US forces arrive for ‘Balikatan’

From the Daily Tribune (Mar 28): US forces arrive for ‘Balikatan’

Thousands of American troops participating in this year’s bilateral Balikatan training and their equipment will start arriving today as officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) begin formulating scenarios for the actual joint exercises.

Capt. Celeste Frank Sayson, Balikatan 2016 exercises public affairs officer, yesterday said that both the AFP and their American counterparts are now putting finishing touches on the actual bilateral training.

“Based on plan, tomorrow (Monday) will be start of mobilization of the Americans, offloading of their quarter equipment. The US forces will start arriving tomorrow and the proceeding weeks,” said Sayson.

He said the US troops will be arriving in Northern Luzon. Sayson, however, did not identify the exact arrival areas, citing security reason.

On the other hand, Sayson said AFP officers involved in this year’s Balikatan will start command post exercise or table top exercises based on formulated scenarios.

According to Sayson, the table top exercises will be held from March 28 to 31. The actual Balikatan 2016 is scheduled April 4 to 15 in various parts of the country.

“We have prepared scenarios. So every now and then there will be simulated scenarios with our AFP generals,” Sayson said.

Part of the scenarios would be a magnitude 6.5 earthquake hitting Metro Manila.
“We will see how our generals react when a crisis happens. For example, Metro Manila is hit by an earthquake…we can see how our generals would utilize the array of forces undet hem, how would they coordinate,” Sayson ecplained.   

More than 8,000 Filipino and US troops are participating in this year’s Balikatan exercises, which is being held annually under Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty.

A total of 4,900 US troops and 3,773 AFP personnel will be taking part in Balikatan 16 which will officially open on April 4.

Aside from the huge number of participants, this year Balikatan 2016 (BK16) will involve jet fighters — with the Armed Forces of the  Philippines (AFP) sending its two brand-new FA50 lead-in fighters to exercise with the US Air Force A10 “Thunderbolts and British-made Hawker Hunter.

The AFP will also be sending all its S211 trainer aircraft in the joint war games.

On the other hand, the US will be sending 55 different aircraft and at least five warships. For the first time, the US will also be bringing high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS).

Also, 80 Australian servicemen will be coming as support elements. There are also observers from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, India, Japan, South Korea and Timor Leste.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/us-forces-arrive-for-balikatan