Nevada State Partnership Program

- Suva, Fiji
February 2026

🇺🇸 🤝 🇫🇯 ICYMI - Earlier this month, Nevada National Guard State Partnership Program Director Lt Col Chris LeRoy traveled to Fiji to participate in and attend the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Bilateral Defense Dialogue (BDD) with Republic of Fiji Military Forces.

The Nevada SPP coordinates with and works side by side the United States Military Group Fiji, Bilateral Affairs Officer (BAO) Major Zackary Taylor-Warren from the U.S. Embassy Suva. This was the last BDD for Maj. Taylor-Warren as he prepares to come back home to Nevada next month, soon to be replaced by anotherr Nevada National Guard Officer, Major Tyler Pack.

This BDD was a successful engagement where current and future plans were coordinated between various stakeholders which will lead to stronger and more effective security cooperation activities between the US and Fiji.

- Reno, Nev.
February 2026

🇺🇸 🤝 🇼🇸 For the first time ever, Nevada National Guard is hosting an exchange in the Silver State with Disaster Management Planners from Disaster Management Office - Samoa and the Acting Commissioner from Samoa Fire and Emergency Services Authority , visiting several Northern Nevada emergency response sites before traveling to Las Vegas to visit the Allegiant Stadium during a Rugby League seasonal opener match in efforts to plan a Mass Casualty (MASCAL) response simulation for a large international rugby event in Samoa next year.

🏉 The exchanges this week in northern and southern Nevada and follow on exchanges will help Samoa meet their requirements to have a trained prevention and response team for any potential mass casualty events during international rugby events in Samoa.

⛄️ The planning team from these Government of Samoa ministries arrived right after record breaking snowfall in northern Nevada which allowed for scenic visits to surrounding local areas including Virginia City, Carson City, and Lake Tahoe. This exchange has already “covered” so many areas and places of interest and we’re just getting started!

🚑 Activities around Reno included an ambulance ride-along hosted by Subject Matter Expert Mason Burkhart, a shift leader at the Reno Emergency Management Services Authority (REMSA Health) operations center. Acting Commisioner Apelu Sauoaiga and Mason were able to respond to a call-out and visit Saint Mary’s Regional Hospital as well as the University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine.

🤩 Special thanks to Mason and the staff on-duty at REMSA. Mason is a state and national certified flight paramedic for REMSA, as well as a Nevada Army Army National Guard flight combat medic, actively serving in the 2/238 Aero-MEDEVAC unit stationed in Stead, Nev. Mason also successfully conducted the first three partnership medical engagements with Apelu and SFESA in Samoa as the lead Medical engagement planner.

✈️ Our Samoa partners also visited other emergency response and management locations including the 152nd Airlift Wing where Apelu was able to climb aboard a C-130 aircraft used for woodland firefighting and sit in the cockpit.

🪓Afterwards, they all visited firefighters at the Reno Fire Department where they were shown emergency vehicles and equipment. Ms. Bella Simeti, Senior Disaster Management Officer
and Ms. Josephina Chan Ting, Principal Disaster Risk Reduction Officer, enjoyed learning how to operate the “jaws of life” extraction tool.

🚨🍽️ They then visited the Washoe County Emergency Management regional emergency operations center, and warehouses including the Northern Nevada Food Bank.

⛑️🪖They will finish the first half of this engagement in Northern Nevada by visiting the Nevada Office of Emergency Management Homeland Security headquarters as well as the Nevada National Guard Headquarters in Carson City, to learn about civil and military domestic emergency response operations, before traveling to Las Vegas in Clark County and possibly visit with local Pacific Island community members there before observing the Rugby match in Allegisnt Stadium.

🙏 Thank you to all our Northern Nevada partners who supported our visits this week!

US Embassy Apia, Samoa

- Apia, Samoa
February 2026

👮 🪖 Two new training initiatives led by the Nevada National Guard are now underway with the Samoa Police, Prisons & Corrections Services, marking another milestone in the ongoing partnership between Government of Samoa ministries and the United States.

