CAMP EDWARDS, Mass. –
Seven Virginia National Guard Soldiers and Airmen participated in U.S. Central Command’s annual Regional Cooperation exercise June 15-27, 2025, at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts. The exercise encompasses countries from Central Asia, including Tajikistan, which has been Virginia’s formal partner in the Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program since 2003.
The annual exercise, sponsored by U.S. Central Command and primarily conducted by National Guard Soldiers and Airmen, focused on enhancing multinational stability operations and promoting cooperation on counter-terrorism and joint combined capabilities among the U.S. and Central and South Asia, or CASA, nations.
“The interactions between the VNG and the Tajik military personnel were invaluable in getting to know how they operate, learning about their culture, and developing long-term relationships between guardsmen and their foreign military personnel,” said Capt. Kevin Eddins. “Both groups were able to connect during and after work hours and overcame the challenges such as language barriers and having different standards per the different countries.”
Regional Cooperation 25 promoted international cooperation amongst all participating nations and to enable conversation and exchange ideas while working in various roles in a brigade operations headquarters. In this scenario, participants worked alongside their international partners in a simulated peacekeeping mission.
“Participants were given different challenges and were forced to make command decisions to support the local community,” said Eddins. “At any point in the exercise, leaders from each command were represented by partner nations and all participants successfully worked together in this simulated environment under adverse conditions.”
The team was led by Capt. Orlando Ortiz, who said that the exercise was a "great success in giving us an opportunity to work with and exchange ideas with our partners from Tajikistan,” and said this experience gave him a better appreciation of our foreign partners.
This was the first year Regional Cooperation incorporated a cyber exercise, in which two VNG Soldiers participated. Staff Sgt. Allen Lans served as an operational defensive cybersecurity instructor and had the privilege of teaching a handful of partners from central Asia the fundamentals of cybersecurity. Lans said the foreign partners had “a strong willingness to learn” and encouraged them to continue building the skills they acquired.
Other Airmen also got to experience a different type of setting and were able to broaden their military knowledge by serving in a role they were not used to. Master Sgt. Gabriel Flores served in the intelligence field during the exercise.
“I learned firsthand how S2 conducts intelligence briefs, and we were able to deliver clear, concise and actionable intel to the commanders on the ground,” said Flores. “Learning about what happens behind the curtains and how intelligence is gathered was both interesting and beneficial."
In July 2023, the VNG and Tajikistan celebrated the 20th anniversary of their formal partnership in the State Partnership Program, which itself just celebrated its 30-year anniversary.
The relationship has benefited all parties, from sharing subject matter expertise throughout 200 military-to-military engagements that support counter terrorism, deter violent extremism, expand emergency response capabilities, develop professionalism among leaders and staffs, and promote shared values in national sovereignty and security.
Read more about the VNG’s partnership with Tajikistan at https://vngpao.info/4k3xhwfv.