(Photo courtesy of Philippine Army)
MANILA – The Philippine Army (PA) and its US counterparts started the four-day site survey of staging grounds that will be used for the 2023 edition of the "Balikatan" exercises.
The inspection of these areas started on Monday and will run until Friday, PA spokesperson Col. Xerxes Trinidad said in a statement on Thursday.
He added the PA through the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Training and Education took part in the activity.
"Planning teams from the Philippine and US militaries will also hold next week an initial planning conference for the 38th iteration of the annual exercise at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Education, Training and Doctrine Command, Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City," Trinidad said.
"Balikatan" is an annual exercise between the AFP and the United States Armed Forces’ Indo-Pacific Command geared at enhancing both forces' interoperability.
The annual bilateral activity is also aimed at strengthening the capacity and competencies of both forces in a spectrum of military operations such as counter-terrorism and humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
The 2023 iteration of "Balikatan" is projected to include field training exercises composed of combined and live fire exercises and military operations in urban terrain.
As this developed, the PA announced that one of its artillery units, the 6th Field Artillery Battalion conducted live-fire drills using 105mm M2A2 howitzers in two separate locations in Maguindanao last Aug. 23.
Trinidad said the 6th Field Artillery Battalion, through the live-fire exercises, tested a newly re-barreled howitzer, registered two guns, and evaluated the proficiency of the gunnery crew who are undergoing firing platoon and fire direction center section training.
"The exercises were held at two locations: Barangay Masalay in Ampatuan and Barangay Meta in Datu Unsay, both in Maguindanao. A total of 30 105mm high-explosive rounds were fired in high angle and low angle shots with low and maximum charges to simulate various crisis scenarios," he said.
Trinidad added that the Artillery Regiment is implementing a certification program for gunners and assistant gunners prior to deployment at firing lines. Field artillerymen also undergo re-certification before handling actual operations.
The Artillery Regiment is one of the PA major units at the forefront of Army modernization. It has been consistently performing its mandate in organizing, training, equipping, developing, and sustaining artillery units in providing timely and accurate fire support to maneuver units. (PNA)
