Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commander, U.S. Army Pacific, met with I Corps leadership Nov. 18, to hear updates on the Pacific Pathways efforts and to discuss PACOM AOR Integration. The visit included a stop to see 1st Special Forces Group and an aerial tour of Yakima Training Center range and maneuver areas.

Through Pacific Pathways, the Army seeks to develop small units that will be forward-deployed for quick response to humanitarian emergencies or regional threats.

The plan is also a way for the Army to maintain a presence in parts of the Pacific where it’s not feasible to establish bases.

Pacific Pathways would use the series of established military exercises with Pacific nations as “training pathways,” it will also support more substantial exchanges of subject expertise and personnel.

The Army is involved in a series of annual exercises in the Pacific, with countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia and India. Personnel and equipment are normally transported to and from each exercise at great expense. Instead of a series of Army units traveling to an exercise for 10 to 30 days and returning home, the new pathways model would deploy a smaller unit that will move from one exercise to the next. The 2014 exercises provided training for Soldiers of 2-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, stationed at JBLM, Wash