KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia --
Members of the Malaysian Armed Forces, U.S. Pacific Command and Marines and sailors of 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade participated in the Malaysia Staff Exercise 2012 here Jan. 10-17 to prepare for upcoming exercises.
The purpose of the exercise is to improve interoperability between the U.S. and Malaysian militaries and prepare the two services to better operate in a joint-bilateral environment.
“Working together like this will help to improve our interoperability and efficiency in a joint, (bilateral) environment,” said Col. John A. Ostrowski, the chief of staff for the brigade. “For two nations to come together and achieve a common goal is not an easy task. However, exercises such as this allow both nations to operate under one set of (standard operating procedures) and really learn from one another how to best work together.”
To begin the exercise, the groups were given background information outlining a scenario with an issue or obstacle to overcome. From there, they broke out into three operational planning teams with a mix of U.S. and Malaysian service members. For the following five days, the two nations systematically and analytically determined several possible courses of action that could solve the issues presented in the scenario.
Once the teams developed a plan, a Malaysian officer from each team briefed this plan to the group and the combined command element.
“The Malaysians aren’t the only ones that benefitted from this (exercise). We learn a lot from them as well,” said Ostrowski.
Navy Lt. Raymond Posey, a medical planner for the exercise, said it is a great opportunity to exchange information and ideas.
“With our focus shifting towards the Pacific, these exercises will continue to increase our effectiveness in a multinational environment,” he said.
Working relationships were not the only thing established during this exercise.
“We come here and we tend to focus on the professional relationships more than the personal ones,” said Brig. Gen. Craig Q. Timberlake, commanding general, 3rd MEB, III Marine Expeditionary Force.
“The personal relationships are going to last for years to come,” he said.