TAMPA,
Fla. (April 26, 2016) – Improving interoperability is often touted by senior leaders as one of
the benefits of bringing together a cross section of militaries.
Kazakhstan
On
April 25-26, 2016, officers from U.S. Central Command and the Kazakhstani
Ministry of Defense (MoD) held their annual Consultative Staff Talks
(CST).The CST serves to review the
progress of the current year’s joint military-to-military activities and to
finalize the plan for next year’s activities. This year’s CST represents
another successful step forward in deepening U.S.-Kazakhstani military
cooperation to advance our mutual security and defense interests.The primary areas of cooperation are the
continued professionalization of Kazakhstan’s MoD, with a focus on
Non-commissioned officers (NCO), personnel and training management and military
education.Colonel Adel Nurmashev, from
the MoD’s Department of International Cooperation, represented Kazakhstan along
with representatives from the Department of Military Education, Combat Training
Department, NCO Directorate, and Special Operations Forces.
Tajikistan
On April 19-20, 2016, military officers from CENTCOM and the
Republic of Tajikistan Ministry of Defense held the 2016 combined
Tajikistan-U.S. consultative staff talks (CST).The talks are an annual event held in Tampa, Florida designed to review
the security cooperation progress of the previous year’s military-to-military
events and finalize the 2017 military-to-military planning between the two
partners. Colonel AdbulkhoshimGulomzoda, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Tajikistan,
served as the head of the Tajik delegation this year. In addition to furthering
U.S. –Tajikistan military cooperation, this year’s CSTs occurred during
Tajikistan’s 25th year of Independence.