United States Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey VTOL aircraft lands in Crow Valley, Tarlac during the RP-US Balikatan (shoulder to shoulder) military exercises on Friday. More than 8000 Filipino and US soldiers are participating in this years (Balikatan exercise)
CLARK FIELD, Pampanga- The "PH-US Balikatan Exercise" may soon turn into a multilateral event with more nations now looking at the possibility of joining the annual military and humanitarian maneuvers.
Brig. Gen. Richard Simcock II, the US exercise director for "Balikatan 2013", said they welcome the interest of other militaries to participate in the exercise where both Filipino and American soldiers have been learning useful military and humanitarian and disaster response techniques.
He added this practice will greatly improve security and stability in the region.
Simcock likewise noted that this year, Australia sent a small team to observe some of the training and project sites in the on-going Balikatan 2013 as they consider joining future exercises.
The observation team from the Australian Defense Force visited the Joint Civil Military Operations Task Force (JCMOTF) and Combined Joint Civil Military Operations Task Force (CJCMOTF) last April 6.
According to Australian Army Lt. Col. Michael Scott, the head engineer planner of Headquarters Company, 6th Brigade, the Australian Defense Force sent a small observer team to exercise Balikatan to look for future opportunities of involvement.
“We’re looking for opportunities to potentially integrate into future exercises," said Scott.
The team received an exercise overview briefing at the JCMOTF headquarters by the JCMOTF Operations Officer Lt. Cmdr. Joe Harder who also answered more specific questions from the group.
In a report released by the US Marine Corps, Harder was quoted as saying, “They (Australian observer team) are visiting exercise Balikatan 2013 to look for opportunities to participate with partner nations in the years to come."
Harder added, “The US is supporting the Australian visit by giving them an overview of how the execution is being conducted and to help identify gaps and capabilities that can expand the effectiveness of the mission vice just coming and doing the same thing which would just add more redundancy to the mission.”
Scott said "Balikatan" is a great exercise to observe due to the longstanding relationship between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the US military.
Philippine Army Capt. Felipe Estrada, on the other hand, said: “We have learned many techniques and tactics during the exercise already, so when other countries like Australia want to be combined with the training then we would learn even more practices to deliver within the community.”
Estrada is the officer in charge of construction at the Looc Elementary School project site which is among those visited by the Australian group.
Scott said they were able to see a lot of the projects that are part of the Balikatan 2013 and these gave them some good exposure to what’s actually being done between the Philippine and American services during this year's bilateral exercises.
“Balikatan is a good opportunity and we’re looking forward to observing the rest of the exercise and seeing if there are any opportunities for Australian involvement in the future," said Scott.
http://www.mb.com.ph/article.php?aid=7503&sid=1&subid=2
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