Senior army commander discusses Australian, Filipino military growth

Filipino troops, sailors and airmen are becoming a familiar sight to Aussie warfighters, with a senior officer emphasising the importance of understanding how to fight alongside the emerging military power. Details.

Australian soldiers, Filipino troops and US Marines wrapped up Exercise Balikatan this month.

With a view to familiarise themselves with an emerging military power of the Pacific region, a Darwin-based army unit has tested itself abroad.

This month, more than 200 diggers, mainly from the Top End’s 5th/7th Battalion, wrapped up Exercise Balikatan - a large scale exercise involving up to 15,000 troops.

Situated on the island province of Palawan, the Aussie troops were faced with the challenge of adapting to an unfamiliar environment.

Supported by a company of US Marines and a company of Filipino troops, the Australian contingent was forced to overcome differences in language and tactics to make the two-week exercise worthwhile.

A Javelin is fired from in a simulated beach defence.

However, battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Grogan maintained the island’s arduous conditions were the toughest obstacle.

“I think some of the greatest challenges that my commanders actually faced was water, weather and the environment,” he told this masthead.

“We’ve had significant opportunities, certainly throughout my time here, to work with our partners from the region, both the United States and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“What makes operations difficult in our region is the hard terrain, and certainly in the Philippines the jungle environment.”

Members of 5th/7th Battalion have trained and operated across various environments in recent years.

The Philippines is a far cry from Europe where the battalion was deployed just 18 months ago (pictured).

In 2023, the Territory-based soldiers deployed to Europe where they trained Ukrainian nationals on how to fight Putin’s Russia.

On their return home, the same troops re-adapted to the tropical north and the art of amphibious warfighting.

The battalion’s focus on operating in the Indo-Pacific is part of a wider-ADF move to trade Europe for the so-called ‘near region’.

Lieutenant Colonel Grogan said he welcomed the “excellent opportunity” to develop alongside his Filipino counterparts.

“I’ve said it before that the first time that we meet each other in the dark, we shouldn’t meet as strangers,” he said.

“In this case, we’ve had the opportunity to work together, we understand how our teams operate, how we communicate, and this gave us the opportunity to connect on a person to person level as well.”

HMAS Sydney (background) is currently on deployment alongside Filipino and US navy vessels in the South China Sea.

However, the three-way collaboration is not restricted to land, with the three nations also flexing their military prowess together at sea.

Last week, the trio deployed naval vessels together as a show-of-force against North Korea.

Dubbed Operation Argos, the ADF says the deployment enforces UN sanctions against Pyongyang, which has been accused of interfering with commercial maritime activities.

Guided missile destroyer HMAS Sydney joined the deployment after launching from Darwin in April.

In the coming months, Filipino troops are expected to land in both the Territory and North Queensland, with Exercise Talisman Sabre scheduled mid-year.

Originally published as Senior army commander discusses Australian, Filipino military growth