United States forces in the Pacific are currently engaged in an exercise titled Cobra Gold 2009, being held February 4-17, 2009. This exercise has been held for the last 28 years, and involves the militaries of Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, and the United States.

Hosted by the Kingdom of Thailand, Cobra Gold involves command post exercises, filed training and a variety of humanitarian assistance projects.

The U.S. Embassy in Thailand describes the exercise:

The exercise will combine Thai, U.S., and Singaporean armed forces in a coalition task force headquarters staff exercise. Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and the United States will conduct field training exercises. Thailand, The United States, Singapore, Japan, and Indonesia will participate in an exercise designed around the United Nations multi-national peace support operations scenario. Thailand, the United States, Singapore, Indonesia, and Japan will participate in humanitarian and civic assistance projects, designed to improve quality of life and local infrastructure for the host Thai people.

In addition to the five main participating countries, the royal Thai government has invited several other nations to participate in various roles during the exercise. The following countries have been invited: Australia, Brunei, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, India, Philippines, Peoples Republic of Cambodia, China, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Mongolia.

Today’s Bloggers’ Roundtable was with LTG Benjamin Mixon, U.S. Army Pacific Command. He discussed Cobra Gold 2009 in detail, and placed it in a regional context. A number of nations, including China and Vietnam, are observing.

One of the highlights of the exercise will be a combined arms Marine amphibious combat landing, involving some 3,000 U.S. Marines in cooperation with Thai Marines. General Mixon pointed out that this serves to sharpen skill sets for major combat operations as well as demonstrate the ability of the United States to project power in the region.

Planned elements of Cobra Gold will take place across the Kingdom of Thailand, from the southeast near Cambodia to the northwest near Burma. Naval and Marine sea borne elements will take place in the vicinity of the city of Utaphao.

The General cited the New York Army National Guard for providing a battalion of troops, the 2nd of the 108th, as the Army ground force. He also pointed out that a platoon of Strykers from the 2nd of the 23rd in Ft. Lewis, Washington, were also involved. There is also an A Team of Special Forces troops deployed to train the Thais.

The Thais have expressed interest in counter-IED training, Mixon said, and counter insurgency operations. The General does not see the U.S. becoming involved in COIN in Thailand as we have in the Philippines.

A total of around 7,500 Americans are involved, from all branches of the military.