Philippines-Australia Army to Army Exercise formally opens at 2ID 

 

CAMP CAPINPIN, Rizal – Philippines-Australia Army to Army Exercise formally opens at the Headquarters of 2nd Infantry “Jungle Fighter” Division on Monday, May 15, 2023. 

 

The Philippines-Australia bilateral military exercise dubbed as “Kasangga” 2023-02 aims to elevate the skill level of both armies in jungle and urban operations, breaching operations, tactical casualty care, jungle survival training, as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations; improves interoperability of 2ID and Australia Defense Force (ADF) troops.  It also includes sharing of actual operational experiences of both forces in countering and defeating of terrorist groups.  The bilateral military exercise hopes to bolster the bilateral relationship between the Philippines and Australia. 

 

Kasangga 2023-02 was formally opened by Brigadier General Jose Augusto V Villareal, the Assistant Division Commander of 2ID as the Keynote Speaker. Colonel Paul Joseph Barta, Australian Defense Attache, and Major Edwin Taber, Commanding Officer, Land Mobile Training Team represented the Australian Army contingent. Also present were Colonel Xerxes Trinidad, Philippine Army Spokesperson, and Colonel Crizaldo A. Fernandez, Chief of Staff for Education & Training of the Philippine Army.

 

According to BGen Villareal, the exercise will leave a mark as another milestone in the strong and enduring partnership between both countries, and between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Australian Defense Force.

 

The army-to-army exercise will be conducted in two batches, with approximately two weeks each: 1st batch will be from May 15 to June 3 while the 2nd batch will be from June 3 to June 23. Contingent from the Australia Defense Force (ADF) has a total of 2 females and 41 males from the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, while the Philippine Army Contingent has 14 females and 100 males from the 21st Division Reconnaissance Company of the 2nd Infantry Division, as the first batch.  Second batch will be from the 22nd Division Reconnaissance Company.

 

“We are grateful for this opportunity provided by the Philippine Army’s leadership and the Defense Department.  We will be capitalizing on this exercise, not only in strengthening our bilateral relationship with the Australians, but also in gaining as much knowledge and experience from our foreign army counterpart. The bilateral exercise is an avenue of exposing our frontline troops to train together with foreign forces, aligned with the Philippine Army’s thrust of ensuring preparedness in addressing external security challenges that may arise in the future.”, 2nd Infantry "Jungle Fighter" Division Commander Maj. General Roberto S. Capulong said in a statement.