U.S. Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 and Philippine sailors run a fuel line after refueling a KC-130J Super Hercules at Laoag International Airport, Philippines, June 15, 2024. (Nikolas Mascroft/U.S. Marine Corps)
American and Filipino marines recently concluded six weeks of coastal defense and aviation training in the Philippines, a 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing spokeswoman said Monday.
The forces conducted the Archipelagic Coastal Defense Continuum from May 12 to June 7 along with Marine Aviation Support Activity from June 3 until Friday, 1st Lt. Madison Walls said in an email to Stars and Stripes.
Around 2,200 U.S. troops and 590 Filipinos were training in the islands last week, she said.
Elements of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, along with other units, were spread across the Philippines, Walls said.
They operated at Fort Bonifacio, in Manila; Clark and Cesar Basa air bases just north of the capital; Laoag, on northern Luzon; and El Nido, on the island of Palawan, she said.
The coastal defense continuum was a series of exchanges and training events between U.S. and Philippine marines aimed at bolstering the Philippines’ coastal defense strategy, she said.
The Marine aviation activity is an annual Philippine-U.S. exercise, Walls said.
The drills allow the Marines to refine their operation in the region in a way “that can be focused and amplified through our ally’s military assets and capabilities,” Walls said.
U.S. Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 and Philippine sailors run a fuel line after refueling a KC-130J Super Hercules at Laoag International Airport, Philippines, June 15, 2024. (Nikolas Mascroft/U.S. Marine Corps)
The Marine aviation exercise was underway when an ongoing series of clashes between the Chinese and Philippine coast guard and Philippine navy escalated June 17 off the Philippines western coast.
Chinese boats intercepted Philippine boats attempting to resupply a grounded vessel that serves as a Philippine military outpost on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, according to the Philippine coast guard. A fight ensued between the boat crews.
This incident, in which at least one Filipino crew member was injured, prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to call his Philippine counterpart, Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, and reassure him of the U.S commitment under the mutual defense treaty.
One Marine taking part in both exercises, Gunnery Sgt. Angelo Villaseran, a motor transport chief with Marine Wing Support Squadron 371, helped provide logistics at Clark for the past six weeks.
Marines at the former American air base have been working with the Philippine air force and contractors to offload planes and support the movement of forces around the islands, he said by phone June 15.
“We cover all the logistics support such as forklifts and tractor trailers and ground movements,” he said.
The logistics Marines also helped improve a road at the Crow Valley Military Reservation north of Clark, where U.S. and Philippine forces often conduct live-fire training, he said.
Villaseran, who lived in Manila until age 12, also helped fellow Marines navigate local culture to build relationships, he said.
