The Exercise Kaagapay ng Mandirigma sa Dagat, or “Kamandag,” commenced on Tuesday, bringing together more Philippine allies as observers and direct participants, with troops looking forward to exchanging and learning new combat and operational skills from each other.
Brigadier General Antonio Mangoroban Jr. said this year’s Kamandag iteration will primarily involve troops from the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) under the 3rd Marine Brigade (3MBde) and their counterparts from the United States Marine Corps (USMC), with the addition of observers from the French Armed Forces, the Royal Thai Marine Corps, and the Indonesian Corps Marines.
“They will also be joined by previous participants and observers from the Australian Defense Force, British Armed Forces, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and the Republic of Korea Marine Corps,” Mangoroban said in a press briefing shortly after joining the opening ceremonies online.
However, he mentioned that activities in Palawan will primarily involve only Philippine and US forces, although other forces might also join.
“They can do so as they are observers, so it’s very fluid, but as per our schedule, only the US forces will be here in Palawan,” he said.
Mangoroban also mentioned that activities in Palawan will include simulation exercises in joint, combined, and unilateral environments, which will be held in the coastal areas of Aborlan, Balabac, Rizal, San Vicente, and Puerto Princesa City.
“We will have amphibious assaults, combined live firing, counter-landing defense operations, and limited drone operations,” he said.
Meanwhile, the USMC’s Kamandag 8 Lead Planner, Maj. Sean Ford, expressed excitement about training with their Filipino counterparts to advance partnerships and learn new techniques from each other.
“The training we have planned will increase the efficiency of the US Marine Corps and the Philippine Marine Corps. We have been working with the PMC for some time, specifically with the 3rd Marine Brigade, where we will stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends, as you will see during the exercise,” Ford stated.
He added that they expect to learn new things and how to operate in different environments that the Philippine Marines can offer, allowing them to improve.
“Likewise, for the Philippine Marine Corps, hopefully, we can provide some tactics for them to learn from and implement into their own procedures, so that both forces can improve their proficiencies going into the future,” he said.
