US, Philippine marines team up to bolster littoral warfare skills

WASHINGTON — The commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps will tour several U.S. Marine Corps locations with his American counterpart this week, as both services adapt their approaches to defending and fighting from Pacific islands.

The U.S. Marine Corps in March 2022 stood up its 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment , the first of several planned units specifically designed to operate as a stand-in force . These forces would constantly move around the South China Sea and other contested bodies of water, providing a regular presence and intelligence capability while ready to jump into action if tension with China turns into conflict.

The Philippine Marine Corps is similarly growing its territorial defense capability, after spending more than 50 years focused on domestic counterinsurgency operations. The service is now tasked with fending off Chinese aggression at sea and fishing fleet incursions into Philippine territorial waters.

U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger and Philippine Marine Corps Commandant Maj. Gen. Charlton Sean M. Gaerlan believe they can learn from each other. Following a short honor ceremony at the former’s house at Marine Barracks Washington, the two generals told Defense News they swapped lessons learned in September, back when Berger visited Manila.

They are committed to deepening that cooperation during this visit, with Gaerlan heading to Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, a hub for training, doctrine development and experimentation. He expressed particular interested in a visit to the Marines’ Training and Education Command.

“We really have to change our organizational structure and the way we employ forces. That’s why we have just stood up the Coastal Defense Regiment,” he said, also noting the recent creation of the Service Support Regiment and the renaming of the Combat Support Brigade.

“For now, our training, education and doctrine is just a center, it’s more of just a school. We’re trying to expand to have it [on] a larger scale so that we can train and educate our marines in the new missions that they will be able to conduct in the future,” Gaerlan added.

The generals will also visit Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in California.

U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger is received in an honor ceremony with Philippine Marine Corps Commandant Maj. Gen. Charlton Sean M. Gaerlan in Manila, Philippines, on Sept. 5, 2022. (Sgt. Kathryn Adams/U.S. Marine Corps)

Berger said his 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment and the U.S. Marines overall have a lot they can learn from their Philippine counterparts. For starters, he said, the Philippine force is comfortable operating in a jungle environment, far from desert conditions in which the Marines operated for two decades.

“They also understand logistics. Because they’re an archipelagic country, by nature they have to resupply … over great distances,” Berger said.

Joking that he had seen more boats in the Philippines than in the rest of the world combined, the commandant said he had much to learn about mobility around islands and beaches.

“They move comfortably between pieces of land and through the water because this is just natural for them. But for us, the [3rd Marine] Littoral Regiment, this is what they have to learn to do. So we’re learning from them: how do you maneuver, how do you move your forces between islands comfortably.”

As both forces develop their new skill sets, Gaerlan said it was important to do so in a complementary and interoperable way.

Because the two nations have a mutual defense treaty, “it’s our obligation as Marines to train with each other so we can have interoperability. And we’re not discounting the possibility that something might happen. And if something happens, we’re ready because if we don’t have that interoperability with our Marines, then it would be even more difficult during war or conflict,” he said.

In addition to being treaty allies, the two nations signed an enhanced defense cooperation agreement in April 2014, identifying five Philippine military bases where the two nations could pre-position supplies for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions. In February, four more bases were added to the list, increasing the number of locations U.S. Marines can train and stage gear.

Megan Eckstein is the naval warfare reporter at Defense News. She has covered military news since 2009, with a focus on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations, acquisition programs and budgets. She has reported from four geographic fleets and is happiest when she’s filing stories from a ship. Megan is a University of Maryland alumna.

华盛顿——本周，菲律宾海军陆战队司令将与美国海军陆战队司令一同参观几个美国海军陆战队基地，因为两国军种都在调整其在太平洋岛屿上进行防御和作战的方式。

2022年3月，美国海军陆战队组建了第3近海陆战团，这是计划组建的多个专门用于作为备用部队的单位中的第一个。这些部队将持续在南海和其他争议水域巡逻，提供常态化的存在和情报能力，并在与中国的紧张关系升级为冲突时随时准备采取行动。

菲律宾海军陆战队在经历了50多年的国内反叛乱行动后，也正在加强其领土防御能力。如今，该部队的任务是抵御中国在海上的侵略行为以及渔船队入侵菲律宾领海的行为。

美国海军陆战队司令戴维·伯杰上将和菲律宾海军陆战队司令查尔顿·肖恩·M·盖尔兰少将认为他们可以互相学习。在华盛顿海军陆战队兵营伯杰上将的家中举行了一个简短的荣誉仪式后，两位将军告诉《防务新闻》，他们交流了伯杰上将9月份访问马尼拉期间的经验教训。

他们致力于在此次访问期间深化合作，盖尔兰将前往位于弗吉尼亚州匡蒂科的海军陆战队基地，该基地是训练、条令发展和试验的中心。他表示特别希望参观海军陆战队训练与教育司令部。

“我们确实需要改变组织结构和部队运用方式。这就是我们刚刚组建海岸防御团的原因，”他说道，同时还提到了最近成立的勤务支援团和战斗支援旅的更名。

“目前，我们的训练、教育和理论中心只是一个机构，更像是一所学校。我们正在努力扩大规模，以便能够训练和教育我们的海军陆战队员，让他们能够执行未来将要执行的新任务，”盖尔兰补充道。

将军们还将访问加利福尼亚州的彭德尔顿海军陆战队基地和圣地亚哥海军陆战队新兵训练营。

2022年9月5日，美国海军陆战队司令大卫·伯杰上将在菲律宾马尼拉与菲律宾海军陆战队司令查尔顿·肖恩·M·盖尔兰少将在共同出席的欢迎仪式上合影。（凯瑟琳·亚当斯中士/美国海军陆战队）

伯杰表示，他所在的第三海军陆战队近海团以及整个美国海军陆战队都可以从菲律宾同行身上学到很多东西。首先，他指出，菲律宾部队非常适应丛林环境，这与海军陆战队过去二十年一直在沙漠中作战的情况截然不同。

“他们也懂得物流。因为他们是群岛国家，所以他们自然需要长途跋涉进行物资补给，”伯杰说。

指挥官开玩笑说，他在菲律宾看到的船只比在世界其他地方加起来都多，他还表示，对于岛屿和海滩周围的机动性，他还有很多东西要学习。

“他们能在陆地和水域间轻松移动，因为这对他们来说是自然而然的事情。但对我们（第三海军陆战队）近海团来说，这是我们必须学习的技能。所以我们正在向他们学习：如何机动，如何在岛屿间轻松调动部队。”

盖尔兰表示，随着双方部队不断提升自身技能，以互补和互操作的方式进行发展至关重要。

他说：“由于两国签有共同防御条约，作为海军陆战队员，我们有义务进行联合训练，以实现协同作战。我们不会排除发生冲突的可能性。如果真的发生冲突，我们已经做好准备，因为如果我们与海军陆战队缺乏这种协同作战能力，那么在战争或冲突中将会更加困难。”

除了是条约盟友外，两国于2014年4月签署了加强防务合作协议，确定了五个菲律宾军事基地，两国可以在这些基地预先部署人道主义援助和救灾物资。今年2月，又有四个基地被列入名单，增加了美国海军陆战队可以进行训练和部署装备的地点。

梅根·埃克斯坦是《防务新闻》的海军作战记者。自2009年以来，她一直从事军事新闻报道，主要关注美国海军和海军陆战队的行动、采购项目和预算。她曾报道过四个不同地理区域的舰队，最喜欢在舰艇上进行新闻报道。梅根毕业于马里兰大学。