A new set of US troops have arrived in the Philippines to train with their Filipino counterpart as Washington continues to bolster its “cooperative relations with important allies and partners” in the region, the US military announced.
US marines and sailors are now in the country as part of the third annual rotational deployment of Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia (MRF-SEA).
MRF-SEA forces will begin their six-month stint in the region by training alongside the Philippine troops for SAMASAMA and KAMANDAG 8 exercises from Oct. 7 to 24.
According to the US military, the deployment of its new set of troops is aimed at "increasing effective interoperability" between US and Philippine forces.
It is also aimed at maintaining the US Marine Corps forces in the region as the previously-posted Marine Rotational Force-Darwin returns to the United States from Australia as well as at contributing to freedom within the Indo-Pacific.
"This consistent Marine Corps presence provides a persistent, tailorable force capable of command and control, operational planning, and theater security cooperation activities whenever needed," the US military said.
"We train together to strengthen our relationships and collective capabilities, and the intent of MRF-SEA is to cultivate and reinforce the common values and capabilities between our partners and to preserve a rules-based international order," Col. Stuart W. Glenn, commanding officer of MRF-SEA, also said.
According to the US military, MRF-SEA is a flexible task force that varies in size, capability, and composition, to accomplish different types of missions.
It maintains a forward presence and enhances the Marine Corps crisis and contingency response capabilities.
It is uniquely organized to support security cooperation and advance mutual security objectives shared with Southeast Asian allies and partners, the military said.
Planned exercises during the deployment will provide opportunities to enhance partnered interoperability, it said.
It is done through expert-led training exchanges including ground and aircraft fires integration; combat medical care; Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Neurological response; logistics support in contested environments; small boat operations; amphibious operations planning; Unmanned Aerial Surveillance employment; and other topics. Additionally, MRF-SEA will conduct realistic training events to include live fire events, military operations in urban terrain, amphibious operations, hand-to-hand combat, and numerous others alongside allied and partner forces.