US Marines to take part in Belgaum exercise

Advancing joint military training to yet another level, a company of the US Marine Corps will be in India for the first time, to take part in Shatrujeet, a two-week joint commando training exercise to be held at Belgaum in Karnataka in October.

The second in the Shatrujeet series, the company-level exercise in Belgaum, where the Army’s Commando Training Wing is located, is expected to involve joint manoeuvres, quick-reaction special operations, weapon-familiarisation and asymmetric warfare training. The first in the series was a platoon-level infantry exercise at Camp Pendleton, California last June. The two sides will also exchange notes on USMC operations in Iraq, and the Indian Army’s experiences in J-K. USMC Commandant Michael W Hagee was in India in late March. Sources say he was given a tour of the Kashmir valley and the LoC, besides being briefed on the counter-insurgency situation in J-K and the North East. Later this month, another officer from the Marine Corps, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, the seniormost serving officer in the American military, will be in the country. Although the second smallest of the five branches of the US military — it’s bigger than the US Coast Guard — the Marines renowned for its agile deployment capability and amphibious warfare profile, has been deployed in all conflicts that have involved Washington, including the Vietnam war, in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and Iraq.

After the company-level Army joint exercise near Ranikhet in January this year, more company-level Army exercises, Yudh Abhyas, will be held in September under the Western Command and another in Hawaii, possibly with units under the US Army’s 27th Infantry Division.