Photo By Joseph Siemandel | Col. Matt Chargualaf, Commander of the 144th Digital Liaison Detachment, Washington...... read more read more
Subscribe
Leaders and planners from the Singapore Army, I Corps, and U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) staff, together with representatives from the Washington Army National Guard, came together for the Tiger Balm 2026 Final Planning Conference, Feb. 9-12 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. The conference represents a critical milestone in preparations for the upcoming Exercise Tiger Balm — the longest-running bilateral training exercise between the United States Army and the Singapore Armed Forces.
“We had a very successful mid-planning conference just a few weeks ago in Singapore and know we continued building toward what will be an excellent exercise,” said Brig. Gen. Mike Ake, Washington Army National Guard land competent commander and exercise director.
First established in 1981, Exercise Tiger Balm has served for decades as a cornerstone of U.S.–Singapore defense cooperation, building mutual trust, enhancing interoperability, and reinforcing shared commitment to regional security in the Indo-Pacific. This year’s Tiger Balm is set for May 5-17, 2026 at Yakima Training Center and JBLM.
Over the course of four days of intensive planning at JBLM, planners from all participating commands synchronized operational concepts, finalized exercise objectives, and aligned multinational training scenarios designed to sharpen command and control, urban operations procedures, and integration of joint fires and sustainment. The conference also focused on incorporating lessons learned from recent years of evolving threats and technological advancements, ensuring Tiger Balm 2026 will remain relevant and challenging for all participants.
“This is the last chance we have to really build up the final out briefs for this exercise,” said Ake. The FPC included three days of breakout sessions to finalize any plans, tour the training areas at the Yakima Training Center and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and tour Madigan Army Medical Center. Together, they refined timelines, coordinated logistics, and worked through complex multi-domain training constructs that will take place during the 2026 exercise.
“The final planning conference represents the many hours of work and effort that everyone has put in to make this exercise happen,” said Col. Phillip Khoo, chief of staff, 6th Singapore Division. “This isn’t the final due out. We will continue talking and finalizing the plans before the exercise.”
| Date Taken: | 02.12.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 02.12.2026 16:11 |
| Story ID: | 558069 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 15 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Final Planning Conference Sets the Stage for Tiger Balm 2026, by Joseph Siemandel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
