File:NATO’s Rasmussen honors Georgia National Guard with visit, praise (5705006097).jpg

DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, Marietta, Ga., May 9, 2011 – The Georgia National Guard played host to NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who took time to honor Georgia Army and Air Guardsmen for their service with NATO forces in the Global War on Terror, as well as for their work with the nation of Georgia in the State Partnership Program.

Here, Maj. Gen. William T. Nesbitt (seated left), Georgia’s Adjutant General, listens while Rasmussen (right) talks to more than 60 Soldiers, Airmen and Georgia Department of Defense civilians at the Georgia Air Guard Headquarters about the Georgia Guard’s work with NATO in the War on Terror through the Joint Surveillance Target Attack System (JSTARS), the Army Guard’s operation of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010, and the joint Army and Air work being done with the country of Georgia through the State Partnership Program.

Major Gen. Nesbitt offered a warm welcome to the Secretary General. "We feel that although our close ties to NATO were developed far away, they were in fact forged on and above battlefields. And because of that, we welcome you here today with warmth and appreciation for our allies; and pride, too, that we can share those efforts with you."