PH-US troops warfight drill provides ‘deterrence options’

Army Signal Regiment Commander Brig. Gen. Milton Y. Beset receives U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) 1st Multi-Domain Task Force (MDTF) Commander Brig. Gen. James P. Isenhower III at the Philippine Army Officers Clubhouse, Fort Bonifacio, Metro Manila on June 11, 2022. (Photo: Philippine Army/Facebook)

MANILA – Aside from providing Filipino troops with knowledge of cutting-edge military technologies and techniques, the ongoing Multi-Domain Warfighting Exchange between the Philippine Army (PA) and the US Army Pacific (USARPAC) will also provide deterrence options for combat commanders.

USARPAC 1st Multi-Domain Task Force (MDTF) commander Brig. Gen. James P. Isenhower III made this remark as he visited the ongoing Multi-Domain Warfighting Exchange between Filipino and American troops at Fort Bonifacio last June 11.

The American military official said the MDTF is a “new, networked, maneuver theater assets, focused on adversary anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) networks”.

“MDTF capabilities also provide deterrence options for combatant commanders,” the Philippine Army (PA) said in a statement Sunday.

It can be recalled that the two armies commenced the nearly three-week exercise at Fort Bonifacio on May 31.

The bilateral activity tackles military technologies such as the high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS), multi-domain operations (MDO), and high-altitude balloons; cyber and electronic warfare; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) integration; and MDO warfighting exchange.

The MDTF subject matter expert exchange (SMEE) will be conducted in two phases: the Philippine Army Senior Leaders’ Orientation Seminar at Fort Bonifacio and the SMEE proper at Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija.

PA chief Lt. Gen. Romeo S. Brawner Jr. earlier said that the bilateral activity will help PA personnel gain knowledge on cutting-edge military technologies and techniques.

Brawner also emphasized that upgrading soldiers’ individual skills and unit capabilities will help propel the PA in attaining its vision of becoming a world-class organization in the coming years.