On July 10, CAS met with Simona Vaclavikova, the civilian chief of staff to General John Harris of the Ohio National Guard (ONG).  The purpose of her visit was to propose a partnership with CAS regarding the National Guard State Partnership Program (SPP).  SPP connects various state national guards with a partner country to improve bilateral ties between the United States and the partner country.  While the primary focus is on military-to-military collaboration, SPP also extends into the areas of academics, civic institutions, the economy, and more.  The ONG is currently partnered with Hungary and Serbia.  Simona informed us that ONG is looking to expand into Africa and requested CAS as a partner in this endeavor.  Among the many ways that CAS can assist ONG is in facilitating cultural competency, giving ONG access to the African community in Central Ohio, and significantly, assisting in the bid writing process (to partner with an African country) to the Department of Defense.