US MARINE AIRCRAFT ARRIVE IN THAILAND FOR COBRA GOLD 18

Exercise Cobra Gold 2018 is an annual massive exercise conducted in the Kingdom of Thailand with seven full participating nations.

U.S. Marine aircraft arrive in Thailand for exercise Cobra Gold 2018.

U.S. Marines with 1st Marine Aircraft Wing joined forces with service members from seven full participating nations to support the 37th iteration of Exercise Cobra Gold, at various sites in the Kingdom of Thailand, February 13-23, 2018.

Exercise Cobra Gold 2018 is one of the largest theater security cooperation exercises in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region and is an integral part of the U.S. commitment to strengthen engagement in the region. It is intended to advance regional security and ensure effective responses to regional crises by bringing together a robust multinational force to address shared goals and security commitments in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

1st MAW sent AH-1Z Vipers, UH-1Y Venoms with HMLA-369, CH-53E Super Stallions with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466 and KC-130J Hercules with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152, to provide aerial support for the exercise. Also, to build relationships and improve joint capabilities over a range of activities, to include enhancing maritime security and responding to large-scale natural disasters.

According to an AH-1Z Viper pilot, HMLA-369 will take part in various training operations, such as live fire exercises, flight landings on Thai and Korean Navy ships, VIP lifts, and integrate with Thai Joint Terminal Attack Controllers.

This exercise will improve combined responsiveness to crises in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, and further reinforce the decades-long partnership. Also, it will test the interoperability and bilateral capability of the Thai and U.S. militaries to work together across a variety of areas including humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and a field training exercise.

Source, Images: USMC