State partnerships and centers of excellence

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1. Two standing partnership authorities

Two sections in the educational and training subchapter of chapter 16 of title 10 set up longer-running relationships rather than single events. One pairs the National Guard of an American state or territory with a foreign partner. The other lets American personnel join multinational centers of excellence. Both depend on the Secretary of State as well as the Secretary of Defense.

2. The State Partnership Program

The Secretary of Defense, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, may establish a program of activities to support American security cooperation objectives (10 U.S.C. 341(a)(1)). The activities run between members of the National Guard of a state or territory and one of three kinds of partner. The first is the military forces of a foreign country. The second is its security forces. The third is its governmental organizations whose primary functions include disaster response or emergency response. Each such program is known as a State Partnership (10 U.S.C. 341(a)(2)).

Working with the second or third kind of partner takes an extra step. An activity with security forces, or with disaster or emergency response organizations, first needs a determination that it is in the national security interests of the United States. The Secretary of Defense makes it, with the Secretary of State’s concurrence. The appropriate congressional committees must be notified of that determination at least 15 days before the activity begins (10 U.S.C. 341(b)(1)).

3. Safeguards and coordination

Assistance activities under a State Partnership are subject to the Defense Department’s rule on units that have committed gross violations of human rights (10 U.S.C. 341(b)(2)). Under that rule, Defense Department funds may not be used for training, equipment or other assistance for a foreign security force unit in one case. It is where the Secretary of Defense has credible information of such a violation by the unit (10 U.S.C. 362(a)). Before any decision to assist a unit, the Secretary of Defense, consulting the Secretary of State, must fully consider any credible information available to the State Department on human rights violations by the unit (10 U.S.C. 362(a)). The rule has its own exceptions, waiver and reporting provisions, which apply here in the same way.

Coordination runs through the National Guard Bureau. Its Chief designates a director for each state and territory, who is responsible for coordinating the program’s activities for that state or territory and for reporting on them (10 U.S.C. 341(c)). The program is carried out under regulations the Secretary of Defense prescribes. Those regulations must include accounting procedures to ensure that spending is accounted for and appropriate (10 U.S.C. 341(d)).

4. Paying for State Partnership activities

Funds authorized for the Defense Department, including those for the Army National Guard and Air National Guard, may pay two kinds of cost (10 U.S.C. 341(e)(1)). One is the cost incurred by a state or territory’s National Guard in conducting program activities. The other is the incremental expenses a foreign country incurs in conducting them.

Two limits apply to that money (10 U.S.C. 341(e)(2)). Funds may not pay for a Guard member to take part in activities in a foreign country unless the member is on active duty in the armed forces at the time. And payments for foreign countries’ incremental expenses may not exceed $10,000,000 in total in any fiscal year. The section does not supersede any authority under title 10 as it stood on December 26, 2013 (10 U.S.C. 341(f)).

5. Multinational centers of excellence

The second authority concerns institutions run by coalitions of nations. With the concurrence of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense may authorize members of the armed forces and Defense Department civilians to take part in any multinational center of excellence (10 U.S.C. 344(a)). Participation must serve one of two purposes. One is enhancing the ability of the participating nations’ forces and civilians to engage in joint exercises or coalition or international military operations. The other is improving interoperability between American forces and those of friendly foreign nations.

The statute defines the term (10 U.S.C. 344(f)). It covers an entity sponsored by one or more nations and accredited and approved by the Military Committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as offering recognized expertise and experience for NATO’s benefit. Such an entity gives personnel opportunities to enhance education and training, improve interoperability and capabilities, assist in developing doctrine, and validate concepts through experimentation. Two further institutions are named individually: the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, established in 2017 in Helsinki, and the International Special Training Centre, established in 1979 in Pfullendorf, Germany.

6. The memorandum and the money

Participation must follow the terms of one or more memoranda of understanding (10 U.S.C. 344(b)(1)). They may be entered into by the Secretary of Defense with the Secretary of State’s concurrence, or by the Secretary of State, with the foreign nation or nations concerned. Where Defense Department facilities, equipment or funds support a center, the memoranda must give details of any cost-sharing or other funding arrangement (10 U.S.C. 344(b)(2)).

Operation and maintenance funds may pay the American share of a center’s operating expenses, and the costs of American participants, including their expenses (10 U.S.C. 344(c)(1)). They may not pay the pay or salaries of participating service members and civilians (10 U.S.C. 344(c)(2)). Defense Department facilities and equipment may be used to support centers the Department hosts (10 U.S.C. 344(d)).

Joining a new center requires notice. At least 30 days before the Secretary authorizes participation in a new multinational center of excellence, the congressional defense committees must be notified (10 U.S.C. 344(e)).

7. How these fit with the rest of the chapter

Both authorities describe standing relationships, and both use the chapter’s shared vocabulary, such as incremental expenses and the appropriate congressional committees. Those definitions are explained in training and exercises with foreign forces. The education institutions in the same subchapter are covered in the regional centers for security studies.

Key terms

State Partnership	A program of activities between a state or territory’s National Guard and a foreign partner.
Active duty requirement	The rule that Guard members abroad are funded only if on active duty at the time.
Multinational center of excellence	A NATO-accredited, nation-sponsored center, or one of two named institutions, that American personnel may join.
Memorandum of understanding	The instrument governing participation in a center, including any cost-sharing arrangement.

Every statement above links to the document behind it. The full source list for this piece is on the sources page.

This page describes public United States government programs for general information. It is not legal, regulatory or procurement advice, and it does not address the facts of any particular case.

How Sentfore supports this

Guard engagements abroad and multinational events need secure movement and support on the ground. Sentfore works at the delivery end of defense programs in difficult environments, providing secure movement, protective security, facilities and life support. Requirements can be sent through the contact page.