The USNS Brunswick (T-EPF 6) is currently in Puerto Princesa City as part of the Kamandag Exercise 2022 in the Province of Palawan, which ended on October 14, 2022.

The US Navy Ship is a Military Sealift Command expeditionary fast-transport vessel that is capable of providing rapid intra-theater transport of troops and military equipment, and can carry up to 600 short tons of equipment for distances of 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots (nautical miles per hour).

The USNS Brunswick has ferried US forces to and from Palawan for the Kaagapay ng mga Mandirigma ng Dagat (KAMANDAG), a joint military exercise between the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) and the United States Marine Corps (USMC). Allied countries Japan and South Korea had also participated in said exercise as observers.

In Palawan, the presence of the USNS Brunswick, as a naval platform for the training events, is another manifestation of the ironclad support of the United States to the Philippines as allies and Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) partner, in which the Western Command directly benefits from.

"The USNS Brunswick and the multilateral forces participating in the exercise here in Palawan have forged bilateral and multilateral exchanges between Philippine and U.S. forces, as well as Japan and South Korea," said Vice Admiral Alberto B Carlos PN, the Commander WESCOM.

"Our joint forces in WESCOM have been given the opportunity to improve their interoperability with participating countries for combined operations that are focused on littoral, territorial, and coastal defense, and maritime domain awareness," Vice Admiral Carlos added.

Vice Admiral Carlos also emphasizes that these bilateral exchanges in Palawan have fostered effective and ready joint forces that are capable of responding to any security challenges. The Philippine Marines of the 3rd Marine Brigade and Marine Battalions Landing Teams 3 and 4, all under Western Command's command and control, have trained side by side the elements of the 11th Marine Expedition Unit (MEU) of the United States Marine Corps (USMC).

"The capability of our Marines to maneuver across all ranges of military operations and to demonstrate readiness in amphibious operations and humanitarian and disaster response has been beefed up through this bilateral engagement," Vice Admiral Carlos said.

Aside from the USNS Brunswick, several US Navy and Coastguard ships had also made port visits in Palawan and have conducted martime exercises and freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations. This includes the USS RUSHMORE (LSD-47), and the US Navy Hospital Ship MERCY (T-AH 19) in which the latter served as the platform in the recently concluded Pacific Partnership 2022 in Palawan.

"WESCOM is grateful to our national leadership for giving us the opportunity to benefit from international defense and security engagements. The increasing presence of our treaty partner and friendly countries, who share our desire of a rules-based order in the WPS, has given WESCOM a boost in our joint operations for external defense," Vice Admiral Carlos added. (PR)