Thailand to host US-led military exercise

[LETHALFORCE]

Thailand to host US-led military exercise|Prime|chinadaily.com.cn


BEIJING - The US-led annual multinational exercise Cobra Gold 2012, the largest such military endeavor in the Asia-Pacific to date, is due to start in Thailand on Tuesday.
The 10-day exercise, which will involve around 13,000 military personnel from 17 nations, is designed to advance regional security among "nations sharing common goals and security commitments in the Asia-Pacific", according to the US military.
Full participating nations include Thailand, the US, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Australia, France, Canada, the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Italy, India, Nepal, the Philippines and Vietnam will also take part in the drill's multinational planning augmentation team.
This year's Cobra Gold, the 31st such event, is a regular Thailand-hosted exercise that has shifted from its initial focus against the Soviet Union and its allies during the Cold War to safeguarding Washington's interests in the Far East and Southeast Asia, said Li Daguang, a military specialist at the University of National Defense in Beijing.
"(Washington's) effort through the maneuvers is aimed at unifying countries (in the region) around itself. While this definitely runs counter to China's interests in the long term, the exercise itself is not specifically - at least not explicitly - targeted at China," he said.
Shi Aiguo, an international politics professor at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, earlier said the US had used Cobra Gold exercises to reach out to countries such as India, Vietnam and Myanmar.
A senior Thai army officer was quoted by Japan's Kyodo News as saying last week that Myanmar had expressed an interest in joining the annual exercises in the future.
Live-fire training, noncombatant evacuation exercises and a computer-simulated command-post exercise will be featured at this year's drills, the US Marines said in a statement. Humanitarian and civic assistance projects will also be part of the exercises.
Thailand, Washington's oldest ally in the Asia-Pacific, will send some 3,400 military personnel to the exercises.
The People's Liberation Army sent observers to the exercises in 2003. It was not immediately clear if the Chinese military was invited to observe this year.
Cobra Gold is Washington's longest-standing military exercise in the Pacific. About 7,000 of the 13,000 forces involved in the drill are from the US military, the majority of them from the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force.

 

[Ray]

With so many countries participating, it will surely send a message to China.

If nothing else it will get China's goat!

 

[pmaitra]

I am particularly pleased to note that Nepal and Bangladesh, often seen as cosying up to PRC, will be participating!

Swell news!

 

[amoy]

The exercise Cobra Gold is a routine. Many don't participate in the drill but only show up as observers like Vietnam. By no means is it regarded as an occasion to take a side, like " if u're for Cobra then u're against China".

 

[asianobserve]

The exercise Cobra Gold is a routine. Many don't participate in the drill but only show up as observers like Vietnam. By no means is it regarded as an occasion to take a side, like " if u're for Cobra then u're against China".

C'mon! With this line of reasoning you wouldn't know a steam roller until you are already squashed underneath it.... :cool2:

 

[vietnam&india]

Our Indian brother, do you think Vietnam and India should take part in the military exercise ?

 

[W.G.Ewald]

C'mon! With this line of reasoning you wouldn't know a steam roller until you are already squashed underneath it.... :cool2:

Our men in Thailand for Cobra Gold exercise

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Our Indian brother, do you think Vietnam and India should take part in the military exercise ?

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily | Vietnam did not join Cobra Gold exercise: defense ministry

 

[Oracle]

This news is sure to p!$$ off the Chinese.

Our Indian brother, do you think Vietnam and India should take part in the military exercise ?

Sure. If I am correct Indian Navy vessels have been granted docking/landing rights in Vietnam's ports by the Vietnamese Government, and re-fuelling too. Military exercises is in the offing I guess. It is just a matter of time.

I would love to see Vietnam buy from India the only Supersonic Cruise Missile in the World, the Brahmos for precision strikes, if and when needed.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

DVIDS - News - USS Germantown begins participation in Exercise Cobra Gold 2012


USS Germantown begins participation in Exercise Cobra Gold 2012


SATTAHIP, Thailand – The forward-deployed amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown, part of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group, began its involvement in the multinational military exercise co-sponsored by the U.S. and Thailand, Exercise Cobra Gold 2012, Feb. 10, in the Gulf of Thailand.

