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KANSAS NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS RETURN FROM ARMENIA
Topeka Capital Journal, Kansas
April 9 2013
State partnering to teach about disaster response
Posted: April 9, 2013 - 6:18pm
By Megan Hart
April 9, 2013 7:49 PM EDT
Three Kansas Army National Guard members recently returned from
Armenia as the state celebrates 10 years of its overseas partnership.
Staff Sgt. Brian Martin, of Salina, was one of three Kansas Guard
members who went overseas for five days in March to assess Armenian
soldiers' knowledge of emergency lifesaving measures they could use in
a disaster or in any future military operations. He has been deployed
to Iraq twice, but this was his first mission in the Caucasus region.
Armenia, a small, predominantly Christian country in the mountainous
region between Russia, Turkey and Iran, gained independence from the
Soviet Union in 1991. Members of the Kansas National Guard have had
an exchange program there since 2003, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman
for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department.
The partnership began with a military focus, Watson said, but Armenia
and Kansas more recently have exchanged medical and agricultural
experts. One major area of interest is sharing ideas for disaster
response because Armenia is prone to earthquakes and Kansas is
vulnerable to tornadoes, she said.
"It's a learning experience," she said.
Martin said the experiences he and his fellow guardsmen had in Iraq
are helping them teach the Armenians about how to keep someone alive
long enough to get the person to medical help.
"We're taking the lessons we learned and turning it into something
good for another country," he said.
Martin, Staff Sgt. Kimberly Fox and Staff Sgt. Vernon Perkins got a
cultural lesson before deploying and advice not to talk about politics,
Martin said, but it wasn't an issue.
"The people were so hospitable," he said.
Most of their time was spent on work, Martin said, but they
were invited to a traditional Armenian dinner one night. A meal
traditionally has a "commandant" who declares when people may sit
and when they may make toasts, he said.
"You eat and eat, and you have to be careful, because that's just
the appetizers," he said.
States apply for partner countries in regions where the United States
would like to establish relationships, Watson said. Kansas previously
partnered with Ukraine. The exchange programs are mostly located
in eastern Europe, central Asia, southeast Asia, South America and
subsaharan Africa.
"This is a chance to build a bond and really strengthen our
relationships with these countries," she said.
They worked at a training center for removing landmines near the
capital, Yerevan, Martin said. The mines are left over from a 1988 to
1994 war with neighboring Azerbaijan. The two have never concluded
a formal peace, but the United States has relations with both,
and National Guard members from Oklahoma have exchanges with the
Azerbaijanis.
The three Guard members will go back later this year to train a small
group of Armenians in lifesaving techniques based on what they observed
in March, Martin said. The goal isn't to tell other countries what
they are "doing wrong," but to give them additional ideas and tools,
he said.
"I was really amazed at how open they were to what we were there to
do," he said. "I hope this (partnership) continues for quite a while."
http://cjonline.com/news/2013-04-09/kansas-national-guard-members-return-armenia
Topeka Capital Journal, Kansas
April 9 2013
State partnering to teach about disaster response
Posted: April 9, 2013 - 6:18pm
By Megan Hart
April 9, 2013 7:49 PM EDT
Three Kansas Army National Guard members recently returned from
Armenia as the state celebrates 10 years of its overseas partnership.
Staff Sgt. Brian Martin, of Salina, was one of three Kansas Guard
members who went overseas for five days in March to assess Armenian
soldiers' knowledge of emergency lifesaving measures they could use in
a disaster or in any future military operations. He has been deployed
to Iraq twice, but this was his first mission in the Caucasus region.
Armenia, a small, predominantly Christian country in the mountainous
region between Russia, Turkey and Iran, gained independence from the
Soviet Union in 1991. Members of the Kansas National Guard have had
an exchange program there since 2003, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman
for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department.
The partnership began with a military focus, Watson said, but Armenia
and Kansas more recently have exchanged medical and agricultural
experts. One major area of interest is sharing ideas for disaster
response because Armenia is prone to earthquakes and Kansas is
vulnerable to tornadoes, she said.
"It's a learning experience," she said.
Martin said the experiences he and his fellow guardsmen had in Iraq
are helping them teach the Armenians about how to keep someone alive
long enough to get the person to medical help.
"We're taking the lessons we learned and turning it into something
good for another country," he said.
Martin, Staff Sgt. Kimberly Fox and Staff Sgt. Vernon Perkins got a
cultural lesson before deploying and advice not to talk about politics,
Martin said, but it wasn't an issue.
"The people were so hospitable," he said.
Most of their time was spent on work, Martin said, but they
were invited to a traditional Armenian dinner one night. A meal
traditionally has a "commandant" who declares when people may sit
and when they may make toasts, he said.
"You eat and eat, and you have to be careful, because that's just
the appetizers," he said.
States apply for partner countries in regions where the United States
would like to establish relationships, Watson said. Kansas previously
partnered with Ukraine. The exchange programs are mostly located
in eastern Europe, central Asia, southeast Asia, South America and
subsaharan Africa.
"This is a chance to build a bond and really strengthen our
relationships with these countries," she said.
They worked at a training center for removing landmines near the
capital, Yerevan, Martin said. The mines are left over from a 1988 to
1994 war with neighboring Azerbaijan. The two have never concluded
a formal peace, but the United States has relations with both,
and National Guard members from Oklahoma have exchanges with the
Azerbaijanis.
The three Guard members will go back later this year to train a small
group of Armenians in lifesaving techniques based on what they observed
in March, Martin said. The goal isn't to tell other countries what
they are "doing wrong," but to give them additional ideas and tools,
he said.
"I was really amazed at how open they were to what we were there to
do," he said. "I hope this (partnership) continues for quite a while."
http://cjonline.com/news/2013-04-09/kansas-national-guard-members-return-armenia