Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. expressed his thanks to the Australian Army for all the support it provided to Filipino troops.
This as Australian Army commander Lt. Gen. Simon Stuart paid a courtesy call to Brawner at the AFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City Monday.
“We are very thankful for the support we are getting from Australia. Not just intelligence and technical support, but also more now in terms of training and exercises,” Brawner said in a statement.
Brawner and Stuart, in their meeting, discussed Philippine and Australia bilateral military partnership, including training, student exchanges, reservist development, non-commissioned officer empowerment, and recruitment.
Recently, the AFP and the Australian Defense Force conducted its first-ever amphibious maneuver dubbed “Exercise Alon,” which took place from August 14 to 31.
Some 2,000 plus Filipino and Australian troops participated in the various activities, which were geared at improving the interoperability of the two forces.
The AFP chief also recalled the support provided by Australia during the Marawi siege based on an existing Memorandum of Understanding to Combat International Terrorism.
The Philippines and Australia also currently have a partnership on training and exchanges signed in 1995 and a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement has also been in effect since 2007.
