Camp Emilio Aguinaldo, Luzon Province, Philippines -- Filipino and American troops reaffirmed decades of friendship and cooperation while aspiring toward a future of greater collaboration April 17 during the closing ceremony of exercise Balikatan 2013.
Senior leaders with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military gathered on this urban military installation to praise the efforts of approximately 6,800 troops who participated in the exercise.
“I can confidently state that the shoulder-to-shoulder spirit of Balikatan is stronger than ever. The cooperation, determination and professionalism of our men and women training so vigorously together over the past few weeks have made Balikatan a tremendous success,” said U.S. exercise director Marine Lt. Gen. Terry G. Robling, commanding general of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific. “We stand ready in solidarity to face tomorrow’s challenges.”
Robling noted the especially historic nature of China’s involvement in exercise Balikatan. Several key Asia-Pacific countries had long participated as observers in the exercise, but China’s presence at the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief tabletop exercise portrays a new era for the exercise.
Robling focused primarily on the strategic relationship between the U.S. and the Philippine island nation of 95 million people.
“Moving forward, we do so confident in the enduring strength of our alliance and the relationship between our peoples,” Robling said.
Filipino Army Maj. Gen. Virgilio Domingo, the commandant of the Command and General Staff Course and the Philippine exercise director, echoed Robling’s sentiments.
“We can look back with pride and celebrate what we have yet again accomplished as allies and friends,” Domingo said. “We have proven how technically we can work should-to-shoulder to achieve our common objectives. We have certainly raised the bar in terms of interoperability and operational readiness.”
In its 29th iteration, exercise Balikatan is the largest regularly scheduled exercise between the two longtime allies. The exercise focuses on strengthening interoperability between the two nations, as well as ensuring capability to respond to humanitarian disasters.
Zambales province, north of the capital city of Manila, was the site of a host of humanitarian-civic assistance projects. Troops in that region focused on medical, dental, veterinary and engineering-civic assistance projects.
Twelve-thousand Filipinos are estimated to benefit from the assistance projects.
Meanwhile, a command post exercise was held at Camp O’Donnell that included combined and joint training for a typhoon-based humanitarian assistance and disaster relief response.
Field training exercises, which included a host of U.S. Marine Corps assets, to include MV-22 Ospreys, F/A-18 fighter jets and assault amphibious vehicles, tested the mettle of the combined teams working in temperatures that regularly topped 100 degrees. U.S. service members shared tactics, techniques and procedures in a host of military scenarios throughout the field exercises.
Their Filipino counterparts, meanwhile, shared their expertise in jungle warfare, which included consumption of natural food resources. Before the scorching sun rose and during its descent, U.S. Marines reveled in the opportunity to learn Filipino martial arts from expert AFP instructors.
“The exercises may have been exhausting, but I believe we have learned many things that will benefit our respective defense forces,” said AFP Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Emmanuel T. Bautista.