The Papua New Guinea Defence Force and the Wisconsin National Guard partners have made significant progress in recent months.
A Wisconsin National Guard delegation have conducted its first visit to Papua New Guinea and Wisconsin’s adjutant general traveling to Hawaii for a series of meetings and conferences with his counterparts from PNG and other military leaders in the region.
The partners have also collaborated via several virtual exchanges on different topics over the past two years.
Command Sgt. Major, Terri Vollrath, the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s state surgeon cell, said she has learned a lot about how the PNG Defense Force handles medical training via those virtual interactions.
“The experience of working with PNGDF medical teams energized me tremendously and made me feel privileged to be part of the Wisconsin National Guard, where we take our standard of training and amount supplies for granted,” she said.
Vollrath said she hopes to continue to partner with their medical teams in the coming years and share written medical training information and curriculum that they can employ on a regular basis with military forces in Papua New Guinea.
Wisconsin National Guard members then traveled to Papua New Guinea to build relationships and share expertise with the PNGDF from March 1-15.
Wisconsin National Guard leadership selected a dozen Soldiers to conduct civil disturbance and command and control training with the PNGDF in preparation to deploy in support of their upcoming national elections.
The teams worked side-by-side with other NATO allies including the Australian Defense Force, which has been supporting the pre-deployment mission since February.
Sgt. Gage Meyers, a military police officer with the Kenosha, Wisconsin-based 32nd Military Police Company, stated that the team from Wisconsin understands the core of the PNGDF’s mission because they each personally deployed to similar missions in the Badger State multiple times over the last two years.
“Our prior experience supporting local law enforcement in Wisconsin during periods of unrest helped us find common ground with our counterparts.
“We were able to relate the training to shared experiences and real-world problems which gave us credibility,” stated Meyers.
Lt. Col. Derrek Schultheiss, the Wisconsin National Guard’s State Partnership Program director, said that the team brought something to the table that is unique to the National Guard.
American active-duty forces are prohibited from responding to domestic civil unrest missions under the Posse Comitatus Act unless expressly authorized by law.
The National Guard is generally the only component authorized to respond to domestic civil unrest in America, making it an ideal partner for militaries that share similar responsibilities such as the PNGDF and ADF.
Besides common ground between missions, the Wisconsin Guard shares a unique history with both the Australian and PNG forces. In contrast to each nation’s respective service in World War II, today’s troops are largely interested in peacekeeping and conflict de-escalation.
Cpl. Pieter Murtagh of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Australian Defense Force, explained during a training session how to set the tone during interactions with civilians on the PNGDF’s upcoming mission.
“This is the point that is going to set the tone. You want to walk up, use a loud voice, use a polite voice and normal conversation level,” Murtagh explained during training.
As Murtagh encouraged Soldiers to consider how they relate to the people they serve, Wisconsin National Guard members were looking for ways that they could serve the community that surrounded Taurama Barracks.
Sgt. 1st Class Kurt Ullenberg initiated a relationship between a nearby school and his wife’s classroom in Wisconsin.
“Something that makes Guardsmen valuable in this program is our connections to our communities back home and our ability to connect with not just other Soldiers, but the communities that support those Soldiers,” stated Ullenberg.
Lt. Col. Aaron Freund, the Wisconsin National Guard’s state provost marshal, supervised the team and reflected on their impact as the visit came to a close.
“It is a lot bigger than the training here today,” stated Freund. “What we do here dictates how we are seen in the world.”
Lt. Col. Derrek Schultheiss stated that each interaction that happened through the partnership program is part of a much larger picture.
“We are building a relationship here even if it is just one tiny piece at a time. Each person we brought here is helping plant those seeds and will have a huge impact even if it is not immediately apparent,” he said.
Maj. General Mark Goina, Papua New Guinea’s chief of defense force, commented during a meeting between international partners and state officials recently that he is very happy to see that this exchange is happening.
“I think that our countries share a lot of issues, and I am very supportive of the program. I look forward to continuous engagement,” stated Goina.
The Wisconsin National Guard’s partnership with Papua New Guinea began in 2020, and it maintains another state partnership with Nicaragua dating to 2003.
