UDON THONI, Thailand -- UDON THONI, Thailand — More than 250 Marines and sailors with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, arrived here April 20 to participate in the joint, combined Cobra Gold 2005 exercise to be held in Thailand May 2-15.
The service members are with Marine Aircraft Group 12, Marine Wing Support Squadron 171, Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 121 and Marine Air Control Squadron 4’s Detachment B.
Cobra Gold is a regularly scheduled, joint and combined multilateral exercise held in the Kingdom of Thailand. Cobra Gold 2005 is the latest in a continuing series of exercises designed to promote regional peace and security.
The exercise will combine Thai, United States and Singaporean armed forces under a combined, joint task force headquarters to conduct field training, an executive-level workshop and a computer-assisted staff exercise. Japan Self Defense forces will participate in the workshop and staff exercise. This year’s Cobra Gold exercise is Thailand’s and the United States’ 24th combined training. This year marks the fifth time in which Singapore has participated, and the first time Japan has participated.
This year’s exercise will focus on capturing lessons learned from the humanitarian assistance/disaster relief operations in response to the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami that affected nations surrounding the Indian Ocean.
The Iwakuni service members are preparing equipment and unloading cargo, so the exercise will go as smoothly as possible.
“Along with getting all our equipment ready to go, we’re communicating with the Royal Thai Air Force, so we can alleviate the language barrier as much as possible,” said Capt. John Baseel, a weapons system officer with VMFA (AW)-121.
During the exercise, the squadron will focus on air-to-air and air-to-ground combat training with the Royal Thai military aircraft pilots, according to Baseel. They will also train in forward air control scenarios, which force the pilots to locate and destroy the enemy without the support of a Marine forward observer on the ground to direct the pilots to targets.
Marines and sailors from supporting units, such as explosive ordnance disposal, the chaplain’s office and MWSS-171, will also be showing the Royal Thai forces how they operate.
“We’re here to make sure this is a safe and successful deployment by providing (the squadron) with medical, weather, fuels, airfield recovery, (aircraft rescue and firefighting) and communication support,” said Gunnery Sgt. Brent Danberry, the MWSS-171 detachment 1st sergeant.