5 days ago
Philippine, Australian troops start Exercise ALON 2025
Militaries from the Philippines and Australia on Friday have started this year's Exercise Amphibious and Land Operations (ALON) with a ceremony held at the Western Command headquarters in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
'Defence has embarked on its largest overseas exercise for 2025, with the launch of Exercise Alon 25 in the Philippines today,' the Australian Defence Force (ADF) said.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said the two countries 'will train together at locations around the islands of Palawan and Luzon during Exercise ALON 2025 from 15 to 29 August 2025.'
A total of 3,600 personnel from the AFP, ADF, United States Marine Corps, and the Royal Canadian Navy will participate in the activities.
Exercise ALON's activities will be conducted within the areas of the Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) and Western Command (WESCOM), according to the AFP.
'The exercise aims to enhance interoperability, joint force projection capabilities, and multi-domain operations,' the AFP said.
'It also reinforces the AFP's commitment to regional security cooperation, defense readiness, and first iteration of the exercise was conducted in 2023 as part of Indo-Pacific Endeavor,' it added.
Among the major activities are amphibious and maritime operations, and Combined Joint Forcible Entry Operation (CJFEO) in Palawan; as well as Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise (CALFX) - Close Air Support (CAS) in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.
More countries will serve as observers in the exercise including the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, and Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral Justin Jones said Exercise Alon 25 exhibits the strength of the Australian-Philippines security partnership.
'We're proud to conduct our largest overseas exercise with the Philippines, and continue to build on our close cooperation. Exercise Alon 25 is an opportunity for us to practise how we collaborate and respond to shared security challenges, and project force over great distances in the Indo-Pacific,' he said.
'This exercise reflects Australia's commitment to working with partners to ensure we maintain a region where state sovereignty is protected, international law is followed, and nations can make decisions free from coercion,' he added. — BAP, GMA Integrated News
