RICHMOND, Va. –
Virginia National Guard senior enlisted leadership traveled to Finland Aug. 19- 23, 2024, to collaborate with members of the Finnish Defence Forces on a plan for joint enlisted training and exercise and development for 2025 to 2027.
Command Chief Master Sgt. Kelly B. Reich, the Virginia National Guard Senior Enlisted Leader, Command Sgt. Maj. Irving Reed Jr., the Virginia Army National Guard Command Sergeant Major, Chief Master Sgt. Ian Stegherr, Virginia Air National Guard State Command Chief, Chief Master Sgt. Sean Fretwell, 192nd Wing Command Chief and Senior Master Sgt. Justin Connor, 192nd Security Forces Senior Enlisted Leader, all participated in the exchange, where they met with a variety of senior enlisted leaders from the Finnish Defense Forces.
“The intent of our engagement was to facilitate interoperability between U.S. and Finnish enlisted tactical level operators and subject matter experts to develop and equip our forces through training and exercises with the diverse skills needed for wartime operational mission readiness,” Reich explained. “We [VNG senior enlisted leaders] want to elevate Soldiers and Airmen to operate throughout the spectrum of conflict, ensuring wartime readiness. We must prepare for and be successful in the next fight.”
Meanwhile, the Finnish Defence Force is focused on continuing to build up its NCO corps.
"We're focused on building social capabilities and trust within the NCO [noncommissioned officer] ranks for better collaboration between the NCO corps and officers and enable NCOs to talk strategy with officers and bring battlefield experience,” explained Master Sgt. Enrico Annus, Finnish Special Operations Forces Command Senior Enlisted Leader. “So we have ready, trained, and well-adapted NCOs supported by the entirety of Finland.”
"It's a really good time in Finland to be an NCO—young and old—because of opportunities,” said Sgt. Maj. Esa Ek, the Finnish Army Command Senior Enlister Leader. “As CSELs [Command Senior Enlisted Leaders] and SNCOs [Senior Noncommissioned Officers], we need to show them that path.”
Earlier this year, the Virginia National Guard and Finland officially became partners under the National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program. SPP has served as a cornerstone for building enduring partnerships between U.S. states and more than 100 partner-nations for over 30 years. Through the SPP, U.S. National Guard units and partner-nation forces engage in a wide array of activities ranging from joint training exercises and personnel exchanges to disaster response and humanitarian aid initiatives.
The exchange also provided VNG senior enlisted leaders the opportunity to meet with Russia subject matter experts at the National Defence University on the changing character of war.
"Finland doesn't have defence forces, Finland is the defence force,” said Ek. “This is the mindset of all of Finland. We have 1,340 [length in kilometers of their Eastern border] reasons to have this mindset!"
Reich said the group was impressed with the Finns’ use of the virtual battle space for training.
"Quality is our strength," explained Lt. Col. Akseli "Goofy" Heikkinen, Satakunta Air Wing Headquarters.
“In today’s rapidly-changing world, VNG and Finnish senior enlisted leaders are focused on recruiting and retention, wartime readiness, and modernization,” Reich explained. “We need to set conditions for training and exercises that push Soldiers and Airmen out of their comfort zone, enable critical thinking, and build a highly-effective and resilient Joint Force—so we can overcome surprise factors in the next fight.”
The SPP agreement between the VNG and Finnish Defense Forces builds on several decades of friendship and partnership between the two organizations. Finnish troops served alongside the Fort Belvoir-based 29th Infantry Division during the Stabilization 10 rotation in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2001-2002, and VNG personnel have trained side-by-side with their Finnish counterparts on numerous occasions over the years. More recently, Virginia Soldiers and Airmen competed in a Finnish Sniper Championship, participated in the Arctic Forge 23 exercise, and observed a Local Defense Exercise in Finland. This summer Finnish personnel came to Virginia to participate in the Cyber Fortress 3.0 exercise, hosted by the 91st Cyber Brigade.
“The U.S./Finland affiliation has already proven to be mutually beneficial and it’s just the beginning of a formal relationship rooted in courage, loyalty, pride in our heritage, the profession of warfighting, a combat mindset, and trust,” Reich said. “We’re looking forward to future exchanges and continuing to build trust between our defense forces.”