The Vermont National Guard will begin a new military partnership with Austria next year, its third overseas relationship with a U.S. strategic partner.Brig. Gen. David Manfredi, Joint Staff Director at the Vermont Guard, said the new Austria relationship will complement existing pacts with the military of North Macedonia — which launched in 1993 — and the 2008 agreement with the West African nation of Senegal.Manfredi told NBC5 Vermont personnel typically conduct 20 joint training and other events with both North Macedonia and Senegal each year. He said those opportunities are important in helping Guard recruiting and retention.Austria, he said, was a good fit for several reasons. "We have a long relationship with the military mountaineering school in Austria," Manfredi said. "When the Vermont Guard started up our military mountaineering school in the 1980s (in Jericho) one of the first places we looked to get expertise and train our instructors was at the Austrian mountain school. That relationship has stood the test of time."The partnership is expected to formally launch on October 1, 2022, Manfredi said. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott and Adjutant General Greg Knight marked the new relationship at a private dinner this week at the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C.