Oregon National Guard hosts Vietnam delegation visit through State Partnership Program

The week-long visit includes tours of emergency management and Oregon National Guard facilities.

(SALEM, Ore.) - The Oregon National Guard is hosting a delegation from Vietnam's National Committee for Search and Rescue (VINASARCOM) this week, Aug. 24-30, as part of the ongoing State Partnership Program.

Vice Admiral Pham Ngoc Minh, Deputy Chief of General Staff of Vietnam People's Army and Vice Standing Chairman of VINASARCOM, leads the delegation, which also includes other VINASARCOM experts in search and rescue, firefighting, explosion and building collapse, finance planning and investment, and foreign relations.

Officials from the United States Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam, are also in attendance, including Cmdr. Brent Freeman, U.S. Naval Attache to Vietnam, and the Oregon National Guard's Maj. Kyle Akers, Bilateral Affairs Officer to Vietnam.

The week-long visit includes workshops related to emergency management and emergency response, as well as tours of emergency management and Oregon National Guard facilities.

The delegation witnessed the certification training of the Oregon National Guard's CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP), Aug. 25, at Camp Rilea in Warrenton, Ore.

The delegation toured the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management and Multnomah County's emergency operations center in Portland, Ore., Aug. 26. They toured Oregon's Office of Emergency Management emergency operations center and the Oregon National Guard's joint operations center in Salem, Ore., Aug. 27.

The visit also includes meetings with government, education, business and economic leaders at Portland State University's Hatfield School of Government in Portland, Ore.

The Oregon National Guard's State Partnership with Vietnam is poised to greatly benefit all those involved in the program, with cross-cultural awareness, domestic emergency preparedness training, and the enhancement of international relationships.

The partnership between the Oregon National Guard and Vietnam was made official in November 2012 as part of the National Guard Bureau-sanctioned program, which pairs emerging democracies with National Guard states. Oregon currently has both Vietnam and Bangladesh as its state partners.

The State Partnership program complements broader U.S. engagement with Vietnam in pursuit of shared priorities such as disaster relief, education, health, trade and the environment. The program directly supports the broad national interests and security cooperation goals of the United States by engaging partner nations via military, socio-political, and economic conduits at the local, state, and national levels.

Vice Admiral Pham Ngoc Minh (center), Deputy Chief of General Staff of Vietnam People's Army and Vice Standing Chairman of Vietnam's National Committee for Search and Rescue (VINASARCOM), and other visitors with the VINASARCOM delegation pose for a group photo in front of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter along with their hosts, Maj. Gen. Daniel Hokanson (on Minh's left), Adjutant General, Oregon, and other members of the Oregon National Guard after visiting the Oregon National Guard's CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) annual certification training exercise, Aug. 25, at Camp Rilea in Warrenton, Ore. The Oregon National Guard is partnered with both Bangladesh and Vietnam's VINASARCOM through its State Partnership Program. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class April Davis, Oregon Military Department Public Affairs)