Here's how you know
 **Official websites use .mil** .mil
 **Secure .mil websites use HTTPS** lock () https://


Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 Toggle navigation
            
            
            
            
            National Guard
                        Always Ready Always There
                    National Guard
            
            Search National Guard:
                        Search
                    Search
                        Search National Guard:
                            Search
    Home

    News
    
        Guard News

    Overseas Operations

    State Partnership Program

    News Features

    RSS Feeds

    Press Releases

    Transcripts

    Features
    
        Features by Year

    Posture Statement

    State Partnership Program

    Special Features

    About the Guard
    
        How We Began

    Air National Guard

    Army National Guard    
    
        DEERS Soldier Journey

    Leader Development Program

    History and Heritage

    I am the Guard

    NGB Official March

    Leadership
    
        CNGB

    VCNGB

    SEA

    DANG

    DARNG

    Joint Staff    
    
        J-1

    J-2

    J-3

    J-4

    J-5

    J-6

    J-7

    J-8

    Personal Staff    
    
        Inspector General

    General Counsel

    Public Affairs

    Executive Support Services

    Legislative Liaison

    Special Staff    
    
        National Guard Office of Special Victims' Counsel

    Office of the Provost Marshal

    Office of the Joint Surgeon

    Director of Acquisitions

    Small Business Programs

    Chaplain

    Senior Leader Management Office

    Diversity Equity Inclusion

    Comptroller

    Resources    
        National Defense Strategy Implementation Guidance

    Community Engagement

    FOIA

    Fact Sheets

    Helpful Links

    Image Gallery
    
        News Images

    Graphics

    Historical Paintings

    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    Legislative Liaison

    Small Business Programs

    Social Media

    State Websites

    Videos    
    
        Featured Videos

    On Every Front

    2019 Videos

    2020 Videos

    2021 Videos

    Suicide Prevention

    Family Programs

    Environmental

    Trial Defense Service

    Holistic Wellness Challenge

    Contact Us  Home
  News
  Article View
 
 Download
 Details
 Share
 NEWS
 U.S., Kyrgyz Republic hold counternarcotics information exchange By Tech. Sgt. Betty Squatrito-Martin
                National Guard Bureau
 GULFPORT AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Miss. - Afghanistan is the world's leading opium producer having produced 74 percent of the world's opium in 2012, according to the World Drug Report 2013. From cultivation to refined heroin, Afghanistan plays a role in poppy production. According to the 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report once cultivated and processed, 95 percent of Afghanistan's poppy product is illegally traded and sent out of the country. Of that 95 percent, 25 percent heads to the Russian Federation via Central Asia. Central Asia is comprised of nations that once formed the Soviet Union. Nestled among these countries is Kyrgyzstan, formally known as the Kyrgyz Republic. Osh, a city in the southern region of the Kyrgyz Republic, is located along one of the major thoroughfares linking the Russian Federation to Afghanistan, thus, making the Kyrgyz Republic a major transit country for the illicit drugs leaving Afghanistan. As a result, the United Nations, in the World Drug Report 2010, recognizes the Osh region as the epicenter of Central Asia's drug trafficking problem. This drug trafficking issue brought the Kyrgyz Republic Drug Control Service and Border Service officers to the Air National Guard Combat Readiness Training Center in Gulfport, Miss., to take part in a counternarcotics information exchange with U.S. experts. "Combating drug trafficking is key to securing social stability and Kyrgyzstan's successful development," Kyrgyz State Drug Control Service (GSKN) Southern Region Chief Investigator Ainagul Jorobekova said in Central Asia Online Aug. 15, 2013. "Illicit trafficking by transnational criminal organizations represents a growing U.S. national security concern that warrants the capabilities of the Department of Defense to be brought to bear in support of a whole-of-government approach," according to the 2011 DOD Counternarcotics and Global Terrorism Strategy. Although miles and culture separate the Kyrgyz Republic and the United States, both countries are battling illicit drugs. As a result, the two nations have begun collaborating and consolidating forces and information in an effort to better curtail illicit drugs and illicit drug trafficking. To that end and in support of combatant commanders and in conjunction with the