TERNATE, Republic of the Philippines (Oct. 11, 2010) -- Republic of the Philippines and U.S. Marine Corps service members conducted a bilateral boat raid Oct. 11 in support of Amphibious Landing Exercise 2011.
During pre-dawn hours, both nations’ Marines launched from the well-deck of transport dock ship Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) and traveled more than 15 nautical miles, in Combat Rubber Reconnaissance Craft, to assault their assigned objective.
Once they reached land, the Marines patrolled through thick jungle terrain. The teams were integrated so both countries’ Marines patrolled together.
According to Capt. Roberto Rodriguez, Company Commander, Company B, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, the training evolution helped the boat company fine-tune their raid tactics and it also provided new opportunities for the Philippine Marines to learn from.
“They are fairly new to these types of operations and are always motivated to learn more when we have this sort of opportunity,” said Rodriguez. “We are able to offer each other a lot of advice on this topic.”
Rodriguez added that the two nations had discussions about techniques and used their combined knowledge of CRRC operations, in multiple environments, as learning points throughout the training.
The boat raid is one of several bilateral training evolutions being conducted in support of PHIBLEX ’11. The exercise is designed to increase interoperability between the two nations and continue to strengthen the professional relationships that have been built throughout the years.