AUSTRALIAN and Filipino troops on Monday started a military exercise at a Army camp in Tanay, focusing on urban warfare and jungle fighting operations.
Army spokesman Col. Xerxes Trinidad said “Exercise Kasangga 23-2” involves 43 Australian soldiers and 114 personnel from the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division (ID).
Trinidad said the exercise opened at the 2nd ID headquarters at Camp Capinpin in Tanay Rizal last Monday and will run until June 23.
“They will train together in urban operations, combat tracking, jungle warfare and survival training, long-range marksmanship, tactical combat casualty care, sensitive site exploitation, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations,” he said.
Trinidad said troops from the two sides will also conduct “small unit leader’s training through an exchange of tactics, techniques, and procedures.”
Trinidad said Exercise Kasangga 23-2 seeks to “bolster Army-to-Army ties and interoperability between the two ground ground forces.”
Col. Paul Joseph Barta, Australian defense attaché to the Philippines, said the Australian troops are hoping to learn jungle warfare and survival skills from their Filipino counterparts.
Brig. Gen. Augusto Villareal, 2nd ID deputy commander, said Filipino troops are expecting to learn urban operations and skills from the Australians.
Trinidad said the exercise is similar to the one conducted by Filipino and Australian troops at Camp Siongco, home to the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, in Maguindanao del Norte last February.
