A U.S. Army UH-72A Lakota helicopter with the 1-224th Security and Support Battalion, New Jersey Army National Guard, prepares to take off at the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Lawrenceville, N.J., Aug. 1, 2019. During the flight, Haki Çako, Director General, General Directorate of Civil Emergencies, Ministry of Defence, Republic of Albania, will be familiarized with the helicopter’s capabilities and equipment that can be employed during natural or man-made disasters. In 2001, the Republic of Albania signed a bilateral affairs agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense and New Jersey officially establishing the New Jersey-Albanian State Partnership Program. The National Guard State Partnership Program is a U.S. Department of Defense program managed by the National Guard that links U.S. States with partner countries for the purpose of supporting the security cooperation objectives of the geographic Combatant Commanders. (New Jersey National Guard photo by Mark C. Olsen). Original public domain image from Flickr