Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND
SUVA, Fiji –
A quick glance at the packed schedule of events this month and later this fall underlined the importance of a bilateral affairs officer (BAO) in the Nevada National Guard.
For Nevada’s longtime Army aviator, Maj. Zackary Taylor-Warren, a busy summer schedule provided little time to prepare only three months after taking the new position in Suva, Fiji. Nevada has three State Partnership Program nations in the strategically crucial South Pacific: Tonga, Fiji and Samoa.
“There is a lot more going on in the Blue Pacific than most people realize,” he said.
Only three months into his new role, Taylor-Warren assisted a three-country tour for leaders of the Nevada National Guard, including Maj. Gen. Ondra Berry, Nevada adjutant general, and Brig. Gen. D. Rodger Waters, Nevada joint staff director.
On the docket: a visit for the King of Tonga’s 65th birthday and the 50th anniversary of the Tongan Navy, along with a fleet review of ships from Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Japan, China, Samoa, and the U.S.
While in Tonga, the team met with the Chief of Defence Staff for His Majesty’s Armed Forces to discuss the partnership. Additionally, the group met key leaders in Wellington, New Zealand. The key leader engagement was capped off in Fiji with visits to the U.S. Embassy, the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Territorial Forces Brigade and Fiji National University.
“This has definitely been the new experience I was looking for,” Taylor-Warren said. “Every day brings a new challenge. The days are long, but I know that the work I am doing is meaningful to our partner nations.”
Taylor-Warren’s primary role as the BAO is the Soldier on the ground coordinating Nevada’s State Partnership Program engagements. He also serves as the deputy chief for U.S. Embassy Suva’s Office of Defense Cooperation focused on Security Assistance and Security Cooperation in the Pacific region.
The National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program has built international relationships for more than 30 years since the end of the Cold War and now includes 96 partnerships with 106 nations.
“Nevada’s State Partnership is one of a few programs with three or more partner nations,” Taylor-Warren said. “We are unique, however, in that our program is regional in nature, and we can leverage that to increase our effectiveness with each partner.”
Taylor-Warren most recently worked as the Nevada Army National Guard’s logistics management officer and CH-47 maintenance test pilot at the Army Aviation Support Facility in Stead, Nevada. Prior to that, Taylor-Warren worked as the B Co. 1-189th GSAB company commander and 2-147th Assault Helicopter Battalion chief of operations on deployment to Iraq and Kuwait.
“I always knew that the State Partnership Program was active in Nevada and had even given tours of our Army Aviation Support Facility to our partners,” he said. “When the opportunity to apply for BAO came up, I jumped at it.”
That workload gets even busier as 56 nations prepare for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) set for Apia, Samoa on Oct. 21 to 26. Nevada’s newest partner, Samoa, will be “the first small island developing state from the Blue Pacific to host CHOGM,” according to CHOGM’s website. Additionally, Aug. 26 to 30, the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting will be hosted by Tonga and chaired by the Prime Minister of Tonga, Hon Hu’akavemeiliku Siaosi Sovaleni.
”From the moment he took over his duties as the BAO, Maj. Taylor-Warren has knocked it out of the park and done an amazing job for us,” said Maj. Dustin Petersen, Nevada SPP director. “The work he and the SPP team are doing is making a difference in bridging our relationships in the South Pacific.”