Category: Defense Intelligence

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

SUBIC, Philippines  –  

Military Sealift Command (MSC) Civilian Mariners (CIVMARs) assigned to dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Charles Drew (T-AKE 10) participated in a community outreach event at a school for the Aeta indigenous people of the Philippines in Subic during a routine visit to the Philippines, Dec. 4, 2024.

During the event, about 40 CIVMARs handed out donated items, performed minor school projects, and played games with the students of the Aningway-Sacatihan Elementary School Annex/High School in the Aeta Village Center in Subic, which is in the province of Zambales, a mountainous region about 50 miles northwest of Manila.

The Aeta, one of the Philippines’ oldest indigenous groups, often live in remote mountainous regions with limited resources. This outreach brought welcomed supplies and, just as importantly, a day of connection and celebration for the community’s youth.

The donated items mostly originated from Singapore and included donated books, toys and clothing items from various Singapore international schools, and the American community in Singapore.

MSC Far East has a continued relationship of outreach with Aningway-Sacatihan Elementary School Annex/High School.

“We’ve been here a couple of times,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jamil A. Khan, chaplain, MSC Far East. “In Singapore, we receive donations from several schools at different times, so our collections are somewhat staggered. So, we keep coming back with different crews.”

According to Khan, he keeps coming back to this Aeta school because he feels there’s a strong need within this community.

“As most schools in Singapore transition to digital books, they are donating their old textbooks,” said Khan. “I’m collecting all those old textbooks, taking them here and continuing to support this school because there’s a great need out here.”

The crew of Charles Drew also gathered donations from fellow crewmembers and distributed items purchased locally, such as sandals and lunch.

“We are so excited to be here, we love doing this,” said Erica Davis, 2nd officer, Charles Drew. “We have about 40 volunteers. We have a small crew right now, so it’s about three-quarters of the ship out here. When we asked for volunteers, there was no hesitation, almost everyone we asked said they’d do it.”

According to Davis, a lot of the crew are from the Philippines and were eager to give back and see the happy faces on the kids.

“They just wanted to help the kids,” said Davis. “It hits home for the holiday season. Especially with a lot of people being away from home right now, they get gratification seeing little kids happy.”

Students treated the Charles Drew crew with choreographed dance routines that was met with loud cheers and great appreciation.

At the request of the school, the crew performed minor repairs and beautification projects. A few members provided their expertise in repairing a damaged basketball backboard and rim, while others performed minor painting projects.

In another special project request, school administrators requested assistance in preparing and planting a vegetable garden used to help feed students. A group of CIVMARs, along with the school’s high school students, reached for the gardening tools and cleared, tilled the soil, and planted seeds in an area marked for the garden.

“The high school students, along with some of our CIVMARs cleaned up the vegetable garden area, built trenches and planted vegetable seeds,” said Khan. “Hopefully, that garden will be able to help feed this community.”

MSC Far East organized the planning, coordination and execution, while the Charles Drew crew members provided the manpower.

MSC Far East supports the U.S. 7th Fleet and ensures approximately 50 ships in the Indo-Pacific Region are manned, trained, and equipped to deliver essential supplies, fuel, cargo, and equipment to warfighters, both at sea and on shore.

U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2024, MSC exists to support the joint warfighter across the full spectrum of military operations, with a workforce that includes approximately 6,000 civil service mariners and 1,100 contract mariners, supported by 1,500 shore staff and 1,400 active duty and reserve military personnel.

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan (AFNS)  –  

The commander of U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific engaged with several Japan Air Self-Defense Force officials during a series of meetings at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, the Ministry of Defense, and the JASDF Space Operations Group, Dec. 2.

Brig. Gen. Anthony Mastalir met with Japanese counterparts about the growing importance of U.S. -Japan cooperation in the space domain, serving as a prelude to the historic activation of the U.S. Space Force unit in Japan.

“Together we will remain committed to ensuring the continuous, safe, secure, and sustainable use of outer space for current and future generations,” Mastalir said. “These partnership efforts send a message, the U.S. and Japan alliance is stronger than ever, and we are ready to defend on land, in the air, in the maritime domain, and now in the space domain.”

During the engagements, Mastalir addressed shared challenges and opportunities in the evolving space environment with meetings focused on advancing bilateral initiatives such as enhanced space situational awareness, improved interoperability, and collaborative mission planning.

As part of the engagements, U.S. Space Force officials also toured the JASDF Space Operations Group headquarters. The visit emphasized the importance of leveraging the strengths of both nations to further develop integrated space operations.

By expanding collaboration in space, the U.S. and Japan continue to build a foundation for enduring stability and prosperity in the region, ensuring the security of shared interests well into the future.

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

ASAN, Guam  –  

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command conducted a capabilities exercise named Sling Stone Dec. 4 to 10 to enhance warfighter capabilities and rehearse defense of the homeland operations parallel to the Missile Defense Agency’s Flight Experiment Mission-02 on Guam.

The goal of the exercise was to use FEM-02, an Aegis Guam System missile intercept test held Dec. 10, as a tactical training event to hone skills, increase interoperability, and improve communication and understanding between forces while also coordinating with civil authorities to train for a whole-of-government approach to crisis response.

