American Military Official Decorated with National Army Medal

CHISINAU, April 11, 2019 — General State Secretary Radu Burduja decorated today the Adjutant General of North Carolina National Guard, Maj. Gen. Gregory Lusk, with the medal “For Cooperation” during a ceremony organized at the Ministry of Defense.

The medal was awarded to Maj. Gen. Lusk for his efforts aimed to strengthen the cooperation between the two institutions.

Radu Burduja thanked Maj. Gen. Lusk for the constant support offered to the National Army and specified that the bilateral exercises and the Moldovan-American training in the areas of military medicine, psychology, logistics, EOD contributed to develop the skills of the military and civilian staff of the defense institution of the Republic of Moldova.

The General State Secretary also informed the American military official about the achievements of the Ministry of Defense’s leadership, especially the implementation of the program “Professional Army”, the projects of procuring equipment and vehicles, renovation of military infrastructure, and social protection of contract-based service members. Radu Burduja mentioned that all these actions had the objective to increase the army’s combat capacities.

Maj. Gen. Lusk appreciated the Moldovan soldiers’ performances during bilateral activities conducted both in the USA and in the Republic of Moldova and expressed the hope that such actions would continue in the future.

Also today, Maj. Gen. Lusk met with Brig. Gen. Igor Cutie, National Army Commander.

The officials reviewed the cooperation between the National Army and North Carolina National Guard, with a focus on the joint participation of Moldovan and American soldiers in training exercises and other activities organized through the partnership program.

The Adjutant General of North Carolina National Guard is paying a visit to the Republic of Moldova within April 11-12, 2019 and plans to visit National Army units where he will meet the military staff in order to discuss the Moldovan-American defense partnership.

The National Army of the Republic of Moldova and North Carolina National Guard signed a Memorandum of Agreement on establishment of Partner Units between the two defense institutions, on May 3, 2013. The document aims to consolidate the relations between the National Army and US Army service members and to promote cooperation between the military units of the two states.

The partnership between the Republic of Moldova and North Carolina started on April 22, 1999, by signing the Bilateral Memorandum of Intent aiming to facilitate the cooperation in the economic, cultural, scientific, academic exchanges, defense and civil protection sectors and the coordination of humanitarian efforts of governmental institutions and NGOs.