A Georgia Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter

A Georgia Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter crew chief double checks the LZ (landing zone) prior to off loading SWAT team officers during a combined training exercise Wednesday. It was a chance encounter created a plan to reinforce professional relationships between the state of Georgia's Special Weapons and Tactics team (SWAT) and the Georgia National Guard's 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment in Winder, Georgia, Wednesday. An aerial training exercise, featuring fast rope insertion and extraction operations that included rappelling, had historical value as the first of its kind for the unique partnership between Georgia's public safety and department of defense. History not withstanding, the two entities are critical components of the infrastructure that comprises Georgia's security assets. Dive and SWAT team officer in charge Capt. Steven B. Bone says it makes good economic sense to combine training for the public safety. "When the colonel (Mark W. McDonough, Georgia Department of Public Safety commissioner) and Maj. Gen. Butterworth (Jim Butterworth, the adjutant general for Georgia's Department of Defense) met recently, they wanted to cement a training partnership that would make better use of our resources and give us the edge crisis responsiveness." Although the first of its kind, the partnership will be solidified with additional training missions later in the year. (Georgia National Guard photo by Army Staff Sgt. Tracy J. Smith | released)