BANYUWANGI (AP) – Thousands of soldiers from the United States (US), Indonesia, Australia and other allied forces demonstrated their armour capabilities on Sunday in combat drills on the Indonesian island of Java.
During the drills, Australian forces deployed five M1A1 Abrams battle tanks and the Indonesian military, deployed two Leopard-2 tanks for the two-week combat exercises in Banyuwangi, a coastal district in East Java province which began September 1. It will include live-fire drills.
It was the first time Australia deployed battle tanks outside its territory since the Vietnam war.
The Garuda Shield drills have been held annually between American and Indonesian soldiers since 2009. Last year’s participants – Australia, Japan and Singapore – joined again yesterday and the list expanded to include the United Kingdom and France bringing the total number of troops taking part in the drills to 5,000.
Commanding General of the US Army’s 25th Infantry Division Major General Marcus Evans told The Associated Press in an interview on Saturday that the introduction of armour capability in the large-scale drills would give the allied forces and defence partners a chance to test their weaponry in combat training as they finetune their military readiness.
Garuda Shield is being held in several places, including in waters around Natuna at the southern portion of the South China Sea.
Asked whether there are plans by the US military to carry out joint naval patrols with allies like Japan and the Philippines in or near contested waters, Evans said that “it is important that we maintain a continuous engagement with our regional partners and allies from a military perspective, because, that, again, enhances our overall readiness.”
“I think it continues to show a sign of our commitment to regional partners and allies,” said Evans, who is also Senior Commander of US Army Hawaii.
Combat exercises between US forces and their regional allies and defence partners “remains critically important, as it has been since we began this operation in 2006,” he said in response to a question on the urgency of conducting such exercises now.
US allies recognise the strategic importance and the opportunity to participate in the multinational exercises, which aim to enhance military professionalism aside from bolstering combat readiness and sharpening the ability of allied forces to operate together, Evans said.
“Australia, along with all of our regional partners and allies, continues to contribute to really three things that we focus on during operation pathways, in this case, Garuda Shield,” Evans said, “Those three things are partnerships, the refinement of our overall military readiness and interoperability.”
Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Indonesian military Rear Admiral Julius Widjojono said the field training exercises aim to boost combat preparedness and hone the battle instincts of soldiers from participant nations, including overcoming enemy assaults while carrying out patrols.
Brunei, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, South Korea and East Timor sent observers to the combined joint multilateral exercise.
