The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Australian Defence Force (ADF) kicked off the first ever Philippines-Australia (PH-Aus) Exercise Alon 2023 on Monday, August 14, with a mission to maintain regional security in the Indo-Pacific through cooperation and partnership.

Lt. Col. Enrico Gil Ileto, chief of AFP public information office, said Alon is the first ever amphibious military exercise between the AFP and ADF.

“It will further enhance interoperability and readiness to respond to shared security challenges. It will be an avenue for shared commitment to a peaceful, prosperous and resilient Indo-Pacific Region,” Ileto noted in a statement.

"These are for us to exercise the region's rights under international law to freedom of navigation and overflight in the West Philippine Sea," he added in a separate message with the Manila Bulletin.

The opening ceremony of the exercise was held at the flight deck of HMAS (His/Her Majesty's Australian Ship) Canberra in Darwin, Australia. 

It was attended by key officials from the AFP and ADF including Lt. Col. Noel Gallaza, commander of the AFP’s Amphibious Landing Force; Air Commander Tony McCormack, commander of Indo-Pacific Endeavor 2023 (IPE23); Capt. Phillipa Hay, commander of Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) Amphibious Task Force; Col. Doug Pashley, commander of RAN’s Landing Forces; Capt Brendan O’Hara, commanding officer of HMAS Canberra; and Cmdr. Barton Harrington, commanding officer of HMAS Anzac. 

Also in attendance was Col. Brendan Sullivan, commanding officer of United States Marine Corps’ Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D).

The exercise involves multiple ships and aircraft from the AFP and ADF, and more than 2,000 military personnel including approximately 700 personnel from the AFP and 1,200 servicemen from the ADF. 

There are also 150 participants from the US Marines’ MRF-D who will act as support forces and will be integrated with Australia’s Amphibious Force.

From Australia, the participants set sail to the Philippines where various field training exercises (FTX) will be held in different training locations in Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) based in Tarlac City and Western Command (WESCOM) based in Palawan.

“The main objective of this exercise is to enhance interoperability and be able to share tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) and best practices in the conduct of amphibious operations in the accomplishment of the PMC and AFP mission,” Ileto said.

Exercise Alon, a Filipino term which translates to “wave”, is part of the AFP and ADF’s Indo-Pacific Endeavour activity for 2023 (IPE23). 

The IPE23 is Australia’s flagship international engagement activity in the Southeast Asian and Indian Ocean region. It aims to “promote security, stability, stronger partnership through bilateral and multilateral engagement training, capacity building and humanitarian efforts.”

Ileto said the term “wave” signifies the “characteristics of amphibious warfare and emphasizes the projection of ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore.”

The exercise will run until August 31.