Exercise Cobra Gold (website), in its 29th year, begins Monday, with service members from Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the U.S. as guests of host Thailand.
Sponsored by PACOM and the Royal Thai Supreme Command, the three-week exercise includes a command post exercise, a series of medical and engineering civic action projects, and joint and combined field training.
Observer Nations
The Command Post exercise focuses on training a Thai, U.S., Singaporean, Indonesian, and Republic of Korean coalition task force. The exercise also includes Japan participating within a United Nations Force (UNF) staff. A team comprised of representatives from Brunei, Chile, China, Germany, Laos, Mongolia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam will observe the command post exercise at the invitation of Thailand.
Objectives
Among Cobra Gold 10’s objectives is training PACOM’s rapid deployment of a joint task force and subsequent coordination with U.N. forces, with the aim of improving PACOM’s ability to conduct multinational operations and increasing interoperability with partner nations.
“Thailand is one of our closest friends and partners in Asia, as well as being our oldest ally in Asia,” said Lt. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander, U.S. Army, Pacific, (follow USARPAC on Twitter) who is leading the exercise for the U.S. “The Cobra Gold exercise is the largest multi-lateral joint military exercise in the world.”
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts
Friday, January 29, 2010
Cobra Gold Brings Multiple Nations Together for Training
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Southeast Asia Exercise Series Seeks to Enhance Cooperation
The first phase of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT), a three-month series of bilateral military exercises between the U.S. Navy and the armed forces of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore, began this week in the Philippines.
CARAT, which is anchored by a four-ship U.S. Navy task group, is focused on enhancing maritime skills and operational readiness in a variety of areas, including maritime interception. While the operational training in each phase varies based on the desires of the host nation, common to each phase is an emphasis on information sharing, and collaboration during planning and execution.
Indonesia participates in a similar exercise, a Naval Engagement Activity (NEA).
Each phase of CARAT includes a number of outreach projects in local communities by Sailors and Marines and their exercise counterparts. Some phases include medical, dental and engineering assistance.
As reported by the Cebu Daily News and the Philippine Information Agency, routine medical and dental assistance will be provided in a number of areas in Cebu during the Philippines phase.
The CARAT Task Group consists of USS Harpers Ferry, USS Chung Hoon, USS Chafee, and USS Crommelin. USS John S. McCain, USS Russell, and USNS Safeguard will participate in designated phases.
In its 15th year, CARAT is an enduring example of U.S. Pacific Command’s emphasis on a cooperative approach to addressing common challenges and threats, such as maritime security.
Keep up with the exercise series on the CARAT website.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Cobra Gold Comes to a Close in Thailand
Exercise Cobra Gold wrapped up Feb. 17 with a ceremony in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The ceremony was attended by Royal Thai Armed Forces Commander General Songkitti Jaggabatara and Commander, U.S Pacific Command Admiral Timothy J. Keating, as well as ambassadors to Thailand from Japan, Singapore and Indonesia.
U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Eric G. John spoke during the ceremony, emphasizing that the training carried out during the exercise can help save lives in future operations, peacekeeping deployments, and disaster responses.
Approximately 11,600 personnel from the U.S., Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore took part in this year’s exercise. Participants had an opportunity to work together and share experiences in areas such as the operation of a coalition task force staff and in field training events.
Six engineering civic action projects were conducted to improve infrastructure at local schools. All five participating nations contributed to the exercise’s seven medical civic action projects, during which more than 4,000 patients were treated for more than 4,500 issues such as pediatric care, optometry, dental care, and veterinary services.
The Cobra Gold website is a repository of news, photos and videos that provides an overview of the many and varied activities that took place during the exercise. The Cobra Gold Flickr page contains hundred of images from across the spectrum of training and outreach events.
Exercises such as Cobra Gold are an important component of U.S. Pacific Command’s commitment to fostering multilateral relationships to enhance stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
The ceremony was attended by Royal Thai Armed Forces Commander General Songkitti Jaggabatara and Commander, U.S Pacific Command Admiral Timothy J. Keating, as well as ambassadors to Thailand from Japan, Singapore and Indonesia.
U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Eric G. John spoke during the ceremony, emphasizing that the training carried out during the exercise can help save lives in future operations, peacekeeping deployments, and disaster responses.
Approximately 11,600 personnel from the U.S., Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore took part in this year’s exercise. Participants had an opportunity to work together and share experiences in areas such as the operation of a coalition task force staff and in field training events.
Six engineering civic action projects were conducted to improve infrastructure at local schools. All five participating nations contributed to the exercise’s seven medical civic action projects, during which more than 4,000 patients were treated for more than 4,500 issues such as pediatric care, optometry, dental care, and veterinary services.The Cobra Gold website is a repository of news, photos and videos that provides an overview of the many and varied activities that took place during the exercise. The Cobra Gold Flickr page contains hundred of images from across the spectrum of training and outreach events.
Exercises such as Cobra Gold are an important component of U.S. Pacific Command’s commitment to fostering multilateral relationships to enhance stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Royal Thai Army Chief of Joint Staff Highlights Exercise Cobra Gold
Royal Thai Army Gen. Ratchakrit Kanchanawat witnessed Cobra Gold activities this week and expressed his appreciation for the many contributions the exercise makes toward developing multinational capabilities -- as well as the benefit to Thailand.
As reported by Pacific Stars and Stripes, the Royal Thai Army Chief of Joint Staff drew examples from real world events such as the 2004 tsunami to explain the value of training with partners and neighbors in advance of contingencies.
Cobra Gold and similar military exercises in the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) area of responsibility are designed to enhance partnerships and readiness as the general noted. History is proof that multinational solutions to common problems provides the best opportunity for success.
Cobra Gold began on Feb. 4 and continues through Feb. 17.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Enhancing Multilateral Ties in Exercise Cobra Gold
The headline of a Pacific Stars and Stripes news story in the Feb. 11 edition, regarding Exercise Cobra Gold, highlighted a key objective of the joint, multinational exercise currently taking place in Thailand – the building of trust.
While Cobra Gold offers a variety of training and an opportunity to advance expertise in skill sets as diverse as firing weapons and planning for United Nations peacekeeping operations, the one parallel is partnership between the participating nations.
Working together in an exercise scenario provides the individual exercise participant an opportunity to become familiar with how their counterparts from other nations operate. Along the way they have an opportunity to develop understanding, respect and relationships, all of which contribute to the building of trust – a real dividend when militaries are asked to work together in a contingency.
Exercise Cobra Gold supports many elements of the U.S. Pacific Command strategy. Chief among them is developing strong partnerships as the best approach or solution to facing common challenges.
More than 11,500 participants in total from the United States, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore are taking part Cobra Gold, Feb. 4-17.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
U.S. Army, Thai Researchers Working Together to Battle Diseases
The Voice of America recently highlighted the efforts of the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) in Bangkok, Thailand. AFRIMS is staffed by U.S. Army personnel as a Special Foreign Activity of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and Royal Thai Army counterparts. Their mission is to conduct research on important endemic diseases in the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) area of responsibility, including dengue, HIV, malaria, scrub typhus, and others.
The institute’s important work is mutually beneficial to U.S. and Thai interests. It supports the USPACOM mission of fostering a secure and stable environment by helping mitigate humanitarian crises such as pandemic illness.
As part of a joint Royal Thai Army institute within the Thai Ministry of Defense, the U.S. Army component of AFRIMS plays a significant relationship-building role while also contributing to capacity building. In addition to its research, the Army component assists with training, conducts classes and contributes faculty to the Royal Thai Armed Forces Regional Medical Training Center, most notably in the areas of HIV/AIDS and pandemic and avian influenza.
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