As conflict persists in the Middle East, the Colorado National Guard is playing a key role in maintaining America’s partnership with Jordan, a U.S. ally in the region.

Colorado National Guard members were in Jordan last week training with Jordanian units, during one of the 35 annual training events organized between the local guard and Jordan, said Brig. Gen. Michael Bruno, who oversees the partnership. About half of the weeklong training events take place in Colorado and half in Jordan.

The partnership, now in its 20th year, has helped lay the groundwork for the U.S. to more easily work with Jordan if needed and trained Jordanians to be more capable, he said.

“If our support makes them more effective at what they are doing we don’t have to go over there and be part of it,” he said.

Jordan was thrust into the news recently when a drone strike killed three soldiers during late January at Tower 22, a U.S. military outpost near Jordan’s border with Syria.

Despite the regional conflicts, Bruno said, security hasn’t been heightened.

“They take extremely good care of us,” he said.

The Colorado National Guard’s partnership with Jordan is one of 93 partnership between Guard units and other nations. Perhaps the most high profile one, is the partnership between Ukraine and the California National Guard started in 1993 that prepared Ukraine to defend itself against Russia. Guardsman helped develop the Ukrainian Air Force, logistics and sustainment, cyber defense and command and control procedures, according to the Department of Defense.

The partnerships work well in the National Guard because service members stay in place and can build relationships with foreign counterparts over time, Bruno said.

In Jordan, National Guardsmen have trained with Jordanians to fly and maintain F-16 jets and Black Hawk helicopters. The Colorado National Guard has also connected Jordan with the Wyoming National Guard for training on C-130 cargo planes, Bruno said.

The guard is also helping develop the Jordanian’s noncommissioned officer corps. When developed, the senior enlisted become key members in a highly functional team, he said. As officers trust their senior enlisted counterparts, it also frees them up to focus on other tasks.

The longstanding partnership has also proven mutually beneficial, Bruno said, as Jordanians have developed their own tactics, techniques and procedures for working on aircraft that have informed the guard’s work as well, he said.

The training also provides cultural exposure for guardsman, he said. One of the most noticeable changes among the Jordanian military has been growth in the number of women in the service, including female pilots.

Bruno said he expects the partnership would persist even if the 140th Wing did not receive new planes to replace it’s aging F-16s.

“We would find a way to still engage,” he said.