Governor Glenn Youngkin announced May 2, 2024, the Virginia National Guard has been selected as the U.S. partner to the nation of Finland for the Department of Defense National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program. The official state partnership signing ceremony occurred at the Finnish Ministry of Defense with signing partners Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen, Maj. Gen. Ring and Gen. Janne Jaakkola, Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, in Helsinki, Finland.