ryan said this was a typical mission for U.S. Special Forces. The troops enjoy traveling and working with foreign soldiers, he said.

In September 2007, a group of 17 Company B Soldiers traveled to Serbia to familiarize with Serbian military operations and tactics. Nine months later, the Serbian soldiers trained at Camp Grayling during the Ohio Army National Guard's Annual Training 2008. They focused on mission planning, weapon systems and demolition, among other tasks and skills.

It's important to exchange experiences and expertise, said Lt. Col. Danijel Stojkovic, chief operations officer for the 63rd.
The goal of the previous day's hands-on preliminary maintenance inspection and this day's familiarization fire was to demonstrate the differences between U.S. weapons systems and the Serbians' Soviet-made Kalashnikov rifle, said Sgt.1st Class Ryan, noncommissioned officer in charge.

Special Forces teams are not the only military participants in the State Partnership Program. In September 2007, Ohio National Guard medical teams visited the Serbian Military Medical Academy and hospitals in Novi Sad and Nis, and noncommissioned officers shared information about Army structure and procedures, said Serbian Navy Capt. Petar Boskovic, chief of the Ministry of Defense Public Relations Department, who was also visiting with a small delegation.

The Serbian public relations team hosted an Ohio National Guard public affairs delegation during the September 2007 visit, and in June, the Ohio delegation hosted the Serbs. Boskovic, joined by journalists, editors and interpreters flew to Camp Grayling June 12 during a weeklong visit, and conducted public affairs coverage of the joint Special Forces training.

"The partnership has been a rewarding experience for my husband and me," said Sanja Savic, web editor and journalist with the Serbian public relations team. Sanja's husband, Sinisa Savic is a paratrooper with Serbia’s 63rd, who was training with Company B Soldiers. For both, this has been a memorable experience, she said.