West Virginia Guard & Irregular Warfare Center sign memorandum

The partnership includes enhancing opportunities for joint training exercises such as Ridge Runner and Ridge Healer, and additional sponsored events.

“Building U.S. and partner capacities and skill sets to compete in nonconventional arenas against state, non-state, and near-peer competitors is fundamental,” Crane said.

“Our partnership with the IWC helps strengthen existing and developing ties between defense industry, educational institutions, and governmental and private sector partners both here and abroad,” Crane said.

“And it drives the authorities that gives us the ability to aggressively pursue opportunities here in West Virginia that will help to train and prepare our own U.S. troops, as well as our allies and partners to face the future fight.”

Walters said the West Virginia National Guard brings unique capabilities that support the Irregular Warfare Center’s mission.

“This signing symbolically represents a union of innovative thinkers that will help move the United States and our allies and partner nations forward in irregular and unconventional warfare concepts during conflicts and competition,” he said.

“Our mission is to empower our servicemen and women to operate in places and in ways they might not otherwise be able to do. Since our inception, our relationship with WVNG has been essential to our mission, and we couldn’t be more excited about our future together.”

The Irregular Warfare Center serves as the central mechanism for developing the Department of Defense’s irregular warfare knowledge.

West Virginia’s congressional delegation has been a strong supporter of the collaboration and see this memorandum signing as further evidence of the importance West Virginia does and can play in national security efforts today and in the future.

“The West Virginia National Guard continues to prove just how widely respected they are and how essential they are to our national security,” U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin said.

“Ridge Runner is the only realistic exercise in the world that brings foreign partners to the U.S. multiple times a year to learn from one another and develop capabilities to counter irregular warfare threats from China and Russia. I am proud that we host this invaluable training across numerous counties in West Virginia with broad community support.”

“Ridge Runner continues to highlight the world-class expertise in irregular warfare housed within the West Virginia National Guard,” U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said.

“This formalized partnership with the Irregular Warfare Center will further cement West Virginia’s unique capabilities for training U.S. and allied special operators in critical skill sets. I look forward to seeing the benefits of this partnership and continuing my support as a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.”

The Ridge Runner Irregular Warfare training exercise, held at Camp Dawson and at locations around West Virginia, is a special forces multi-domain exercise for both U.S. and allied and partner nation forces.

It is tailored to specific evolving threat scenarios faced by modern special operations and conventional forces.

Exercise participants experience scenarios in real-world settings having to deal with rugged terrain and austere conditions requiring innovative solutions to movement and mission execution.

The current exercise includes participants from multiple U.S. branches, and eight separate allied and partner nations.