IMPLEMENTING INNOVATION
How the National Guard can be DOD’s secret weapon for capturing cut ting-edge technology.
by Lt. Col. Benjamin Posil “Te value of an idea lies in the using of it.”—Tomas Edison
republics. National Guard “weekend warriors” may have been an unlikely choice to lead the diplomatic charge into the East- ern Bloc, but the resulting State Partnership Program (SPP) has proven to be a resounding success. By applying this low-key, low- cost model inward toward domestic industry partners, DOD can leverage the same construct for a different kind of programmatic “diplomacy”—building partnerships with small and innovative companies. Tis Innovation Program would use the proven State Partnership Program model to harness cutting-edge innovation, creating a “win-win-win” that benefits DOD, state economies and local innovators.
A
Te State Partnership Program initiative pairs U.S. states with partner nations, with the original goal to “create constructive relationships between state National Guards and the newly inde- pendent countries of the former Soviet Union,” according to a Breaking Defense article from August 2020. Te success of this program in Eastern Europe led to a global expansion that now includes bilateral partnerships with 90 countries. Te SPP coor- dinates nearly 1,000 bilateral events every year and has become a strategic “game changer” according to Adm. Craig Faller, a former U.S. Southern Command commander. Te fact the program develops mutually beneficial bilateral partnerships that focus on far more than just warfighting capability has generated access to partners who otherwise would have been unable or unwilling to
102 Army AL&T Magazine Spring 2022
fter the fall of the Iron Curtain, DOD put the National Guard at the forefront of a program tasked with building relationships between the United States and newly independent former Soviet
support conventional military-to-military engagements with the United States.
With no more than two dedicated billets per partnership, and a minimal operational budget (approximately $200,000 per state), the State Partnership Program is purposely lean. Te program leverages bilateral affairs officers who are embedded with part- ner nations to facilitate direct coordination between the state and the partner nation. In addition, SPP directors are a part of general staffs at the state level, providing direct access to senior decision-makers and enabling a close relationship between the state and the partner nation. Te streamlined oversight and prior- itized access result in strategically impactful exercises, training events and exchanges. It also provides a model that the DOD should replicate to promote innovation.
THE NATIONAL GUARD OPTION Local National Guards are state-level resources that answer to governors or functional equivalents when not activated in a federal status. Te vast majority of the “citizen Soldiers” who make up the National Guard ranks live and work in the same commu- nities where they serve. Tey know the areas, use the schools, patronize the businesses and serve in the governments. Unlike active-duty service members who frequently change localities, National Guard personnel can and often do spend their entire military career within a single state. Te connection that National Guard personnel have to their communities is unique for military organizations. Both their knowledge of the local communities as well as their vested interest in seeing those communities succeed
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