Montana State Partnership Program, the National Guard Counterdrug Program's Regional Counterdrug Training Academy (RCTA) played host to the Kyrgyz Republic Drug Control Service and Border Service officers Sept. 1-10. "It is good to work with colleagues from the Unites States and the National Guard in particular. The training is organized and really good. We are learning many new things," Col. Igor Sychev, deputy chief of the Main Operational-Searching Department said. "In the past, we couldn't even imagine working with the National Guard." The training consisted of briefings outlining methods and techniques of searching vehicles for drugs and contraband. It was designed to help the Kyrgyz Republic Drug Control and Service Officers better curtail and interdict illicit drug trafficking in their homeland. In addition, they attended briefings describing procedures for border and customs control. "The stuff we are seeing here is new for us; getting new knowledge about trucks and how drugs are concealed in vehicles is good," Sychev said. "We will be able to take this new knowledge home where we can pass it to our colleagues and use it in our daily work." Not only will the Kyrgyz officers take new knowledge home, they will return with newly found and reestablished friendships. "When talking friendship, we are talking cooperation and exchange of experiences with countries. We are sharing expertise, sharing and learning to gain experiences that enable us to have more in the "tool box" needed for our job," Sychov said. "It is important to meet new people; an important thing in our daily job is the connection with people." This developing friendship between Kyrgyz officers and the National Guard can trace its roots to the National Guard State Partnership Program (SPP). According to National Guard Bureau officials, The National Guard SPP was born out of a National Guard Bureau proposal that paired U.S. states with nations emerging from the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Montana has been developing a partnership with the Kyrgyz Republic since 1996, and Mississippi formed a partnership with Kyrgyz Republic neighbor, Uzbekistan, in 2012. Montana established a counternarcotics exchange nexus in 2008, Lt. Col. Steve Keim, the Montana counter narcotic advisor, said. The State Partnership Program provides the framework to facilitate cooperation across all aspects of international civil-military affairs, and it encourages people-to-people ties at the state level. "The National Guard State Partnership Program is "'one of the best foreign policy bargains our nation has,'" vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, [Navy Adm. James Winnefeld] said in a story written by Sgt 1st Class Jim Greenhill for the Army National Guard Online. "This counter narcotic information exchange has been a valuable experience for both countries," Maj. Gary L. Crist, executive officer Mississippi Counterdrug Task Force (MSCDTF)/RCTA said. "We have strengthened the relationship between our nations through interaction in the classroom and by sharing meals; it has been an informative experience for all." The Kyrgyz Republic officers have returned home with new skills and techniques to use as they work to interdict illicit drugs transiting from Afghanistan to the Russian Federation. Although this chapter of the information exchange is closed, this is not the end of the story, it is but one of several planned counter narcotic information exchanges between the Kyrgyz Republic and the National Guard.
 SHARE
 PRINT
 
 Pennsylvania Army Guardsmen Complete Combat Lifesaver Course
 By Sgt. 1st Class Shane Smith,
  38th Infantry Division Soldiers Conduct Warfighter Exercise
 By Master Sgt. Jeff Lowry,
  Puerto Rico Air National Guard Trains at Red Flag-Alaska
 By 156th Wing
  More
 Pennsylvania Army Guardsmen Complete Combat Lifesaver Course Guard News • 7 hours ago
 38th Infantry Division Soldiers Conduct Warfighter Exercise Guard News • 15 hours ago
 Puerto Rico Air National Guard Trains at Red Flag-Alaska Guard News • 15 hours ago
 Air National Guard Conducts Sentry Savannah Exercise Guard News • yesterday
 Hawaii Air National Guard Hosts Sentry Aloha Joint Exercise Guard News • yesterday
 2024 (196)  2023 (427)  2022 (526)  2021 (697)  2020 (936)  2019 (387)  2018 (323)  2017 (346)  2016 (245)  2015 (356)  2014 (399)  2013 (469)  2012 (556)  2011 (533)  2010 (1071)  2009 (357)  2008 (638)  2007 (295)  2006 (188)
 Home
 Site Map
 Privacy & Security Policy
 Link Disclaimer
 Web Policy
 DOD Information Quality
 DOD Open GovernmentFOIA
 No FEAR Act
 Accessibility/Section 508
 Contact Us
 Army Guard Careers
 Air Guard Careers
 USA.gov
                    
Staying Connected
    XYouTubeFlickrFacebookInstagram
                 
                
                

Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil