Led by the U.S. Army Pacific G-37, the directorate responsible for the Pathways campaign, the biannual conference serves as the Army’s premier operational planning forum for synchronizing Operation Pathways activities across the Indo-Pacific. Participating organizations included Headquarters, Department of the Army G-3/5/7; U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; U.S. Transportation Command; Army Futures Command; the National Guard Bureau; and U.S. Army Reserve headquarters.

During the conference, planners coordinated more than 50 bilateral and multilateral exercises across 25 countries, directly supporting combatant commander objectives and the U.S. Army Pacific commanding general’s priority to “be ready” in fiscal year 2027 by projecting combat-credible land forces forward. Discussions enabled course-of-action development across warfighting functions, refined agreed-upon actions, synchronized operations, activities and investments, and identified friction points affecting execution across the theater.

This iteration of P2C2 also synchronized the fiscal years 2027–2029 Operational Pathways Campaign Plan, strengthening unity of effort across theater campaigning requirements and reinforcing land power integration throughout the region.

Col. Dave Butler, director of the U.S. Army Pacific Exercise Division, underscored the conference’s operational significance.

“P2C2 is the engine that drives Operation Pathways,” Butler said. “This forum allows us to align more than 50 distinct activities into a focused campaign that projects landpower across the Indo-Pacific. In a region defined by vast distances, operational complexity and strategic competition, P2C2 synchronizes command and control, intelligence collection, protection, sustainment, fires and other effects forward, west of the International Date Line, at a time and place of our choosing. The planning conducted here enables the joint force, along with our allies and partners, to maintain a position of relative advantage and rapidly transition from exercise to crisis or conflict response.”

Two major developments highlighted this iteration of the conference: the introduction of Operation Pathways 3.0 and the inaugural funding authorization of the Pathways Reserve and National Guard Pay and Allowances program.

The funding mechanism enables Component II and III participation beyond statutory annual training limits. As the first Army service component command authorized to execute the initiative, U.S. Army Pacific expands opportunities for Reserve and National Guard formations to enhance combat readiness through increased planning integration, rehearsal participation and operational execution in support of Operation Pathways.

The updated framework advances National Guard and Reserve integration across all levels of campaigning. Maj. Melana Lex, U.S. Army Pacific Pathways Pay and Allowances program manager, highlighted the program’s early impact.

“Fiscal year 2026 marks our first year of program execution, and we are already seeing a tremendous return on investment,” Lex said. “Pathways RPA and NGPA provide planners the flexibility to integrate Component III sustainers earlier and extend participation timelines while enhancing Component II planning integration during Joint Exercise Life Cycle events. This program is a critical tool for strengthening engagement and exercise integration across the force.”

The Winter P2C2 reinforced U.S. Army Pacific’s commitment to protecting the security, freedom and prosperity of the United States and its allies and partners through persistent engagement, strengthened alliances and integrated planning that ensures the command remains ready to compete, deter and, if necessary, prevail in conflict.