23 February 2006

State of New Jersey Donates Fire Truck to Albanian Fire Rescue Services Department

New Jersey Deputy Adjutant General, Brigadier General Maria Falca-Dodson, Alfred Olli, the Director of Emergencies of the Ministry of Interior and Chief Commissar Alfred Kristuli, Commander of the Fire Rescue Services, all participated in a ceremony at which the New Jersey-Albania State Partnership Program, working through the U.S. Embassy’s Office of Defense Cooperation, donated a fire truck to the Albanian Fire Rescue Services Department.

The fire truck will be used to support a Weapons Elimination Project as well as supporting the routine firefighting capabilities of the Fire Rescue Services Department. The project was funded by the State of New Jersey and the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

The Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) manages the U.S. Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program, coordinating events to support civilian and military needs in Albania since 2003. The program has been sending Albanian personnel to the United States and Americans to Albania to learn and teach about defense modernization.

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