David Tonoyan Meets with the Commander of the Kansas National Guard

The Minister of Defense of Armenia, David Tonoyan, received a delegation led by Major General Lee Tafanelli, the Adjutant General of Kansas and Commander of the National Guard of the United States, on January 27. The U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Lynne Tracy, accompanied the delegation. This information was reported by the Public Relations and Information Department of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia.

During the meeting, the parties summarized the work done in the previous period and discussed the current status of the programs implemented with the Kansas National Guard within the framework of the U.S. state partnership program, as well as future projects.

Minister David Tonoyan noted that over 17 years of cooperation, numerous programs have been implemented and continue to be implemented between the Armenian Armed Forces and the Kansas National Guard in areas such as peacekeeping, military medicine, personnel tactical training, and other fields, which align with the goals of Armenian-American cooperation in defense.

Major General Lee Tafanelli assured that Kansas, as a partner under the state partnership program with Armenia, will continue to regularly develop cooperation with Armenia. He mentioned that besides the already traditional collaboration between the National Guard and the Armenian Armed Forces, there is also dynamic development in cooperation with the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia. He added that the state partnership program provides opportunities for collaboration in education, healthcare, agriculture, and other fields, and that Kansas is prepared to cooperate with Armenia in those areas as well.

Ambassador Tracy and Major General Tafanelli also attended the exhibition titled “The U.S. Armed Forces in the First Republic of Armenia (1919-1920)” organized at the administrative complex of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia. On January 28, the Kansas National Guard delegation will participate in official events dedicated to the Day of the Armenian Army.