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RAYONG, Thailand – The National Guard does more than serve during natural disasters and times of war or civil unrest; it also strengthens the bonds between the U.S. and its international partners, as demonstrated through the guard’s participation in Exercise Cobra Gold 2026.
Cobra Gold is the longest-running multinational military exercise in the Indo-Pacific. It focuses on interoperability, regional security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
“The multi-national aspect of it is great,” said U.S. Army Master Sgt. John Malone, the senior enlisted leader with the 122nd Tactical Support Detachment, Georgia National Guard. “We get to work with our partner nations and develop each other's talents and combine them to become better in what we do.”
For more than 25 years, the National Guard has had an active role in Cobra Gold. Of the more than 1.4 thousand Army service members present during Cobra Gold 2026, 91 are from the Washington National Guard alone. Whether it’s planning missions, engaging in operations, or participating in hazmat, cyber, medical, or rescue drills, the National Guard is there, engaging in multinational training and coordination.
Outside of the exercise, active duty U.S. Army Cpt., David Anthony Tirabassi, a team lead from the 3- 358th Field Artillery Regiment, 189th Combined Arms Training Brigade, works with National Guard and reserve units to ensure that they're ready to mobilize and deploy. Tirabassi says that, while at his official duty station, he is responsible for coaching and ensuring guardsmen meet the Army standard; during Cobra Gold, he’s on the same footing as them, learning and growing together.
During the exercise, National Guard members, in combination with different branches from the U.S. and other countries, are given complex situations and problem sets to overcome, said U.S. Army National Guard Cpt. Antonio Montez, aviation liaison officer at Cobra Gold 2026. This exercise presents an opportunity for U.S. service members to work jointly with national forces, leveraging each other's assets and expertise to overcome whatever problems are thrown at them.
“The benefit of being a Guardsman is that we have these long-standing relationships with a lot of the Thai military already from the state partnership exchanges,” said Montez. “Having these relationships already has us working with a good flow, and we can better overcome these problems that we encounter.”
Cobra Gold, by its nature, is an exercise built on support and cooperation. The National Guard embodies this spirit through its many years participating in the exercise by working with their U.S. military counterparts, and other participants in Cobra Gold – Co-host Thailand and participants such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and the Republic of Korea. This exercise fosters friendship and ensures all the partner nations possess the capabilities to safeguard their sovereignty.
“I just feel very grateful to have had the opportunity to come here and meet these people and work with them,” said Tirabassi. “They're absolutely a joy to work with. I get to learn so many new things from them, and I'm hoping that they're able to learn new things from me as well… [I’m] grateful for everything I've been able to learn from them, and just meeting them as people is very interesting, very, very pleasant, very nice to work with. So I would definitely come back again if I get the opportunity.”
| Date Taken: | 03.03.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 03.05.2026 23:32 |
| Story ID: | 559507 |
| Location: | TH |
| Web Views: | 44 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, The National Guard nurtures their friendship with partner nations during Exercise Cobra Gold 2026, by SPC Christopher Chavero, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
