A senior United States Army official visited the Philippines and paid a courtesy visit to General Andres Centino, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), on Monday, February 21, to discuss the joint army’s conduct of exercises next month.

Centino hosted General Charles Flynn, Commanding General of the United States Army Pacific (USARPAC), at AFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, to talk about the planned “SALAKNIB” exercises.

“The two military leaders discussed cooperation on capability development, joint training and security issues of common interest,” said Colonel Jorry Baclor, head of AFP’s public affairs office.

SALAKNIB, which means shield in the Ilocano dialect, is an annual bilateral army-to-army training exercise to improve defense readiness and interoperability between the PA and USARPAC. It is sponsored by USARPAC and hosted by the AP.

This year’s SALAKNIB exercise will be held from March 5 to 24 in various areas of central Luzon.

Flynn arrived last Saturday at the Ages Aviation Center Hangar, Balagbag Ramp of Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City.

In January, PA and USARPAC teams inspected proposed training sites in central Luzon to ensure their availability, suitability and suitability for training.

Among those expected to participate in the drills are members of the 1st PA Brigade Combat Team, Training and Doctrine Command, Army Support Command, 51st Engineer Brigade , the civil-military operations regiment, the army artillery regiment, the aviation regiment, the armored division, the light reaction regiment. , Special Forces Regiment and First Scout Guards Regiment.

They will train side by side with their USARPAC counterparts.