Longer RP-US war games seen

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The joint RP-US military training exercise this year will be longer and may last the whole year, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said here yesterday.

Reyes, who arrived in this city to inspect the facilities and the site for the military training, said the exercise could last the entire year, citing the larger number of troops – around 3,000 soldiers – involved in the training.

The joint exercise will start in February.

"We expect that this will start soon and the training for the 16 light reaction companies will (take) the whole of this year," he said. "We will have a busy year."

Reyes said the exercise will involve the training of two more Light Reaction Companies (LRC) and four Light Infantry Battalions (LIB).

Air Force personnel will be trained on flying helicopters at night. There will also be training in intelligence operations and special courses for enlisted personnel.

The training and equipping of the two additional LRCs will be held at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija while night flying of helicopters will be held in Mactan, Cebu. The four battalions will undergo direct training on anti-terrorism in Zamboanga City.

Reyes said the training for the battalions will start by February, the LRCs by March, and night flying by midyear.

The four battalions, numbering about 2,000 soldiers, will be partially equipped by its 300 US military training staff. The equipment and training are covered by the $25-million security assistance package of the US government.

Col. Douglas Lengenfelder, commander of the Special Operation Joint Task Force-P, said both countries will benefit from the anti-terrorism training.

"There would be exchanges not only in terms of the everyday tactics and what each nation believes is the best approach to work on, specifically in counter terrorism," Lengenfelder said.

He added that security cooperation has been strengthened after the bombing attack last Oct. 2 that killed an American Green Beret and two Filipino civilians in Barangay Malagutay. At least 24 others, including another US Green Beret, were also wounded in the attack.

"That cooperation goes with intelligence and physical security in the field in which we are going to operate and the area where the troops will be conducting the exercises," Lengenfelder said.

Earlier, Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) chief Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya said American soldiers, who are expected to arrive on Jan. 17, will be deployed in two military camps here to train and equip local soldiers.

Abaya said the US troops will stay away from the nearby islands of Basilan and Sulu, where Filipino soldiers are hunting down the Abu Sayyaf, which is believed linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network.

He said the areas where the American will be deployed would be under "very, very tight security," adding that Filipinos who interact with the US troops will be tightly screened.

In the past, US-trained light reaction companies have been deployed against the Abu Sayyaf, which has kidnapped Christians and foreigners for ransom.

Last year, American troops assisted and advised local soldiers in hunting down the Abu Sayyaf, who is believed to have carried out the October bombing, in Basilan.