Courtesy Photo | U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, attached to Marine Rotational...... read more read more
SINGAPORE - From Dec. 9 to 13, Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia (MRF-SEA) conducted Exercise Valiant Mark 2024 with the Singapore Armed Force’s (SAF) 3rd Battalion Singapore Guards (3 GDS), 7th Singapore Infantry Brigade (7 SIB), strengthening interoperability and partnerships between forces. The bilateral exercise aimed to enhance cooperation within the Indo-Pacific region, reinforce working relationships between each nation’s personnel, and prepare each unit for near-future Valiant Mark training set to take place in 2025.
“The purpose of Valiant Mark 24 is to increase our interoperability with our SAF counterparts and to strengthen our ties with Singapore as a country,” said U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Jack McAndrews, the logistics officer for MRF-SEA.
Experts from both the SAF and MRF-SEA led training exchanges to provide instruction for personnel from both nations on topics including medical care, tactical level logistics, intelligence, and effective leadership practices. While each topic has specific military doctrine and processes established by the SAF and U.S. Marine Corps, exchanges like these allow personnel to gain a common understanding of their counterpart’s knowledge level and identify ways to work better together.
“This exercise, where we’re able to share our ideas behind command and control or, in my case, tactical resupply, or any of the other topics covered during expert exchanges, allows us to partner with the SAF, understand how they think, how they act, and what they want,” said McAndrews. “That allows us to be a better partner for them and makes them a better partner for us.”
While the bulk of the MRF-SEA staff were focused on running expert exchanges with their counterparts, Marines from 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines (2/7), attached to MRF-SEA for the execution of Valiant Mark 24, took part in an anti-armor training event and expert exchanges with 3 GDS. The Lightstrike platoon with the 3 GDS trained with Marines from 2/7’s Combined Anti-Armor Team (CAAT) platoon to increase the shared knowledge and interoperability between each unit’s anti-armor capabilities.
“The Singaporeans use the Lightstrike Vehicle, which is a very capable, highly mobile platform through which they fire their spike missiles and automatic grenade launcher, which they call their AGL. This is similar in construct to how we employ our own anti-armor teams,” said U.S. Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Alexander Turner, a training officer with 2/7. “In a real-world scenario, these two teams, the [SAF] Lightstrike platoon and a [USMC] CAAT platoon, would likely be working in coordination to take down whatever armor threat is present in the area of operations.”
Before Valiant Mark 24 began, leadership from MRF-SEA and the 7 SIB identified a need for the combined U.S.-Singapore force to understand the planning process used by each other’s military, not just the procedures used within different functional areas and military occupations. Understanding how each country’s intelligence or logistics team functions is important, but having an awareness of how each organization plans operations is critical to achieving a strong level of interoperability. During Valiant Mark 24, operational planning exchanges were held to instruct unit staff members from both countries on the planning process used by U.S. and Singapore forces.
“The expert exchanges that we’re doing with the Singapore Armed Forces are a great way to practice working together,” said Capt. Dan Donlon, the assistant intelligence officer for MRF-SEA. “During the training, we identify what’s similar between our planning processes and where we differ. Once we were finished, both forces had a better understanding of how each other work, which makes future collaboration that much easier.”
This improved ability to collaborate as partner forces will prove useful for MRF-SEA and Singapore’s 7 SIB soon, with the combined team reuniting in March 2025 for the next iteration of the Valiant Mark exercise series. While Valiant Mark 24 focused heavily on staff integration, combined operational planning, and expert exchanges between personnel, Exercise Valiant Mark 2025 will increase in length and training complexity with the addition of field training and live-fire events, further advancing the readiness and capabilities of the U.S.-Singapore team.
"The successes we have achieved during Valiant Mark 24 will pay dividends in the future," said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Stuart Glenn, the commanding officer of MRF-SEA. "Valiant Mark 25 will be in March and MRF-SEA will train alongside our partners in the Singapore Guards to maintain regional stability through our proven interoperability and unwavering partnership."
MRF-SEA’s rotation in Southeast Asia will continue into the new year with exercise Cobra Gold in Thailand, quickly followed by the execution of Valiant Mark 25 in Singapore. Through these efforts, MRF-SEA strengthens security partnerships with allied and partner nations, sustains a steady I Marine Expeditionary Force presence in the Indo-Pacific, and ensures strong interoperability with regional militaries.
| Date Taken: | 12.17.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.18.2024 03:13 |
| Story ID: | 487760 |
| Location: | SG |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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