The U.S. Marines and Sailors from across I and III Marine Expeditionary Forces participated in a Marine Aviation Support Activity (MASA) with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, particularly the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) demonstrating the steadfast alliance between the Philippines and the U.S. MASA highlights the mutual dedication to enhancing aviation-oriented defense capabilities and promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
The MASA exercise, held biannually, provides a dynamic platform for the PMC and their U.S. counterparts to cultivate interoperability, refine operational tactics, and strengthen their ability to execute combined missions effectively. Scheduled training events include live fire exercises, bilateral air assaults, joint forward arming and refueling, and other aviation support operations. The activity also showcased a sequence of the occupation and de-occupation of coastal fighting positions, executing maritime strike mission kill chain, coordinating security force retrograde, and establishing command and control authorities and procedures for maritime strike capabilities employed by the participating forces.
(Sources: Palawan News; US Marines )
