LOPBURI, Thailand — Engineers from the U.S. Army Reserve trained Royal Thai Army counterparts on urban demolition techniques at the Royal Thai Army Artillery Center, March 11, 2026, during Exercise Hanuman Guardian 2026. The training focused on preparing, transporting and employing explosive charges used to breach buildings in combat scenarios.
Soldiers from the U.S. Army Reserve’s 444th Engineer Company set up five instructional stations: donut and Uli knot sliders, detonation cord (linear) charges, silhouette charges, rubber-strip charges and water-impulse charges. Soldiers from the Royal Thai Army’s 1st Engineer Regiment rotated through each station.
“The type of training we are doing today is interesting because it is different from the normal training,” said Royal Thai Army Sgt. Anan Chinnawong. “The lessons we are learning are more about entering buildings using explosives.”
Royal Thai Army Sgt. Benz Thanawat explained that his unit typically uses TNT for military demolition missions. During this training, Thai engineers learned to employ additional explosive methods, including detonation cord, for more precise dynamic breaching.
“We learned better ways to carry the explosives and how to use them more efficiently,” said Royal Thai Army Master Sgt. Peerapong Meechai.
Meechai added that Thai soldiers also shared techniques with the U.S. engineers, including the use of alternative primer charges to initiate breaching explosions in urban environments.
“The way we’ve been able to integrate with the Royal Thai Army is seamless,” said U.S. Army Reserve Spc. Nicholas Evans, 444th Engineer Company. “Hanuman Guardian is a great training opportunity. The Thai are good to work with; they are a good ally to have.”
The 444th Engineer Company, a Reserve unit from Oswego, NY, provided 33 combat engineer trainers for the urban demolition instruction, while 25 Royal Thai Army engineers participated in the training. Those soldiers represent a portion of the larger force involved in the exercise, which includes more than 1,400 Royal Thai Army and 1,000 U.S. Army personnel training at multiple sites across Thailand.
Hanuman Guardian is a bilateral training exercise between the U.S. Army and the Royal Thai Army in the Kingdom of Thailand running March 9 - 20. Now in its 17th year, the exercise enhances readiness through realistic training while reinforcing the enduring U.S.–Thailand alliance, one of America’s oldest partnerships, dating back to 1833, and a shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. (Story by U.S. Army Reserve Lt. Col. Brett Walker)