Military

That training includes Cobra Gold in Thailand, Balikatan in the Philippines and a Navy
exercise called Cooperation Readiness Afloat and Training (CARAT), which takes place at
various ports throughout the Pacific, such as Malaysia and Indonesia.

"At this stage, we’re continuing on with our regularly scheduled
training," said Capt. Cliff Gilmore, a Marine Corps spokesman on Okinawa.

Maj. Sean Gibson, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii, also said there were
no changes to the exercise schedule.

The annual Balikatan exercise, held for the past two years, is separate from the recent
deployment of U.S. troops to the southern Philippines, although they are being referred to
by the same name by many media.

Cobra Gold, Balikatan and a biennial exercise called Tandem Thrust all fall under one
umbrella known as Team Challenge.

All three exercises are held in the spring and usually include troops from all
services, as well as ships and aircraft from bases throughout the Pacific theater.

They were combined last year and expanded to include Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.

Command of Team Challenge rotates between the Army and Marine Corps and this year falls
under the Marines.

Gilmore said he couldn’t release exact numbers of troops who will participate or
the exact dates of the exercises, in part because those things haven’t been finalized
yet and in part because of force-protection measures.