Korea-based US battalion joins Balikatan

MANILA, Philippines -  This year’s joint Philippines-United States Balikatan war games opened yesterday with a South Korean-based US cavalry battalion joining their Filipino counterparts in ground combat exercises.

Col. Mike Donelly, public affairs chief of the US Army Pacific Command, confirmed the participation of the command’s cavalry batallion based in South Korea in the 27th Balikatan war games. He described this as a first for the South Korean-based US troops.

Donelly declined to comment if the South Korean-based troops participation is part of the US military’s preparation should the prevailing tension between South and North Korea turn into a full-blown conflict.

Lt. Gen. Francis Wiercinski, US Co-Exercise Director for Balikatan 2011, said in a speech that the holding of the joint war games between the Philippines and the US each year is the best way to prepare both forces to face future military challenges.

“The challenges we face in an interconnected global community has yielded unprecedented opportunities for cooperation and demand that we are prepared for the ultimate challenges of the future,” he said.

These challenges he was referring to were the traditional conflicts and unconventional threats of man-made and natural calamities that he said transcend natural borders.

Initially, there were 6,000 US soldiers who were committed to this year’s air, sea and land military but this number has been cut down to about half because they were deployed for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction operations in Japan.