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U.S. Air Force MSgt. James Johns shows children from a Thai orphanage how to buckle into an MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft.
Photo by MSgt. Michael Farris, USAF |
Six-year-old Lud Dawan hugged her Teddy Bear tightly and smiled a broad, but toothless grin when asked if she liked her new toy. “Chawp mak,” she said. (I like it a lot.) The U.S. airmen spent hours dancing, singing, and playing with the children and snapping hundreds of photos. They assembled plastic playground slides, clubhouses, and swings before being overrun with exuberant kids ready to play.
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U.S. Air Force SrA. Joe Dunford broke out a soccer ball and played soccer with third- and fourth-graders. “They wore me out,” he said under a scorching sun. “They’re not very big, but there’s a million of them!” The uniformed Thai students ran barefoot after SrA. Dunford while a group of girls tried out a badminton set. The air was full of Frisbees, shuttlecocks, soccer balls, screaming voices, and sweaty faces. Everyone was winning.
Later, the airmen were treated to a lunch of chicken, fish, sticky rice, and a spicy-hot papaya salad. The school staff thanked each member with a cloth belt of locally woven fabric called pha khit.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Richard Samuels said the children’s smiling faces warmed his heart. “We’re happy to make this donation to your school and hope it enhances your learning experience,” he said. “It’s important for us as Americans to remember to give to our hosts. We’re fortunate to have these training opportunities and such a great ally in the Thai military.”
Conclusion
COBRA GOLD 2003 participants obtained their objectives, including strengthening interoperability in complex, combined operations and increasing the capabilities of the three countries’ forces in real-world contingencies, such as in East Timor where Singapore and Thai forces work together and in Afghanistan where Thai and U.S. work together. The success of Exercise COBRA GOLD 2003 highlights the growing cooperation among the countries of the region to address real-world contingencies, including terrorism. A stable, secure region can only lead to economic prosperity and a better life for all. As U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to Thailand pointed out at the closing ceremony of COBRA GOLD 2003 (see sidebar), COBRA GOLD training prepares regional forces to meet real-world challenges.
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U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Rick Ruehe, Commander, Amphibious Force Seventh Fleet and Deputy Commander of Naval Forces for exercise COBRA GOLD 2003, hands out toys to children at the Pattaya Orphanage.
Photo by Lt. j.g. Jereal Dorsey, USN |
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U.S. Navy Seabees put the finishing touches on an outdoor classroom at the Wat Tong Hong School.
Photo by LCpl. Amanda L. Rothweiler, USMC |
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COBRA GOLD
Successes
At the closing ceremony of COBRA GOLD 2003, U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy, Thailand, Ravic R. Huso summed up the successes of COBRA GOLD 2003. Excerpts from his speech follow:
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• COBRA GOLD has met its core objective to provide our forces the realistic command post and field training they need to face real-world challenges.
• The United States continues to value COBRA GOLD as our signature multilateral exercise in the Asia-Pacific region.
• COBRA GOLD remains the most visible element of our commitment to our friend and treaty ally, Thailand.
• The exercise also reflects our growing relationship with our friend, Singapore, and with other friends and allies in the Asia-Pacific region.
• We hope the transparent nature of COBRA GOLD will serve as a regional confidence building measure as well, allowing observer delegations a better understanding of how the United States, Thailand, and Singapore are training for combined operations to address possible contingencies and support regional stability.
• In today’s world, the U.S. military and its friends and allies are called upon to respond to a number of different crises simultaneously. Despite the ongoing demands of both OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM and OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, this year’s COBRA GOLD demonstrated our ability to deploy a Marine expeditionary brigade-sized force to conduct operations to address a complex contingency scenario. COBRA GOLD thus stands as a mark of U.S. commitment to regional stability in Southeast Asia.
• COBRA GOLD has integrated the combined staff of the three participating countries and given the command lead to Thai officers in almost every aspect of the exercise. Their success in directing the complex combined operations is a clear sign of the rapidly increasing levels of interoperability of our armed forces in the field and in headquarters, as well as increasing Thai capabilities in such settings. Real-world activities in East Timor, where Thai and Singaporean forces work together, and Afghanistan, where Thai and U.S. forces work together, accelerate this trend.
• The field training involving Marine and Army units, as well as Air Force activities, has honed core combat skills. We have also improved our ability to defeat some of the emerging threats we must face in today’s world, including terrorist incidents.
• . . . As we have seen recently in Iraq, commanders must be prepared to cope with complex situations involving civilians and non-governmental actors. They must be able to integrate real-time intelligence, advanced communications, and command and control to successfully respond to any emerging threats. As the past weeks demonstrate, multilateral military exercises, such as COBRA GOLD, provide the advanced training our militaries need to meet these challenges. |
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