PH Armed Forces gears up for 29th Balikatan exercises in April

From InterAksyon (Mar 12): PH Armed Forces gears up for 29th Balikatan exercises in April

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and its United States counterpart will meet April for the 29th Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) joint military exercises which will again focus on disaster relief operations and response.

In a statement, AFP spokesman Colonel Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said this year's Balikatan exercises will kick off on April 5 and will last until April 17. An estimated 8,000 soldiers both from the Philippines and the United States as well as from other partner nations in the region are expected to take part in the exercises.

The highlight of this year's Balikatan exercises, according to Burgos, is the Multinational Maritime Table-Top Exercise (TTX) to be held in Camp Aguinaldo next month. The Multinational Maritime TTX aims to determine specific Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR) operations in high-traffic international waters, and build response confidence among multinational partners.

This year's Balikatan seeks to address previous disaster situations that occurred recently in the country and strengthen military response during times of disasters.

Aside from the Multinational Maritime TTX, members of the Philippine and United States armed forces will also undertake joint humanitarian assistance projects in communities throughout Zambales province.

Preliminary work on community infrastructure projects will begin mid-March. Military medical personnel will also provide free medical, dental and veterinary care.

Joint military exercises will also be held in Camp O’Donnell and Crow Valley in Tarlac, Subic Bay, Zambales and Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija.

This year’s Balikatan is the 4th HA-DR focused bilateral exercise, the first one held in 2008.The annual military exercise is a combined joint military exercise based on the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty. This is conducted every year to serve as a venue for joint and combined training between the Philippine and United States militaries.

The AFP said, “the conduct of Balikatan 2013 perpetuates a long and lasting partnership founded firmly on common heritage as freedom-loving countries committed to the preservation of liberty and democracy. The end goal of these exercises is to further promote and foster the existing friendship between the people of the Philippines and the United States and advance the security and stability of the region in the near future."

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/56921/ph-armed-forces-gears-up-for-29th-balikatan-exercises-in-april