The skills our troops acquire in COBRA GOLD have direct, real-world applicability. Many of the U.S. Marines who participated in COBRA GOLD 2002 and 2003 are now in Iraq.
U.S. Ambassador Darryl N. Johnson

Royal Thai Army Maj. Gen. Nopparat Yodwimol, Thai combined Exercise Director, addresses participants. Photo by SSgt. JoAnn S. Makinano, USAF

About 13,500 U.S. service members participated. Thai forces numbered about 6,000, and included elements of the Royal Thai Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. The 91-member Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) contingent participated in the command post exercise phase of COBRA GOLD 2004, undertaking the role of staff planners for the multination Combined Task Force (CTF) alongside Thai, Mongolian, Filipino, and U.S. counterparts. The leader of the SAF contingent, Brig. Gen. Loh Wai Keong, Commander, 3rd Division, was the Exercise Assistant CTF Commander. Singapore has sent observers to this annual exercise since 1993. It became a full participant in 2000.

Singapore’s Ministry of Defense stated that the exercise improves interoperability in “joint operational planning processes, as well as logistical, command, control and coordination issues related to CTF, humanitarian assistance, and disaster-relief operations. . . . [and] helps develop rapport among the participating armed forces.”


Opening Ceremony

Military personnel from Mongolia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and the United States opened Exercise COBRA GOLD 2004 at ceremonies in Korat, Thailand. Lt. Gen. Hern Wannaprasert, Royal Thai Army 2nd Corps Commander and COBRA GOLD Supreme Commander, said COBRA GOLD is the “best exercise in the Southeast of Asia. All of our nations’ militaries are coming together to find a common virtue of compassion, cooperation, and goodwill.”

The five participating militaries found Lt. Gen. Hern’s “common virtues” through a series of collaborations, including field training exercises, command post exercises, and humanitarian assistance projects throughout the two-week exercise.

U.S. Marine Maj. Gen. Emerson N. Gardner, the U.S. Commander for COBRA GOLD, told ceremony attendees, “This year’s exercise is designed to provide relevant training to meet the most likely contingency operations.” He said, “It will shape the future to come in the greater region and global arena.”

Maj. Gen. Emerson N. Gardner, then Director for Operations, U.S. Pacific Command, speaks at the opening ceremony. Photo by MSgt. James E. Lotz, USAF

Royal Thai Army Gen. Somdat Attananda, Supreme Commander, addresses participants. Photo by SSgt. Cherie A. Thurlby, USAF