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Us war exercise Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021014/ap_wo_en_po/philippines_us_military_2http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021014/ap_wo_en_po/philippines_us_military_2
U.S. and Philippine troops begin war exercise
Mon Oct 14, 4:46 AM ET
By PAT ROQUE, Associated Press Writer
CLARK, Philippines - U.S. and Philippine troops on Monday opened a two-week war exercise, including live-fire training, that a U.S. military official said would prepare Americans to deal with any threat, anywhere.
About 800 U.S. Marines are involved in the exercise, dubbed Talon Vision 02, the largest joint training of the longtime military allies since a six-month counterterrorism exercise involving 1,000 Americans ended in the southern Philippines in July.
U.S. and Philippine military officials said the Oct. 14-28 exercises, to be held entirely in the northern Philippines, were unrelated to the counterterrorism maneuvers in the south designed to train Filipino troops to wipe out al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf guerrillas faster.
"This will help to increase our preparedness," Marine Col. Gordon O'Neill told a news conference. "Any opportunity that we have to train, particularly in a bilateral nature, improves our ability to operate anywhere, and operate more effectively."
The Marines belong to the Okinawa, Japan-based 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, a war-ready, rapidly deployable contingent that could deal with a wide variety of combat missions.
Aside from helicopter night-flying and live-fire drills, the maneuvers also will involve jungle survival, resupply training and parachuting, culminating with simultaneous ground and air activities, Marine Capt. Chris Perrine said.
Philippine Maj. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said the Americans would be under heavy guard although the military has monitored no specific threat against them. U.S. military officials said they were aware of the death of an American Green Beret and the wounding of another in an Oct. 2 bomb attack blamed on Muslim extremists in the southern port city of Zamboanga.
Left-wing activists opposed to war exercises protested at the U.S. Embassy in Manila on Monday, saying the maneuvers could be used by the Americans for covert anti-terrorist operations that would otherwise be prohibited under Philippine laws, such as the unauthorized transit of combat troops and weapons.
The 50 activists chanted "U.S. terrorists, out!" then peacefully dispersed.
The exercise is one of at least 18 training maneuvers held jointly by the two countries in the Philippines each year, including the major "Balikatan" or "shoulder-to-shoulder" exercise that involves more than 4,000 American and Filipino troops.
The exercises focused on external defense and humanitarian missions until last year but largely shifted to counterterrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
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