Over 150 soldiers participate in Philippine, Australia joint training
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 6:28 p.m.) — The Philippine Army on Tuesday said 114 Filipino soldiers from the 2nd Infrantry Division and 43 from the Australian Defense Fource will be participating in the nearly six-week bilateral military exercises this year.
Exercise Kasangga 23-2 formally opened on Monday, just over two weeks after Balikatan 2023—where over 100 Australian soldiers also trained side-by-side with American and Filipino troops. This year’s military training between Manila and Canberra will last until June 23.
Filipinos hope to acquire more skills on urban operations from their counterparts, while Australians are seeking to gain training on jungle warfare and survival.
“The current iteration of Philippine-Australia Army-to-Army Exercise is anchored on the Philippines-Australia Defense Engagement Plan for July 2022 to July 2023,” the Philippine Army said.
Australia and the Philippines have an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Program, which allows military personnel of both countries to exchange skills and knowledge through joint exercises, and a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement that lays out which laws should be followed as armed forces of each country visit each other.
The 157 participating soldiers in this year’s Kasangga will also train in long-range marksmanship and tactical combat casualty care. Activities such as sensitive site exploitation, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations are also part of the program.
Meanwhile, troops will also engage in small unit leader’s training via exchanging tactics, techniques and procedures.
The annual joint exercise was first held between Manila and Canberra in 2017, but no training was held in 2020 and 2021.
This is the 13th iteration of the bilateral exercise, with three held in 2018, four in 2019, two in 2022 and two exercises for this year.
It was called Exercise Kasangga beginning in 2022. Last year’s August-to-October iteration saw the participation of around 500 Filipino and Australian troops, with 400 Filipino soldiers from First Scout Ranger Regiment and about 100 from the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment. — Kaycee Valmonte
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