Sputnik News: In April 2021, US President Joe Biden pledged that Washington would maintain a “strong” military presence in the Indo-Pacific region just as the White House does with NATO in Europe, allegedly in a bid to prevent a possible conflict in the area.
The US National Guard plans to significantly expand its training programs, with the Indo-Pacific nations set to beef up the American presence in the region, the military force’s top general has said.
In an interview with the US news outlet Defense One, General Dan Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, said that the force’s units now have over 90 training arrangements with countries across the world. According to him, where the next program is launched is determined by a priority list created by the State Department, combatant commanders, and the National Guard itself.