The connection was forged nearly 25 years ago when soldiers from the Virginia National Guard‘s 29th Infantry Division served alongside soldiers from Finland on a peacekeeping rotation in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Now, Virginia’s Guard is the official state partner of Finland’s Defense Forces.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin made it formal during a visit to Helsinki on his four-nation trade mission, signing a partnership agreement with Finnish Minister of Defense Antti Häkkänen.
Virginians and Finns have been working closely together for a long time. Last summer, for instance, cyber specialists from the Finnish Defense Forces joined the Virginia National Guard’s Cyber Fortress 2.0 exercise, where state and federal organizations simulated a real-world cyberattack and tested the state cyber response plan.
People are also reading…
Also that summer, Finnish Air Force pilots visited the Air Guard’s 149th Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, where they briefed the Virginians on their experience with an airpower doctrine called “agile combat employment” — maneuvering tactics meant to make it harder for enemies to target fighter jets. The 149th is tasked with leading U.S. Air Force efforts to adopt the doctrine, said the 149th’s commander, Lt. Col. Lawrence Dietrich.
“There is much to learn from the Finnish Air Force as they operate with an ACE mindset daily,” Dietrich said.
At the same time, the 149th’s pilots were able to share their experience in tactics flying fifth-generation fighters that will be important to Finland as it acquires the new F-35.
Last September, leaders of the Fredericksburg-based 229th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and other Virginia National Guard observed Finland’s biennial “Paikallis Puolustus” local defense exercise to see how the military handles search-and-rescue missions and trains with police and fire departments.
“We formed enduring friendships with our Finnish counterparts” during the Bosnian deployment, said Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the adjutant general of Virginia, who was a major and served as the Aviation Task Force operations officer during that mission.
The now-formal partnership between the Virginia National Guard and Finland’s Ministry of Defense is expected to focus on combined air operations and working together on defense against cyber threats as well as on information and intelligence operations, combined operations in cold climates, responding to natural disasters and special operations training.
Before signing the partnership agreement, Youngkin met with President Alex Stubb of Finland, talking about ways to strengthen the business relationship between Virginia and Finland, including mutual trade and investment initiatives.