Service members and representatives from more than 19 partner nations gathered for the closing ceremony of Exercise Keris Aman 23, co-hosted by the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), on Aug. 26 at the Malaysian Peacekeeping Centre.

Keris Aman 23 ran August 13-26, 2023 and is one of the largest annual international peacekeeping field training exercises in the world. Nearly 800 personnel, including 66 U.S. and 426 MAF, participated.

Malaysian Armed Forces Joint Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Haji Fazal Bin Haji Abdul Rahman, presided over the ceremony along with the U.S. Department of State’s Director of the Office of Global Programs and Initiatives (GPOI), Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Michael L. Smith.

Military personnel traveled from across the Indo-Pacific -- Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uruguay and Vietnam -- to participate in the exercise.

Keris Aman 23 consisted of UN peacekeeping operations staff training, field training, and a critical enabler capability enhancement event, all of which focused on UN and international peacekeeping and stability operations.

The MAF contributed the majority of the core trainers and role-players for the field training event, that will help prepare for its scheduled deployment for the UN peacekeeping operation in Lebanon this fall.

At the closing ceremony, Fazal thanked U.S. Indo-Pacific Command along with the exercise participants for this year’s multinational peacekeeping exercise.

“Personnel in peacekeeping missions come from diverse organizations and nations, yet must coordinate together in each peacekeeping mission,” said Fazal. “The collective experiences gained from this multinational exercise, are far beyond what we could have obtained on our own. It has provided us with priceless exposures, experiences, and lessons that will be a guiding platform to enhance our capabilities and continuously prepare for any uncertainties.”

After the closing ceremony, GPOI Office Director Michael Smith thanked Maj. Gen. Rahman and the MAF for hosting the exercise.

Smith added, “We have enduring peacekeeping partnerships with 10 countries in the region to assist and support their peacekeeping goals and capabilities. GPOI has contributed to improving peacekeeping readiness in countries around the world, and works with partners to make peace operations more effective and help keep peacekeepers safe and secure.”

During the exercise, Malaysian, U.S., and other partner nation forces worked together to enhance interoperability and mission effectiveness in common tactics, techniques and procedures in accordance with UN doctrine with the objective of furthering UN peacekeeping troop performance and regional peace operations.

Next year’s iteration of the multinational peacekeeping exercise series will be Shanti Prayas IV, at the Birendra Peace Operations Training Center in Panchkhal, Nepal.