Amid concerns about the strength of the U.S.-Philippine alliance, the Air Force sent two C-130 Hercules and airmen to the Philippines Sept. 25, a third iteration of a rotational air contingent.

But the future of military cooperation with the island nation, a key U.S. ally in the Pacific, is looking shaky as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte continues making inflammatory statements.

Duterte recently said that amphibious landing drills between U.S. Marines and sailors and their Filipino counterparts, which began Oct. 4, would be the last joint U.S.-Philippine combat exercises of his presidency.

Duterte has repeatedly lashed out at Obama over criticism of his violent campaign against drug dealers and extrajudicial killings. And Duterte has suggested that he might eventually "break up with America," saying and "I would rather go to Russia and to China."

On other occasions, Duterte has said he does not plan to abrogate a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

The Air Force said the latest air contingent is "in support of the government of the Philippines, and with their approval and invitation." Besides the Hercules aircraft, it included airmen from the 374th Air Wing at Yokota Air Base, Japan, the 36th Contingency Response Group from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and other units from across the Pacific Air Forces. They arrived at Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Lapu-Lapu City, and will conduct training missions, such as mass casualty response, and exchange experts with the Philippine armed forces.

"Thirty years ago, if a mass casualty event struck the Philippines, the U.S. military would've been called upon to assist in any number of ways," Navy Rear Adm. Brian Pecha, surgeon general of U.S. Pacific Command, said in an Oct. 4 release. "Now, [the Filipinos] may need our assistance with airlift and some logistics, but we can have a true subject matter exchange in which they share lessons learned from previous disasters and we're able to share with them lessons learned from recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan."

The first contingent in April included five A-10C Thunderbolt IIs from the 51st Fighter Wing at Osan Air Base, South Korea, and three HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters from the 18th Air Wing at Kadena Air Base, Japan, as well as more than 200 aircrew, maintainers, logisticians and support personnel.

The second included EA-18G Growlers, and Navy and Marine personnel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.

Share:
In Other News
Load More