U.S. Marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade based out of Camp Pendleton, California, spent the day sharing communications practices with Philippine Marines from 3rd Marine Brigade, Western Command today.

Communications is a vital function of warfighting, and an absolute necessity for command and control of operations and exercises.

The training focused on high frequency, or HF, communications.

“They are teaching us about the capacity of HF equipment,” said 1st Lt. Edgar Ardamoy from Iloilo City.

“They (3rd Marine Brigade) have a broad understanding of HF radio, so we’re just showing them how we do things,” explained U.S. Marine Cpl. Alton Kruckeberg from Little Chute, Wisconsin. 

Communications personnel are often the unsung heroes of any military operation, and quite often the most cursed when communication doesn’t work properly.

“We showed them some of the extra things they can do to help keep comms up,” stated Cpl. Jose Jiminez from New York City.

1st MEB Marines are in Puerto Princesa as part of Exercise Balikatan 2015. The shoulder-to-shoulder training will help hone the skills of both U.S. and Philippine Marines while strengthening the bonds between the two organizations.