Exercise Pagsasama 2023 enhances interagency operations, reserve force

From Palawan News (Jul 31, 2023): Exercise Pagsasama 2023 enhances interagency operations, reserve force (By Gerald Ticke)

The country continues to hone the skills of its reserve units as the Philippine Navy, through the Naval Forces West, hosts Exercise Pagsasama 2023, with the focus on utilizing its reservists and other auxiliary reserve units as force multipliers in maritime security and interagency operations.

Exercise Pagsasama 2023, which started last Saturday, July 29, aims to continually evaluate the extent of the navy’s interoperability with the reserve force and has the objective of enhancing their capability and testing their integration with the regular force for conducting amphibious operations, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR), and other duties and missions.

This year’s Exercise Pagsasama, which will run until August 4, will focus on Maritime Security Operations (MARSEC), HADR, and Civil-Military Operations (CMO).

During the opening ceremony, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Reservist and Retiree Affairs, Brig. Gen. Doroteo Jose Jalandoni, emphasized the need for further development of the AFP reserve corps to stand alongside the regular force in addressing the actual security and defense needs of the country.

“The concept of an AFP total force shall be a capable professional regular force supported by an operationally ready and responsive AFP reserve. That’s why naval and joint exercises that involve the reserve force is very important for developing the AFP,” Jalandoni said.

He further stated that the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Retirees and Reservist Affairs (OJ9) is currently designing a progressive six-year reserve force development plan from 2023 to 2028 that will pursue a more propulsive reserve force development.

Jalandoni explained that, with the development plan, the AFP aims to conduct more mobilization exercises for reservists to be incorporated with regular forces in order to prepare them in case the need arises for them to join active duties.

“Aside from the plans and policy development efforts, we also facilitate the conduct of mobilization exercise that will evolve into a joint training exercise to improve the readiness and capabilities of our ready reserve and affiliated reserve units,” he said.

“Thus, this undertaking is timely and fundamental as it will test and constantly improve the operational readiness and interoperability of our naval reservists with the regular force,” he added.

Furthermore, he said that the conduct of regular mobilization exercises will also familiarize reservists and allow them to engage in various scenarios resembling emerging challenges in the country’s maritime domain. This provides them with the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and skills, learning and progressing from past training activities and exercises.

“Moreover, this will develop the needed capabilities to ensure the interoperability and seamless integration of the reservists into the regular force when the need arises,” he said.

Meanwhile, Navforwest commander Commodore Allan Javier said Exercise Pagsasama will involve a series of trainings on shipboard operations where reservists will be boarding navy vessels to train them in navigational duties.

This is to familiarize them and then when time comes that there will be a calamity that we will need to land our regular force and it is augmented by our reserve force where we will be conducting medical procedures using our assets in order to deploy navy, marines and reservists in a literal environment to be able to relieve our citizenry,” Javier said.

https://palawan-news.com/exercise-pagsasama-2023-enhances-interagency-operations-reserve-force/#google_vignette