A Standing Invitation to the CMDR COE from the Tennessee National Guard

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) welcomed Major General Terry M. Haston, the Adjutant General Tennessee National Guard for an official visit on August 7th, 2014.

During his visit, Maj. General Haston had an office call with the CMDR COE Director, Col. Vassil Roussinov. The meeting was attended by Maj Hancock, bilateral affairs officer, Office for Defense Cooperation of US Embassy and CMDR COE branch chiefs, Col Nikolay Nikolov and LtC Dimitar Dimitrov.

Major General Haston was briefed on the Programme of Work (POW) of CMDR COE, with special focus on the areas where CMDR COE collaborates with other national and Allied bodies in regard of crisis management and disaster response. Furthermore the close cooperation between CMDR COE and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) was regarded as very essential for the both entities to be able to meet the 21st century's challenges.

On his turn, Major General Haston stressed the importance of handling different CMDR aspects in the current TN National Guard policy. "Disasters strike and affect many, so they insist many to overcome", pointed out the general. He stated a standing invitation to the CMDR COE to join further Tennessee National Guard's activities in the area of crisis management and disaster response as he expressed satisfaction with the existing relations between the two organizations.

The event provided a good opportunity to share opinions on some aspects of the interagency interactions in response of disasters, with particular reference to the recent floods on the Balkan Peninsula and hurricanes in the North America.

Major General Haston is responsible for the supervision of the Military Department of Tennessee that includes the Army National Guard, the Air National Guard, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, and the Tennessee State Guard. He was appointed Tennessee's 75th Adjutant General on 1 January 2010. Before, Maj. Gen. Haston served as the Assistant Adjutant General, Army and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Training and Operations/J3 for the Joint Forces Headquarters, Tennessee.