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Balikatan Exercise Strengthens U.S.-Philippine Relationship

April 5, 2016 | By Terri Moon Cronk, DOD News
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U.S. and Philippines’ armed forces began their 32nd iteration of Exercise Balikatan yesterday in the Philippines, Defense Press Operations Director Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters here today.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Crawford, left, and SSgt. Jason Jason Fischman, both pararescuemen with 31st Rescue Squadron, prepare for take off as they respond to a notional mass casualty incident during Exercise Balikatan 2015, in Clark Air Base, Philippines, April 24. The drill was conducted alongside rescuemen from the 505th Rescue and Search Group of the Philippine Air Force. The bilateral training event provided both rescue teams with a better understanding of how each other operates and ensures mission accomplishment should they work side-by-side in the future. Balikatan is an annual Philippines-U.S. military training exercise and humanitarian assistance engagement, which highlights the long standing partnership between both the nations.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Crawford, left, and Staff Sgt. Jason Fischman, both pararescuemen with the 31st Rescue Squadron, prepare for takeoff from the former Clark Air Base, in the Philippines, April 23, 2015, as they respond to a notional mass casualty incident during Exercise Balikatan 2015. The drill was conducted alongside rescuemen from the 505th Rescue and Search Group of the Philippine Air Force. The bilateral training event provided both rescue teams with a better understanding of how each other operates and ensures mission accomplishment should they work side-by-side in the future. Balikatan is an annual Philippines-U.S. military training exercise and humanitarian assistance engagement, which highlights the long-standing partnership between both the nations. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Rick Hurtado
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Crawford, left, and SSgt. Jason Jason Fischman, both pararescuemen with 31st Rescue Squadron, prepare for take off as they respond to a notional mass casualty incident during Exercise Balikatan 2015, in Clark Air Base, Philippines, April 24. The drill was conducted alongside rescuemen from the 505th Rescue and Search Group of the Philippine Air Force. The bilateral training event provided both rescue teams with a better understanding of how each other operates and ensures mission accomplishment should they work side-by-side in the future. Balikatan is an annual Philippines-U.S. military training exercise and humanitarian assistance engagement, which highlights the long standing partnership between both the nations.
Rescue Techniques
Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Crawford, left, and Staff Sgt. Jason Fischman, both pararescuemen with the 31st Rescue Squadron, prepare for takeoff from the former Clark Air Base, in the Philippines, April 23, 2015, as they respond to a notional mass casualty incident during Exercise Balikatan 2015. The drill was conducted alongside rescuemen from the 505th Rescue and Search Group of the Philippine Air Force. The bilateral training event provided both rescue teams with a better understanding of how each other operates and ensures mission accomplishment should they work side-by-side in the future. Balikatan is an annual Philippines-U.S. military training exercise and humanitarian assistance engagement, which highlights the long-standing partnership between both the nations. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Rick Hurtado
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Credit: Cpl. Rick Hurtado
VIRIN: 150423-M-ZH987-008

This year’s annual exercise comprises about 5,000 U.S. service members and 3,500 members of the Philippines’ armed forces, in addition to nearly 80 Australian Defense Force personnel and observers from 12 other nations, he said.

“It is the premier bilateral training exercise between the United States and the Republic of the Philippines,” Davis said, adding that the major U.S. military participating units include the 3rd Marine Division, elements of the 3rd Marine Logistics Group and the 1st Marine Air Wing, the Army’s 25th Infantry Division and the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

“The exercise is designed to increase interoperability through combined military operations and strengthen the long-standing relationship between the United States and the Philippines,” Davis said.

It focuses on three simultaneous events through a single scenario across the Philippine islands of Luzon, Palawan and Panay, he added.

This year’s Exercise Balikatan -- a Filipino word for “shoulder-to-shoulder” -- will focus on disaster relief, crisis response training, and humanitarian civic action projects, including dental and veterinary services and engineering civic access.

(Follow Terri Moon Cronk on Twitter: @MoonCronkDoD)

Site: Exercise Balikatan
Site: Armed Forces of the Philippines
Balikatan

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