U.S. Marines with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, III Marine Expeditionary Force, and members of the Royal Thai Marine Corps (RTMC) met to discuss future engagements between the two forces, Dec. 10 – 13, 2024.

Senior leaders from MARFORPAC traveled over six thousand miles to participate in the multi-day event, known as the USMC-RTMC Future Engagement Planning (FEP) Conference, to further strengthen regional cooperation and collaboration with the RTMC.

While this event gave leaders from both sides an outlet for collaboration, military-to-military relations between the USMC and RTMC is nothing new.

"The alliance between the U.S. and Thailand has been around since the mid 1950’s. The U.S. Marine Corps and Royal Thai Marine Corps have been working together for many years, much longer than I have been alive." said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Mark F. Schaefer, commanding officer, Headquarters and Service Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific.

Participants discussed various topics during the week including ways to develop RTMC Amphibious Combat Vehicle and Amphibious Assault Vehicle maintenance capabilities, as well as opportunities to increase interoperability between partner nations, including topics such as complex multilateral military medicine.

“I think it was successful in the sense that the Royal Thai Marine Corps have come to us with a list of things that they would like to see come out of our partnership, whether that be training or equipment, and we can work in the coming months and years to continue to integrate our forces and develop our strong partnership with the Thai military as we keep a free U.S. Indo-Pacific Command region,” said Schaefer.

One key individual was Royal Thai Marine Corps Cmdr. Weerakmon Suanchan, a counterintelligence officer, who facilitated the communication between U.S. and Royal Thai Marines, preventing any limitations due to language barriers from hindering their discussions.

“I feel we got a lot of updated knowledge and experiences from the United States Marine Corps, especially MARFORPAC,” said Suanchan. “This is a good time for us to learn from each other, and we are able to continue the connection easily, which we appreciate.”

With an ocean surface area of over 100 million square miles and a total coastline of approximately 155 thousand miles in the Pacific Region, maintaining relationships between partner nations is critical to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

“USMC-RTMC Future Engagement Planning is critical to building upon the decades-old US-Thai alliance,” said U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Kyle J. Rempe, Southeast Asia desk officer, G-5 Plans Division, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific.

Events like the USMC-RTMC Future Engagements Planning Conference maintain and strengthen relationships between nations and help the U.S. and its allies more prepared for whatever may come in the future.

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific is the largest operational command in the Marine Corps. It comprises two-thirds of the Marine Corps’ active-duty combat forces, collectively known as the “Pacific Marines.” Pacific Marines serve as an expeditionary force-in-readiness. They operate as air-ground-logistics teams and are forward positioned and actively employed throughout the Indo-Pacific every day. Pacific Marines live and work alongside the joint force and like-minded allies and partners to prevent conflict, respond to crisis, and if the Nation calls, to fight and win.