Joint military exercise between Philippines, US ends

November 28, 2017

The joint exercise between the Philippine and United States Army dubbed Salaknib concluded on Monday, the Philippine Army's spokesman said Tuesday.

Lt. Col. Rey Tiongson said Salaknib is an Ilocano term means “Protector”. He noted that this year’s activity is the second iteration of the exercise.

He did not say how many US and Filipino forces participated but he said the exercises that ran from November 16 to 27 was held in Camp O’Donnell in Capas, Tarlac, in Camp Fort Magsaysay in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija and Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City.

According to the United States Embassy in Manila, during the exercises “the allied forces participated in subject matter expert exchanges and practical exercises to share information, and further reinforce our illustrious, decades-long military partnership.”

“The American and Filipino soldiers shared information such as gunnery procedures and maintenance for the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier, artillery tactics and processes, as well as study and validation of the Philippine Army (PA) Sustainment Functional Concept Document, which establishes a common framework to guide developments for sustaining future Army operations,” the embassy stated.

“The Philippine soldiers then fired artillery and M113 gunnery to demonstrate their newly burnished skills,” it added.

It also noted that the “exchanges of information and practical exercises (conducted as part of Salaknib 2017) serve as a foundation for future training, including Salaknib Part B in April 2018 and culminating with Balikatan in May 2018.” Robina Asido/DMS