This engagement includes two separate subject matter expert exchanges. Nevada is conducting the 1st ever engagement with Samoa Police Tactical Operations Section (TOS), the equivalent of US Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), as the TOS team prepares to travel to the US later this year to participate in the upcoming Regional Army National Guard in New Mexico.

While simultaneously engaging with TOS, other Nevada Corrections SMEs are conducting the partnership’s 4th iteration of the Basic Leadership and Mental Health exchange with Samoa Corrections personnel, focusing on improving professional skills like basic leadership, basic corrections and law enforcement, and mental health.

Samoa Observer
Newsline Samoa
U.S. Army Pacific
National Guard

Nevada National Guard Brings Best Warrior Competition and Leadership Training to Samoa - U.S. Embassy in Samoa Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

-Apia, Samoa
February 2026

🚨🩺⛑️ Since the state partnership signing ceremony in July 2023 between the Nevada National Guard and several Government of Samoa agencies, there have been over 15 exchanges conducted, leading to an even stronger partnership.

During this week’s engagement, medical personnel from the 152nd Airlift Wing are conducting a Subject Matter Expert exchange on how Samoa Fire and Emergency Services Authority can organize an Emergency Medical Task Force and safely conduct emergency medical care to help save lives.

Read more here: https://ws.usembassy.gov/nevada-national-guard-strengthens-samoa-fire-and-emergency-service-medical-response/

US Embassy Apia, Samoa
Samoa Observer
Newsline Samoa
National Guard
U.S. Army Pacific
U.S. Pacific Air Forces

- Nuku’alofa, Tonga,
January 2026

🇺🇸 🤝 🇹🇴 In case you missed it, Nevada National Guard completed a Mid-Planning Conference in Nuku’alofa last month by sending several Subject Matter Experts from multiple specialties to plan with Disaster Management Planners from Tonga National Disaster Risk Management Office - NDRMO and His Majesty's Armed Forces - Tonga in preparation for the upcoming inaugural Disaster Preparedness Exercise Exchange (DREE) EXERCISE TAUFATAHI later this year.

Planners exchanged information along several disaster magenta planning lines of effort to improve resilience and readiness in areas including tactical communications, emergency operations management and integration, emergency responder force generation, community care coordination, and logistics planning for emergency resupply, both via runway landing and unloading and aerial resupply in areas without a runway.

U.S. Embassy Nukuʻalofa
Center for Excellence in Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance
U.S. Army Pacific
National Guard

Exercise Taufatahi aims to reinforce Tonga’s disaster readiness | Tonga News – Talanoa o Tonga Read the latest Tonga news: Partners from Tonga and the United States have advanced preparations for a major humanitarian and disaster response exercise planned for later this year, Reporting on politics, business and community by Talanoa o Tonga.

🪖 Nevada National Guard is in the Pacific with our island partners from Fiji, prepping to compete again in this year’s Regional Best Warrior Competition in New Mexico. Building interoperability and exchanging with one another makes our partnership stronger 💪🏽

🌐 We are a world wide organization! ✈️

Nevada National Guard ends tank unit after 50 years to support US efforts against China Over the next 2 years, the Nevada National Guard's tank unit will become a mobile infantry unit using new lighter Infantry Squad Vehicles.

🎒 🎶 Our Nevada National Guard Soldiers, Airmen, Civilians, and their families were thrilled to attend today’s 3rd annual Kalapu Fale Kai Pahia Backpack Drive, made possible by Fkp and several community sponsors.

We wanted to say thank you for your dedication and mission to support and serve the community through partnership building events like this! We felt so welcome by the community today and look forward to more ways that we can continue to work together!
📸 Photos by Captain Micah Gill
🇺🇸 🇹🇴 🇫🇯 🇼🇸

To learn more about Fkp and their mission and upcoming events, visit :

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Building interoperability through State Partnership and annual training throughout the INDOPACOM region

AT looks a little different for guardsmen supporting INDOPACOM - Reserve & National Guard For guardsmen supporting the INDOPACOM mission, annual training can include National Guard State Partnership Program-related training.