US and Philippine Marine forces will be conducting joint naval war exercises starting Monday off the coast of Palawan near the contested West Philippine Sea (
At least 650 US Marines and sailors of the 3d Marine
Expeditionary Brigade (3d MEB), the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) based
in Okinawa, Japan, and 740 officers and enlisted personnel from the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will be participating in the 31st iteration of
the Philippine Amphibious Landing Exercise (Phiblex) 2016 from September 21 to
October 9.
Officials said the exercises seek to continue to enhance the
inter-operability between the US Marine air-ground task force and the AFP with
the goal of improving bilateral response to regional issues and maritime
security crises within Asia-Pacific.
The combined US and Filipino troops will be working
side-by-side to conduct a command post exercise, field training exercises,
amphibious operations, combined arms training, civil-military operations and
humanitarian and civic assistance projects.
The command post exercise in Palawan
aims to increase the AFP’s capability to conduct planning for and execution of
bilateral maritime operations.
The field training exercises in the vicinity of
Angeles-Clark in Pampanga, include small arms and artillery live-fire training.
They will provide the two forces multiple opportunities to
maintain and improve their unit skill sets while sharing best practices and
enhancing an already high level of inter-operability.
Phiblex will also involve humanitarian and civic assistance
projects in Palawan , such as engineering civic
action projects to improve local infrastructure and cooperative health
engagements.
It will be a way of sharing medical best practices to meet
the medical needs of the people.
All portions of Phiblex will also play a major role in
preparation for the large-scale war exercises Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder),
which will take place next year.
“Bilateral Philippine-US military training opportunities
such as Phiblex 16 sustain our strong foundation of inter-operability and
strengthen our working relationships across the range of military
operations–from disaster relief to complex expeditionary operations,” the US
Embassy in Manila
http://www.manilatimes.net/breaking_news/us-ph-marines-set-sea-drill-off-palawan/
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