TERNATE, Cavite — Members of the Force Reconnaissance Group of the Philippine Marine Corps and their US counterparts trained for helocast and maritime patrol operations here on Friday.

Utilizing two air assets of the US Marine Corps, the soldiers simulated being inserted into a military area of operation by exiting an aircraft just above the water’s surface.

The two helicopters landed at the Marine Base Gregorio Lim to pick up the soldiers. After circling the area, the soldiers took a step out of the helicopter into the sea and swam to shore.

The exercise was conducted near the beach at the marine base fronting Corregidor Island.

“This operation is usually done for the vertical insertion of the Force Reconnaissance in the area or road networks to reach their objective,” said Major Joel Changiwan Jr., acting operations commander of the PMC’s Force Reconnaissance Group.

“Dahil hindi mapasok ng vehicle o walang accessibility, we need to use an aircraft to reach the affected. Ang helocast guys natin ay ida-drop sa water, they will swim to the shoreline to conduct reconnaissance to clear the landing beach for the troops or main efforts to conduct a raid,” he added.

(Due to lack of accessibility, we need to use an aircraft to reach the affected. Our helocast guys will be dropped in the water.)

The helocast training is part of this year’s Maritime Aviation Support Activity (MASA), the joint drills between Filipino and American marines.

Despite Friday’s bad weather, the soldiers pushed through with the training.

“Hindi lahat ng operations maganda ang weather… Masusubukan natin ang bad weather dito sa pag-conduct ng exercise,” Changiwan noted.

(The weather won’t be good for all operations. We can test operating in bad weather with this exercise.)

“With this exercise, ang takeaway natin sa counterparts ay ang radio communication between the aircraft and the boats, and the simultaneous approach of the objective area. Ang matutunan nila sa atin ay kung paano tayo mag-operate sa ganitong environment, considered a jungle environment and mountainous terrain,” he added.

(Our takeaway from our counterparts is the radio communication between the aircraft and the boats, and the simultaneous approach of the objective area. What they can learn from us is how we operate in a jungle environment and mountainous terrain.)

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