Joint training between US, Filipino Marines instrumental in saving lives during calamities

From the Philippine News Agency (Oct 1): Joint training between US, Filipino Marines instrumental in saving lives during calamities

As the 32nd Philippine Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX 16) formally opened Thursday, US Marine Expeditionary Brigade head Brig. Gen. Paul Kennedy said the joint exercises between Filipino and American military units is instrumental in saving lives during times of calamities.

Around 860 US Marines and 748 of their Filipino counterparts will be taking part in the annual military maneuvers.

This was demonstrated during the aftermath of Typhoon "Yolanda" in November 2013 when US forces responded to Philippine calls for help within hours, the American official said. "

Two years ago we concluded PHIBLEX 29 and we shook hands with our Filipino partners and we wished them the best of another year and (we'll) meet again the following year and unfortunately nature intervened and as Typhoon Yolanda bore down on the central part of the Philippines to the Visayas, you know what happened within your country," Kennedy narrated.

"And our response occurred within a matter of hours and our interoperability happened almost instantly because we had just trained together over the course of the preceding exercise and we understood each others’ capability, and understood each others’ shortfalls and we’re able to work together as a true team on the behalf of the people in Samar, in Leyte, in Roxas and the other portions of the stricken area and in general I think that we saved lives, I think that the worthiness of this exercise bore fruit in the lives that were saved following the disaster," he added.

And despite the Philippine and US Marines having a rock-solid partnership and really does need that intensive training, Kennedy said the increasingly complex security situation makes the annual exercise vital.

"Thirty two times of attempting the same exercise you think that we would have this down pat and we wouldn’t need to train anymore, but I would tell you every year we get together we learn new lessons, and in this ever increasingly complex security environment these lessons are becoming more and more acute and remind us of the seriousness of the business that we have at hand," he added.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=810343