Sling Stone, held in conjunction with Joint Task Force-Micronesia, validated the Guam Defense System concept of operations. It brought together assets and personnel from the Air Force, Army, Navy, and allied forces to use the missile intercept for multi-domain training.

“The success of Sling Stone is a testament to the incredible work our joint-service team does every day to maintain a strong defensive posture in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Navy Rear Adm. Greg Huffman, commander, JTF-M. “Leveraging MDA’s missile intercept test to train how we fight just made sense. We will take lessons learned and continue to strengthen the architecture of Guam’s defense against evolving adversary missile threats.”

The CAPEX was conducted in two main phases. Phase one began ahead of FEM-02 and included live, virtual, and constructive training environments simulating real-world multi-domain operations on land, in the air, and at/from the sea.

Phase two of Sling Stone used MDA’s missile intercept to allow the joint force to detect, track, and simulate engagement of the threat. During the event, a Standard Missile-3 Blk IIA, fired from a vertical launch system at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, intercepted a surrogate Medium Range Ballistic Missile target more than 200 nautical miles off the coast of northeast Guam, which was air-launched from an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III.

Simultaneously, the Navy’s Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69), operating off the coast of Guam, detected, tracked, and simulated engagement of the missile, providing air defense coverage from the sea.

Task Force Talon, the Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense unit located on Guam, also received missile tracking information. The THAAD battery provides ballistic missile defense coverage for the entire island of Guam.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Maya-class guided-missile destroyer JS Haguro (DDG 180) exercised its air defense support, increasing interoperability between international forces and fostering a broader-spectrum, shared information environment.

JTF-M and Joint Region Marianas continue to work closely with the Government of Guam to ensure military operations and exercises are fully coordinated. Sling Stone provided an opportunity for the military and Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense to rehearse the notification process and increase crisis-response readiness to better serve the community.

FEM-02 is part of the long-term initiative for the defense of Guam and will inform the larger effort to develop, install and operate Guam Defense System, which is comprised of a combination of Army, Navy, Air Force and MDA components that work together to provide Enhanced Integrated Air and Missile Defense. These defense entities will develop and deploy a persistent layered missile defense system for Guam.

JTF-M’s mission is to perform Homeland Defense, Defense Support to Civil Authorities, and Foreign Humanitarian Assistance through a whole of government approach within its assigned joint operations area.

For more information about JTF-M, visit https://www.pacom.mil/JTF-Micronesia/

For more information on MDA’s role in the Defense of Guam, visit https://www.mda.mil/system/guamft/

Source: United States INDO PACIFIC COMMAND

ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam  –  

Service members and volunteers from different corners of the Pacific theater gathered in Hangar 5 to pack boxes with supplies, including canned goods, clothing, school items, toys and more Dec. 7.

As part of Operation Christmas Drop 2024, the assembled goods are scheduled to be airlifted to more than 50 islands as part of the Department of Defense’s longest-running annual humanitarian airlift mission. Last year’s iteration delivered 210 bundles weighing a total of 84,000 pounds of Christmas cheer to 42,000 people across 1.8 million square miles.

For Master Sgt. Toni Odom, 36th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron senior enlisted leader, the event is about one community coming together to bring joy to another.

“For the entire group, it’s about the community—Yokota, the Andersen community and our foreign partners—coming together to build these bundles,” she said. “Everyone plays a part, from donating supplies to decorating the packages to make them special for the recipients and get them ready for delivery. It makes me teary-eyed thinking about what a wonderful opportunity this is for the community to come together.”

Odom added that the Bundle Build event is the quintessential event that fuels the rest of OCD.

“Today’s the day, because once this is finished, military members are waiting in the wings to kick into action. Tonight, the riggers have to come in and put parachutes on the boxes. After that, the inspectors have to inspect them for when operational drops kick off at 6 a.m. It’s exciting, because we’re less than 24 hours away from OCD’s first operational drop.”

Among the volunteers was Senior Airman Logan Turner, a public health technician for the 36th medical group, who is in her second year with Operation Christmas Drop. For Turner, the experience is both rewarding and deeply personal.

“When I came to Guam…there was a lot of talk about helping outlying islands that don’t have the same access to stores food, clothes, or toys,” she said. “Growing up, my family didn’t have much time or money for me to get a lot for Christmas, but my mom always found a way. If my mom could go the extra mile to make my Christmas special, then I can go the extra mile, too, to make Christmas special for so many others.”

Capt. Jordan Paecht, the OCD 24 deputy mission commander, said that OCD 24 aims to be bigger and better than ever thanks in large part to teamwork from an impressive collection of allied nations.

“We did even better this year getting donations, so all these islands that don’t have the same access to some of the resources that we will bring helps us focus on making a greater impact,” he said. “It feels like the pinnacle of operations out here in the Indo-Pacific Theater. The christmas spirit and the integration – working and flying alongside other nations – can’t be beat. We have the chance to come here and have the U.S., Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Canada, and others all in one place. By working together in our mission planning cells and then seeing the impact of OCD’s great mission, we’re able to see the real, tangible impact we have on the people who live on these islands. It’s the greatest form of partner nation integration we can do.