PONG NAM RON, Kingdom of Thailand – Royal Thai and U.S. Marines conducted live-fire, 155mm artillery training Feb. 14 at Pong Nam Ron, Kingdom of Thailand, during the Cobra Gold 2013 field training exercises.
Cobra Gold is a recurring, multinational and multiservice exercise hosted annually by Thailand and sponsored by the Thai and U.S. militaries.
“We did cross platform training, which gave both forces the opportunity to experience the similarities and differences of each other’s counterparts,” said U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Shawn J. Dudley, a artilleryman with M Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. “The purpose was to coordinate artillery fires between the Thai and U.S. Marines. It helped Marines gather the confidence and knowledge necessary to conduct these types of missions with another country’s military.”
The FTX is designed to enhance interoperability among the different militaries and further develop basic skills.
“I supervise the (cannon operators) in making sure that mission data is safe and firing is accurate,” said U.S. Marine Sgt. Mark A. Sanchez, a field artillery cannon operator and section chief with M Battery. “We are out here working with the Thai Marines so we can see how they work. For most of the (U.S.) Marines, it is their first deployment, and I think it was a good experience to do this kind of bilateral training with the Thais.”
Cobra Gold has given many units the opportunity to experience training outside of their daily routine.
“I found it to be a very valuable experience to be able to train in an environment so vastly different from the Mojave Desert in Twentynine Palms,” said U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Reynaldo Padilla, a field artillery cannon operator with M Battery. “It is just as hot over here in Thailand as it is back there except it’s more humid here.”
This year marks the 180th year of the strong Thai-U.S. relationship and exercise Cobra Gold demonstrates the commitment between the allies toward security in the Asia-Pacific region.
“We were presented with some interesting challenges that we’re not used to encountering, but its good because I learned a lot working with the Royal Thai Marines,” said Padilla.
Date Taken: | 02.14.2013 |
Date Posted: | 02.21.2013 04:51 |
Story ID: | 102311 |
Location: | PONG NAM RON, TH |
Web Views: | 466 |
Downloads: | 2 |
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