US Air Force General Craig McKinley is the Chief of the National Guard Bureau.  He recently hosted an Islamic iftar in Washington, DC.  The dinner highlighted the Guard’s “State Partnership Program” through which the Guard “foster[s] relationships with Muslim and Muslim-majority nations.”

With several senior Muslim and National Guard leaders in attendance for the dinner, Imam Mohamed Magid, the executive director of the All Dulles area Muslim Society Center, spoke to the benefits the State Partnership Program offers to the National Guard and its Muslim partners.

“We have Muslims, people of other faith and ethnicities and cultural backgrounds serving side-by-side,” Magid said.

In an interesting comparison, Magid noted the commonality between the Guard and Islam:

Magid said the common values of service, loving your neighbors and caring about those who are in need are “values that [the Muslim community and the National Guard] have in common.”