U.S. Marine Brig.Gen. Paul Kennedy, center, Commanding General of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Philippine Marine Maj.Gen. Alexander Balutan, right, Naval Director General and Col. Nathaniel Casem of the Philippine Marines, link arms following the opening ceremony of the joint U.S.-Philippines amphibious landing exercise dubbed PHIBLEX 2015 at the Philippine Marine barracks at Fort Bonifacio at suburban Taguig city east of Manila, Philippines AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
As the Amphibious
Landing Exercise 2015 (PHIBLEX 15) come to conclusion, U.S. Marines reflect on
their experiences and expressed desire to come back to the country for more
opportunity to work side-by-side with their Philippine counterparts.
This, as they
leave behind relationships they have built not only with members of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP) but also with the local communities.
“I would jump all
on it if I had the opportunity to come back to a follow on PHIBLEX,” said Capt.
Kyle McCarley, company commander of 9th Engineer Support Battalion (ESB), 3rd
Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force.
Together with
Philippine Navy Seabees, members of the 9ESB completed humanitarian civic
assistance projects at the Concepcion and Binduyan elementary schools in Palawan . The HCA projects consisted of building walkways,
overhangs and multipurpose concrete areas designed to benefit the schools in
various ways.
“I would jump all
on it if I had the opportunity to come back to a follow on PHIBLEX. This has
been a phenomenal experience to be able watch my Marines develop their MOS; to
work hand-in-hand with the Philippine seabees and to watch them build something
from the ground up,” said McCarley.
“It’s also a
humbling experience to see them build something that will benefit these schools
for years to come,” he added.
For Gunnery Sgt.
Luis Respardo, a platoon sergeant with 9ESB, “the PHIBLEX was a success because
everything we came out here to do we accomplished before our timeline.”
According to
Respardo, they were working late and constantly tired and that the weather
affected them severely because it rained a lot. “Despite that we accomplished
the mission,” he said.
But McCarley said
that while the workload was strenuous, that’s not what made the exercise unique
for the unit.
“The school is in
session. You can see many of the students have built relationships with the Marines
and the seabees that were working on the project,” said McCarley.
“That
relationship has strengthened the project. Having the children in the schools
watching the Marines and Seabees working on the projects for them and their
schools will definitely leave a lasting impact on the children at these
elementary schools,” he stressed.
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