Fort Magsaysay, Philippines. (June 17, 2024): In the event of war, how do you set up a command center in the middle of dense jungle halfway around the world? In this photo by Staff Sgt. Thomas Moeger, Sergeant Ratu Komaisavai fires his weapon during a simulated engagement in the jungles of the Philippines during Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center-Exportable (JPMRC-X). The concept is to create a “deployable” package of personnel and equipment that can be dispatched to establish Joint Operating Centers (JOC) to run military exercises anywhere in the world.
The JOC facilitates real-time information sharing, joint planning, and direct coordination among participating units. For this deployment, Army CH-47 Chinook helicopters ferried everything from food and water to huge communication towers into the jungle sixty miles north of Manila. Working alongside the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Division, members of the American 25th Infantry Division cut new roads and trails through dense vegetation to allow rapid movement of supplies and equipment to support the exercises.
By simulating various scenarios and contingencies, U.S. and Philippine Soldiers honed their skills and enhanced their ability to work together in challenging environments. Philippine soldiers got a chance to use the U.S. Army Pacific’s premier wargaming technology which uses monitors, video and other digital information to provide real-time feedback to soldiers on the ground. Almost 2,000 soldiers from both nations are participating in the exercise which ends this week.
The Army Pacific launched its readiness center concept in 2021 and has established two permanent centers located in Hawaii and Alaska. This was the first time a JPMRC-X has been successfully deployed to the Philippines.