(Photo courtesy of Wescom)
MANILA – Western Command (Wescom) chief Vice Adm. Alberto Carlos on Friday said the presence of foreign naval ships participating in this year's iteration of the "KAMANDAG" exercises has strengthened the ties between the participating nations.
"KAMANDAG" also known as the "Kaagapay ng mga Mandirigma ng Dagat", which started last Oct. 3 and is set to end on Friday, is a joint military exercise between the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) and the United States Marine Corps (USMC).
Allied countries Japan and South Korea also participated in the exercise as observers.
One of these ships, the USNS Brunswick (T-EPF 6) which is now in Puerto Princesa City, helped ferry US forces to and from Palawan province as part of the exercise.
The US Navy ship is a Military Sealift Command expeditionary fast-transport vessel that is capable of providing rapid intra-theater transport of troops and military equipment. It can carry up to 600 short tons of equipment for distances of 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots.
"The USNS Brunswick and the multilateral forces participating in the exercise here in Palawan have forged bilateral and multilateral exchanges between Philippine and U.S. forces, as well as Japan and South Korea," Carlos said.
"Our joint forces in Wescom have been given the opportunity to improve their interoperability with participating countries for combined operations that are focused on littoral, territorial, and coastal defense, and maritime domain awareness," he added.
The Wescom chief also emphasized that these bilateral exchanges in Palawan have fostered effective and ready joint forces that are capable of responding to any security challenges.
The PMC's 3rd Marine Brigade and Marine Battalions Landing Teams 3 and 4, all under Wescom's command and control, have trained side by side with the elements of the 11th Marine Expedition Unit (MEU) of the USMC.
"The capability of our Marines to maneuver across all ranges of military operations and to demonstrate readiness in amphibious operations and humanitarian and disaster response has been beefed up through this bilateral engagement," Carlos said.
Aside from the USNS Brunswick, several US Navy and Coastguard ships had also made port visits in Palawan and have conducted maritime exercises and freedom of navigation operations in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations.
This includes the USS Rushmore (LSD-47) which the US Navy Hospital Ship Mercy (T-AH 19) served as the platform in the recently concluded Pacific Partnership 2022 in Palawan.
"Wescom is grateful to our national leadership for giving us the opportunity to benefit from international defense and security engagements. The increasing presence of our treaty partner and friendly countries, who share our desire of a rules-based order in the WPS, has given Wescom a boost in our joint operations for external defense," Carlos added.
The Japanese Embassy in Manila said about 30 Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) personnel along with humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) from Japan, were deployed to participate in the annual exercise.
Accordingly, the JGSDF conducted functional training with the PMC on the use and handling of HADR equipment and the fundamentals of CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) threat.
HADR training was also held with USMC and PMC, in conjunction with the PMC’s landing drills from USMC MV-22 from the USS New Orleans.
This is the JGSDF’s fifth participation in the exercise and also the fourth time Japan took part in the said exercise’s HADR training by utilizing amphibious operations capability in order to maintain and enhance “Free and Open Indo-Pacific". (PNA)
