The Philippine Army (PA) opened back-to-back military exercises with its counterparts from the United States and Australia on Monday, Feb. 20, to enhance their interoperability with allied forces, including during times of war.
Col. Xerxes Trinidad, PA spokesperson, said participants from the PA’s 7th Infantry Division (7ID) and 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade (5SFAB) of the US Army opened the Philippines-United States Warfighting Functions Exchange 2023-1 at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.
Also included from the Philippine side are troops from the 71st Division Reconnaissance Company; Alpha Company of the 99th Infantry Battalion; 1st Brigade Combat Team; and Alpha Company, 103rd Infantry Battalion of the 5th Infantry Division.
“The PH-US WFE aims to meet mutual training and modernization objectives of both forces across the warfighting functions domain and other training needs through an exchange of best practices; lessons learned; and tactics, techniques and procedures with US counterparts,” Trinidad said.
Col. Eugene Mata, 7ID chief of staff, highlighted the significance of enhancing the knowledge and skills of the troops on warfighting techniques to further bolster the capabilities of the Army units towards accomplishing their missions.
The two-week exercises will run until March 3.
Trinidad said the warfighting training will also serve as a prelude to the upcoming Salaknib and Balikatan exercises, which are large-scale bilateral trainings between the Philippines and the United States later this year.
Meanwhile, the PA’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID) and 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment of the Australian Defence Force began the Philippine-Australia Army-to-Army Exercise (PAAAE) 23-1 at Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte.
Brig. Gen. Jovencio Gonzales, assistant division commander for operations of 6ID, and Lt. Col. Timothy Lopsik, Assistant Australian Defense Attache, led the kick off ceremony of the six-week exercise on Monday.
“The PAAAE 23-1 aims to enhance the capabilities and skills of personnel in urban operations; long-range marksmanship; tactical combat casualty care; intelligence surveillance, and reconnaissance operations; and small unit leaders training through the exchange of techniques, tactics, and procedures,” Trinidad explained.
Also joining the six-week training from the Australian side are troops from the 62nd Division Reconnaissance Company (DRC) and 63rd DRC. The exercise will culminate on March 31.