The Philippine Army (PA) and the United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) commenced this year’s Exercise Salaknib in an opening ceremony at the 1st Brigade Combat Team (1BCT) Headquarters in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija on April 8, 2024.
Salaknib Phase 1, which will conclude on April 21, 2024, is an Army-to-Army training between the PA and USARPAC. It will include around 1,800 personnel from PA’s 5th and 7th Infantry Divisions and Specialty Enabler units and 1,700 US servicemen from the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, USARPAC. Filipino and American ground troops will train side by side in Fort Magsaysay and other venues in Central Luzon and Northern Luzon.
Salaknib’s first phase will precede Exercise Balikatan which is slated at the end of the month while Salaknib Phase 2 is scheduled for the third quarter of the year. Salaknib (which means shield in Ilocano) is an annual Army-to-Army exercise geared at strengthening the interoperability of Filipino and American ground forces in a spectrum of military operations.
Photos by Pvt Divino S. Lozano PA/ OACPA