A delegation of the National Guard of Ohio talked at the Military Medical Academy (MMA) in Belgrade with the leadership of this institution on possibilities of cooperation aimed at strengthening the partnership of the US and Serbia.

US Ambassador to Belgrade Mary Warlick stated that the MMA is known as an ultimate military institution in the region that maintains the highest standards in its work.

General Gregory Wait, heading the National Guard of Ohio delegation, assessed that the MMA is a hospital representing the golden standard in the region not only for the equipment, but for experts working there. Head of the MMA, General Miodrag Jevtic underlined that the MMA can be a reliable partner in the Balkans.

Cooperation between the Serbian Army and the Ohio National Guard, since being established in 2006, has been constantly improving and growing stronger, Serbian Chief of Staff Gen. Miloje Miletic and U.S. National Guard Bureau chief Craig McKinley agreed on Sept. 10.

At a joint news conference in Belgrade, Miletic said that cooperation in the areas of education and the training of officers and noncommissioned officers, the exchange and training of small units, joint exercises, civilian and military cooperation, and in the media and military medicine sectors had grown.

He also said that over the course of the next several days, a mixed expert team would work together to improve longterm planning, the implementation of a noncommissioned officers' program and air force and military medical cooperation.

McKinley is at the head of a delegation that includes the commander of the Ohio National Guard, Gen. Gregory Wayt, who stressed that the previous year had been extremely fruitful in terms of cooperation between Serbia and the state of Ohio.