Military intensifies training in the Marianas

Military activities in the Marianas continue to rise, scheduling this week a first air-to-surface missile target practice on Guam, bombing exercises on Farallon de Mendinilla, and helicopter operations on Tinian.

The Naval Forces Marianas disclosed that the U.S. Navy and the Royal Thai Navy would conduct the missile exercise in Sta. Rita from Aug. 29 to Sept. 5.

The exercise would involve firing an AGM-84 Harpoon, an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile with active radar guidance.

“The purpose of this training is to allow the Royal Thai Navy, in coordination with the U.S. Navy, to load an AGM-84 Harpoon on a Fokker 27 aircraft, and then launch it against a carefully chosen target in the military training area W-517 to the south of the island of Guam,” said Lt. Judith Marking, public affairs officer for the Naval Forces.

Marking called the exercise a historical event for the Royal Thai Navy, saying it would be “the [Thai Navy’s] first air-to-surface missile shot from an aircraft to a surface target.”

Adm. Chumpol Pachusanon, Royal Thai Navy Commander in Chief, and Adm. Vichai Yuwanangoon, Royal Navy Commander in Chief, Royal Thai Navy Fleet would attend the event.

“This exercise will be a unique, one-time event that showcases the many levels of military cooperation that exist between the Royal Thai Navy and the U.S. Navy,” Marking said.

She said planning for the event began as early as April 2004, which involved the upper echelon of the Royal Thai Navy and the Task Force 72 and Naval Forces Marianas commander.

The Navy assured that the missile exercise would be conducted in a “safe, environmentally friendly, and professional environment.”

On Farallon de Mendinilla, the U.S. military began bombing exercises Tuesday, which would last until Friday next week. Daily training runs from 11am to 12midnight.

The CNMI Emergency Management Office advised fishermen, commercial pilots, and tour operators to stay away from the training area, which covers “15,000 feet mean sea level on a 10-nautical mile radius from all quadrants.”

The EMO also advised tour operators to stay away from the Tinian North Field training area, where the U.S. military would conduct helicopter operations beginning today, from 9am to 11am.

On Friday, the training will begin at 10pm until 10:30am the following day. It would resume on Monday, 6pm, until 10pm on Wednesday next week, the EMO said. The EMO said the scheduled training would conclude on Thursday next week from 8am to 5pm.

The U.S. Navy recently joined naval units of allied countries in one of the largest joint maritime exercises in the world, amid Pentagon’s plans to transform the Marianas region into the nation’s military hub on the edge of Asia.

Besides the United States, countries that participated in the Rim of the Pacific 2004 exercises included Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.