[ETAN-key] USArmy: U.S., Indonesia Garuda Shield 2010 opens

[John M Miller]

U.S., Indonesia maintain a partnership of peace

Jun 14, 2010

By 
<http://search.ahp.us.army.mil/search/articles/index.php?search=Sgt+1st+Class+Frank+L+Marquez>Sgt. 
1st Class Frank L. Marquez

BANDUNG, Indonesia -- Continuing an era of cooperation, the 
Indonesian military hosted the opening ceremony of Garuda Shield 2010 
on Thursday at the Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) Infantry Training 
Center in the District of Cipatat.

Maj. Gen. Soenarko, commander of the infantry center, and Maj. Gen. 
Robert G.F. Lee, the adjutant general of Hawaii Army National Guard 
(HIARNG), greeted more than 1,100 military members at the hour-long 
ceremony. Representatives from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Brunei, 
Thailand, Nepal, Philippines and the United States stood in a mass 
formation while listening to welcoming remarks delivered by both 
Soenarko and Lee.

Garuda Shield began four years ago in Bogor with the goal of training 
various nations' militaries for United Nations peacekeeping missions. 
The objectives have not changed over the years with the exception of 
the Indonesians taking the lead on training. Their U.S. counterparts 
now give limited guidance.

"Each country has its own standard, which explains the reason for 
having a U.N. certification," Soenarko said. "The idea is to have one 
standard."

Indonesia is preparing to send an engineering company to Lebanon 
later this year. The Indonesians have been sending troops to Lebanon 
for year-long rotations since December 2006, according to Maj. 
Charles Carter, exercise coordinator. The Indonesians have also 
deployed engineers to the Congo.

"The objectives of this exercise show Indonesia's contribution for 
worldwide peace, and the solidarity between participating countries," 
Lee said. "The benefit of having exercises like Garuda Shield is the 
knowledge that we can work together when natural or other disasters strike."
As part of the exercise, staff officers from the Pacific Command, the 
HIARNG, USARPAC, and the TNI will form a brigade to test peace 
support and stability operations capabilities.

Other troops are in the middle of conducting a field training 
exercise to exchange UN standardized organizational tactics, 
techniques and procedures to improve tactical interoperability.

Meanwhile, engineers are working in Indonesia's rural communities to 
provide humanitarian civic actions (HCA). Every day scores of 
children mil about the construction sites to watch the progress. 
Engineer partners are making quick work of a baby clinic, community 
center and amphitheatre.

"As the executive of the mission, without forgetting the peacekeeping 
and field training aspect, I strongly emphasize the lasting 
impression those kids will have of the U.S.," said Exercise Commander 
Col. Tony Diaz. "That's priceless. It's beneficial when those 
communities see our soldiers working next to their soldiers."

The HCA work sites represent how the U.S. and Indonesian 
military-to-military ties have improved greatly in the last five 
years, and hold the promise of continued improvement in the years to 
come, according to organizers. There remain some minor challenges. 
Lee described one of those hurdles as having the appropriate mindset. 
"First, countries are asked to defend their own nations," he said. 
"But they are also asked to be diplomats. Therefore, we must involve 
many more nations in our efforts which would be a key to 
circumventing world conflicts."

Sgt. Rick Domec of the HIARNG met that challenge as he arrived in 
Indonesia. He discovered that U.N. standards apply different rules of 
engagement. He and Soldiers from C Troop, 299 Cav (Recon Surveillance 
Target Acquisition), have been observing the various tactics at the 
field training exercise adjacent to the TNI Training Center.

"We just returned from a deployment in Kuwait last August and 
September. We were running convoy operations through Iraq to as far 
as Mosul," he said. "There, we had to constantly be alert. But with 
the U.N., we don't have to look at everyone as a threat. We look at 
them as friends, and we are asked to identify ourselves as U.N. peacekeepers."

As Indonesia grows more confident in its training role, it is 
believed that the same will happen with other nations. "In three 
years, I've seen the Indonesian military progress. This is their 
exercise now," Diaz said. "We came here to provide support and 
guidance, but they run it. They plan it. They execute it. They are on 
a par with any national military that I've been associated with in my 29 years.

Diaz added that "hopefully with U.N. training, other nations will 
accept a larger role as their forces become more professional with 
access to training like Garuda Shield 2010, and they develop military 
doctrine modeled after our education system - the Command and Staff 
College, and Army War College. Those countries can then become our 
strategic partners."

(Spc. Emerson Marcus, 106th Public Affairs Detachment, contributed to 
this report.)


<http://www.army.mil/-news/2010/06/14/40837-us-indonesia-maintain-a-partnership-of-peace/>http://www.army.mil/-news/2010/06/14/40837-us-indonesia-maintain-a-partnership-of-peace/ 


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John M. Miller, National Coordinator
East Timor & Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)
PO Box 21873, Brooklyn, NY 11202-1873 USA
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