ROSEAU, Dominica: A new chapter in US-Caribbean military cooperation begins later today in Barbados when Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Rayburn Blackmoore, participates in a two-day conference to inaugurate the new State Partnership Programme (SPP) between the Florida National Guard (FLNG) and the Regional Security System (RSS) of the Eastern Caribbean.

Minister of State, Rayburn Blackmoore

Members of the Regional Security System, the United States Embassy and the Department of Defence have been working for nearly two years to bring this partnership into being since it was first requested by the RSS in 2005.

The State Partnership Programme has a number of security cooperation objectives. These include:

• Improve military cooperation between the United States and the forces of partner nations

• Demonstrate military subordination to civil authority

• Demonstrate military support to civilian authorities

Invitees expected at the conference of the SPP include representatives from Offices of Prime Ministers across the Region; Ministers of Security; Chiefs of Defence; Staff Officers; Police Force Chiefs; the Regional Security Coordinator (RSC); the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA); the United States Military Liaison Office and US Embassy staff.