US, partners prepare for Super Garuda Shield Exercise in Indo-Pacific region

US and partners are back in the field for another large-scale exercise designed to advance free and open Indo-Pacific. This is just weeks after completing the largest-ever Talisman Sabre in Australia.

This year's exercise Super Garuda Shield has brought seven participating nations and 12 other observers to Indonesia for a series of joint, multinational drills reflecting what US officials say is a growing demand to participate in multinational training events. This year marks the second iteration of Super Garuda Shield, which has evolved out of bilateral Garuda Shield exchanges between the US and Indonesia which began in 2006.

About Super Garuda Shield Exercise

About 21000 US and 1900 Indonesian troops make up the bulk of forces in this year's exchange. Troops from Australia, Japan, Singapore, France, and the UK are also participating in the two-week exercise which kicked off on August 31. Several countries like Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, South Korea and Timor Leste are also present as observers in the exercise.

The training includes academic exchanges and professional development exercises, in addition to command and control situations, amphibious and airborne operations, an airfield seizure exercise, and field training that culminates in a live fire event. Soldiers in the 25th Infantry Division were among the 30,000 troops participating in the Talisman Sabre this year. The exercise includes a variety of large-scale logistics and amphibious assault training operations, multi-national firepower demonstrations, and field training exercises.

The unit has also been employed among the nearly 700 Defence Department personnel mobilized as part of the interagency response to the Maui Wildfires. Army Maj. Gen. Marcus Evans said that coming off Talisman Sabre, still being engaged in supporting the efforts in Maui and then simultaneously executing Super Garuda Shield, shows the real agility of this army division here in the Pacific. Australia dispatched a tank, infantry combat team, and staff elements to take part in Super Garuda Shield just a few weeks after hosting Talisman Sabre.

To take part in the exercise, Australian personnel travelled thousands of kilometres in more than a dozen armoured vehicles, including M1A1 Abram tanks and support vehicles, from Australia's southern coast to Indonesia. The 1st Armoured Regiment's commanding officer, Australian Army Lt. Col. Michael Henderson, noted the tremendous training value of practising the capacity to deploy personnel and equipment throughout the theatre. According to Henderson, who is leading the Australian Defence Force contingent for Super Garuda Shield, "That's one of our main objectives as the Australian Defence Force, just to demonstrate our ability and willingness to project credible combat force up in this region and to be able to do so with partners and allies."

As the United States leads like-minded partners, that flexibility among regional allies will continue to pay off. Talisman Sabre and Super Garuda Shield are two of the over 40 army-to-army and joint drills that the United States leads annually as a part of Operation Pathways, a series of multinational drills that take place around the Indo-Pacific and form a crucial aspect of the country's integrated deterrence policy. An important sign that the US strategy in the Indo-Pacific is working is the increased desire among allies and partners to take part in multinational exercises there.

Gen. Charles A. Flynn, commander of the U.S. Army Pacific, asserted that "this thirst and this behaviour" in the region show that the locals value their capacity to cooperate as a multinational force and learn from one another. The fact that he commented, in his opinion, is the clearest indication of our success. According to Flynn, the exercises show that American allies are "speaking with their actions" in response to China's aggressive behaviour in the region.

Ely Ratner, the assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs, expressed hope during a roundtable discussion at the Hudson Institute in Washington, and Flynn's comments during the same event echoed that sentiment. Ratner stated this week at the Defence News Conference in Arlington, Virginia, "We are delivering on our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific and strengthening deterrence in the region." He stated that ties between the United States military and those of the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the other ASEAN nations are at an all-time high.