The exercise, now in its 31st year, is designed to promote regional peace and security. Nations involved in the exercise include the U.S., Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, and South Korea and representative from over 20 countries. CG 12 helps renew ties between nations and promotes strong military working relationships.

Elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, embarked with Germantown and USS Tortuga, allows the ARG to conduct amphibious operations to project power ashore. The 31st MEU will participate in amphibious raids, amphibious assault, helicopter assaults, small boat raids and humanitarian disaster relief operations during CG 12.

Amphibious Craft Unit 1, also embarked with ARG, has been tasked with providing amphibious transportation for Marines to land.

"We are always on standby," said Engineman 1st class Kosal Sim, assigned to the Amphibious Craft Unit 1. "We're pretty flexible in our operations, transporting personnel and cargo from the ship to the shore."

Sailors and Marines participated in this first amphibious operation, a planned and coordinated exercise that demonstrated rapid deployment ashore. Service members participating in the exercise also said they look forward to working with other nations throughout CG 12.

Lance Cpl. Deunte Williams, assigned to the 31st MEU, says, "I'm actually excited to be participating in the exercise. I think we can gain a lot of valuable information from each other."

The U.S. and Thailand have worked together for over 175 years.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

China starting to worry

What is the purpose of Cobra Gold?

What is the purpose of Cobra Gold? - Xinhua | English.news.cn


BANGKOK, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Visit the official website of US Pacific Command (USPACOM - United States Pacific Command) and "Presence with a Purpose" will jump into your eyes. In big crimson font and high on the page, the catchy phrase begs the question: what is the purpose?

To some Chinese people and analysts, the purpose of the ongoing Cobra Gold 2012 exercise, US Pacific Command's (USPACOM) presence in Thailand, is to flex their muscle at the doorstep of China.

The exercise involves countries that have territory disputes with China over the South China Sea and their supporters. The event complicates regional security, said Major General Luo Yuan, deputy secretary general of the China Association for Military Science.

At Tuesday's opening ceremony, Judith Beth Cefkin, deputy chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy to Thailand, called Cobra Gold "the largest military exercise in the world". The exercise is scheduled from Feb. 7 to 17.

More than 13,000 military personnel are participating in the 31st U.S.-led annual exercise. While most of the personnel were from American and Thai forces, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and Malaysia also sent their troops.

Cefkin said the event helps participants to better confront " natural disasters, public health crisis, and other emerging, shared security challenges." But Luo said the missions of Cobra Gold 2012 seemed more oriented toward regular war.

According to itineraries from the U.S. Embassy to Thailand and Thai military, the exercise includes amphibious assault, jungle warfare, nuclear & high explosive training, combined arms live fire, among others. Only Feb. 12 was dedicated to a non-combatant evacuation exercise.

Amphibious training is the highlight of the exercise. It will take two days of the 9-day actual exercise (the first day and the last are for ceremonies): amphibious assault demonstration on Friday and amphibious assault vehicle bilateral raid on Saturday. Some analysts worry U.S. military's emphasis on amphibious warfare is targeted at China.

On the Feb. 1 issue of The Diplomat, a current affairs magazine on Asia-Pacific, U.S. Congressman J. Randy Forbes wrote in his editorial Why U.S. Needs Amphibious Skills,"...and the modernization of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) combined with its maritime territorial disputes, all stand to raise the profile of amphibious forces in the years ahead."

News of Cobra Gold 2012 also sparked anger among Chinese Internet users, who accuse the exercise of "putting China at sword 's end" in numerous posts and comments in weibo.com, t.qq.com, Chinese social sites similar to twitter.

"Whatever the purpose of Cobra Gold, it is destabilizing for the region. Hopefully, peace-loving people in the participating countries can see the truth and focus on genuinely peaceful and mutual beneficial causes instead of being used by some particular country