MANILA – Some 3,000 Filipino and American Marines will take part in this year's "Kaagapay Ng Mga Mandirigma ng Dagat" (KAMANDAG) exercise from Oct. 3 to 14 in various locations in the Philippines.
"The exercise is scheduled for October 3-14, 2022 at various training sites throughout Luzon, Batanes, and Palawan. During 'KAMANDAG', approximately 530 Philippine Marines and 2,550 US Marines will train closely together," Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) spokesperson Maj. Emery Torre said in a statement Thursday night.
"KAMANDAG" translates to “Cooperation of the Warriors of the Sea”.
The participating American troops will be coming from the US 31st and 11th Marine Expeditionary Units, Torre added.
Some 100 members of the Philippine Navy and Air Force will also join the exercise.
"The PMC and the US Marine Corps will be joined by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and the Republic of Korea Marine Corps for the first time as exercise observers," Torre said.
The exercise is to enhance bilateral cooperation and interoperability among participating forces in the conduct of combined tactical operations that focus on capacitating the Marine Amphibious Ready Unit and enhancing their capabilities in special operations, coastal defense capability, humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear operations.
“The PMC looks forward to this year’s KAMANDAG Exercise with our foreign military allies who are advanced in terms of amphibious operations, special operations, HADR operations, and territorial defense capabilities. Through this exercise, we are able to learn from their techniques, tactics, and procedures to develop our interoperability strategy in the Philippine Marine Corps, especially as we operationalize our Marine Corps Operating Concept for Archipelagic Coastal Defense,” PMC commandant Maj. Gen. Charlton Sean Gaerlan said.
This year's 'KAMANDAG" is the sixth iteration of this exercise and will formally open on October 3 at the Philippine Navy Officers Club.
Navy acting flag-officer-in-command Rear Admiral Caesar Bernard Valencia will grace the opening rites as guest of honor and speaker. (PNA)
