The opening rites were held at this vast military reservation even as US troops have already displayed air power by flying three of 92 modern military aircraft in an air assault simulation last Tuesday, according to the 7th Infantry Division’s public information office.
“This cooperation in terms of training and exercises has proved to be beneficial to the organization and to the country as a whole as it involves the exchange of military know-how between the participating countries, and goes beyond, through the conduct of peace and development initiatives, “said Major Gen. Glorioso Miranda, commander of the 7ID which hosts the land training here.
“We do things differently but one thing is constant, we’ll all fall on one denominator,” he said, saying that the fundamental role of Balikatan is the basic friendship of both countries. Col. Lawrence Mina, commander of the Combined Army Forces (Carfor) said interoperability and cooperation keep the spirit of Balikatan.
The Balikatan 2015, Mina said, is focused on the concept of interoperability of the integration of training building up on how the two military forces will effectively use their knowledge and skills gained in the exercises.
On April 14, participants conducted an air assault as part of the field training exercises on how to make combined operations in responding to natural disasters, crisis and enhance the war-fighting capability of the Filipino forces.
Air assault is one of the many combined exercises being conducted as part of the Field Training Exercises (FTX) and eventually on the Combined Live Fire Exercise (Calfex) which will be held on April 20-30 2015, according to the 7ID information office.
Capt. Mark Ruelos, 7ID information head, said that the training utilizes one Boeing CH-47 Chinook, a twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter used for troop movement, artillery placement and battlefield resupply because of its wide loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage and three external-cargo hooks and two Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium- lift utility helicopter.
The exercise is designed to enhance the PH and US Forces in capability development in the conduct of not only traditional military training but with civil military projects focusing on reaching out towards priority communities, he said.
