DEVILS LAKE (AP) - Three soldiers from the African nation of Ghana are training at Camp Grafton, as part of a partnership with the North Dakota National Guard.

Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan Ahinakwah Owusu, an engineering instructor, is visiting the 164th Regiment Regional Training Center at Camp Grafton. Flying Officer Razak Abdul Mustapha and Sgt. Richard Rufus Kwasi Tettey of the Ghana Air Force are shadowing soldiers with the National Guard's 112th Aviation Battalion.

The North Dakota National Guard and the Republic of Ghana, a small coastal country in west Africa, have been participating since 2004 in a Defense Department-sponsored State Partnership Program that pairs a state's Army and Air National Guard with another country.

The goal of the exchange program is fostering long-term relationships that encourage the development of economic, political and military ties, said Sgt. 1st Class David Miller, who spent 10 days in Ghana in November teaching plumbing and carpentry to soldiers there.

"The goal is to make them better engineers, not combat soldiers," he said.

Camp Grafton is home to one of the nation's largest National Guard training facilities. Owusu said his experiences there have been good.

"Plumbing. Carpentry. Masonry. Everything is there, all the equipment," he said.

"Going from the classroom to the practical ground is good. You can practice what you've just been taught," Owusu said. "I've gained a lot here. Now I want to go to college to study general construction, to get a degree, so it can be beneficial to the Army."

The Ghanian soldiers are to leave North Dakota on Wednesday.

For Miller, the North Dakota National Guard instructor, learning is just part of the exchange program experience.

"Our mission is to share our knowledge," he said. "But they're really short on assets. We're trying to see if we can send them some tools. You don't go over there without gaining a new friend, and you always want to help a friend."