Oregon Guard, Bangladesh army build ties through NCO development

BOGURA, Bangladesh - During a Sept. 20-22 visit to northern Bangladesh, American and Bangladeshi military leaders came together to discuss a shared goal: developing strong noncommissioned officers who can lead their soldiers.

For the Oregon National Guard, the visit to the Bangladesh Army's Non-Commissioned Officer Academy was about more than training. It was an opportunity to build relationships, share ideas and learn from another military.

Chief Master Sgt. William Payne, senior enlisted leader for the Oregon Air National Guard's 142nd Fighter Wing Operations Section, led the Oregon delegation visiting the academy as part of the Oregon-Bangladesh State Partnership Program.

His role was to observe how the Bangladesh Army trains its NCOs and help identify ways the two sides can support future training.

"We'll be able to set up priorities to not necessarily make the Bangladesh NCO corps like the American NCO corps, but just to see how we can enhance their program with the knowledge, skills and abilities that our NCOs have," Payne said.

Experience matters

Payne said the mission benefited from the experience and professionalism of the senior NCOs who joined him. Their backgrounds gave the team a broader base of knowledge to assess the academy, exchange practical lessons with Bangladeshi counterparts and identify areas where future engagements could have the greatest value.

"The knowledge and professionalism of the senior NCOs on this team were important to the mission," Payne said. "Each person brought experience we could draw from as we listened, observed and looked at ways to support our partners."

The goal is not to make Bangladesh's military mirror the U.S. military. Instead, the partnership gives both sides an opportunity to compare training methods, share ideas and learn what works for each military.

A partnership built over time

The Oregon National Guard and Bangladesh have been state partners since 2008. The National Guard's State Partnership Program builds long-term relationships between U.S. states and partner nations through military and civilian exchanges, training and other engagements.

The Oregon-Bangladesh partnership includes cooperation in humanitarian assistance, disaster response, medical care, professional development, and peace and security.

Sgt. 1st Class Jackie Prevish, with the Oregon National Guard State Partnership Program, said the program's value extends beyond any single visit.

"There are opportunities to learn from each other," Prevish said. "The group assessed how we can lead and how we can support future academies."

The visit also helped the Oregon Guard better understand where it can support Bangladesh in the future, she said.

Developing future leaders

For Payne, helping develop NCOs has personal meaning.

Earlier in his career, Payne served as a sergeant's course instructor at a Marine Corps academy in Seattle. He said the three years he spent teaching and developing junior enlisted Marines were some of the best years of his career.

"I was giving back to the Marine Corps, and I was building up those future corporals and sergeants in the Marine Corps," Payne said.

Now, he sees a similar opportunity through the Oregon-Bangladesh partnership.

"Anytime we can go into another country and help them build up their NCOs and future leaders, I think you're giving back to the organization," Payne said. "I was giving back to the Marine Corps, and now I'm helping our state partner. Potentially helping our state partner build the future leaders of their organization."

"It's very rewarding for me," he said.

The visit also gave Payne and other Oregon Guard members an opportunity to learn about Bangladesh and its people.

Learning from each other

"At the end of the day, people are people and our armies are armies," Payne said. "They have their protocols and their customs and courtesies, and just getting to interact with them and learn those customs and courtesies and learn their personalities is pretty amazing."

Capt. Newaz Shohan, a Bangladesh Army officer who took part in the exchange, said sharing ideas is one of the most important aspects of the visit.

"It's very important because we need to exchange our views," Shohan said. "We need to get the ideas how you are doing your training and share how we are conducting our training."

Shohan said examining another military's training can help Bangladesh identify new ideas that may fit its own needs.

"If you just see in one way, you will see a very small part of the whole world," Shohan said. "So you need to see other ways also."

He said the exchanges also give Bangladeshi soldiers an opportunity to meet and learn from American service members.

"They can share their ideas with you," Shohan said. "It's very important."

Bangladesh has a long history of participating in United Nations peacekeeping missions, making leadership development and professional military training important components of its armed forces.

For the Oregon National Guard, the State Partnership Program supports that work through long-term relationships and recurring exchanges.

The Oregon Guard also has a bilateral affairs officer in the U.S. Embassy's Office of Defense Cooperation in Bangladesh to promote security cooperation. The position helps connect the Oregon partnership to the broader U.S.-Bangladesh military relationship and helps both sides plan future engagements.

The NCO Academy visit is one part of a partnership built over years. For the Oregon Guard and Bangladesh Army, each engagement adds another connection, another conversation and another opportunity to learn from each other.

The work begins with training, but the broader goal is a lasting relationship between the two military organizations and the people who serve in them.