The partnership is meant to bolster disaster preparedness in Indonesia and Hawaii.

Lingle said Hawaii experts and Guard members are eager to share what they've learned in the past about planning for disasters. Meanwhile, the Indonesian military will be able to provide invaluable information on how it responded to the December 2004 tsunami, which killed 120,000 Indonesians in Aceh province and thousands more elsewhere.

In recent years, Indonesians have also sustained earthquakes and floods.

The state partnership program will bring the promise of annual federal funds, though officials have not yet released a dollar figure or indicated how often the militaries will collaborate as part of the agreement, which is only the fourth of its kind in the Pacific.

Hawaii and Guam also have a partnership with the Philippines, while Washington is partnered with Thailand and the Alaska National Guard has an agreement with Mongolia.

After the partnership announcement, Lingle will attend a roundtable discussion with members of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She will also meet with Theo Sambuaga, a member of the Indonesia parliament who recently toured the United States and is interested in talking about economic development opportunities.