LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Since 1996, the Kentucky National Guard has joined together with military personnel from Ecuador as part of the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program.
Overall, the National Guard Bureau has partnered with 100 countries through this program. Throughout each year, soldiers and airmen from the Kentucky National Guard come together to interact with their partners, both in Kentucky and in Ecuador.
Maj. Gen. Haldane (Ha) B. Lamberton shared more on how Kentucky came to connect specifically with Ecuador.
“The partnership that we've got with Ecuador was one of the very first that the National Guard set up,” Lamberton said. “Quite simply, when Ecuador identified itself as a country for being interested in the partnership, we also raised our hand and said that we were interested in partnering with them.”
To kick off their 2024 engagements, the Kentucky National Guard got the Lexington Fire Department involved. The goal? To learn about natural disaster response.
Kentucky and Ecuador share similar challenges with natural disasters, a key one being flooding. After the deadly flooding in Eastern Kentucky, the Lexington Fire Department prepared the Lexington Fire Training Academy to boast its beautiful boats and big red fire engines.
The Kentucky National Guard and Lexington Fire Department showed around eight senior-level members of the Armed Forces of Ecuador to exchange information regarding preparation and response to major flooding.
Admiral Jaime Vela Erazo, Chief of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, shared his thoughts on the equipment he saw.
“I don't have a lot of information as far as this equipment, even within my country,” Erazo said. “But I do like and enjoy the capabilities that they have here in the event that there's a natural disaster.”
Both Erazo and Lamberton understand the importance of this international partnership and the opportunity it presents to learn something valuable.
“There's no necessarily one right way to conduct military operations,” Lamberton said. “We learn from the military in Ecuador. They learn how we do things, and it works out terrifically well for an integrated dynamic of sharing information.”
During the course of the afternoon, the two groups plan to sign an extension on their partnership, hoping to work together for the next two years.
“Like General Lamberton mentioned, we can benefit from learning from each other and sharing experiences,” Erazo said.
