Thirty personnel from U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM), U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific (MARFORPAC), and U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) are taking part in ASEAN Exercise 16-3 (AEX 16-3), from September 1-11 in Chonburi Province, Thailand.
The exercise focuses on military-to-military operational planning, administration, and coordination to increase the capabilities of joint operations from ASEAN Member States and "plus" countries in support of disaster response in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, AEX 16-3 is the third iteration of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM+) multinational exercise program in 2016. AEX 16-3 is a small-scale Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR)-focused multinational exercise co-hosted by Thailand, Japan, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, and the Russian Federation.
The United States is one of 18 countries invited to participate in the exercise. AEX 16-3 includes a Command Post Exercise and a Field Training Exercise with associated After Action Reports. A total of 400 foreign forces are anticipated to participate in AEX 16-3. Participating ASEAN Member States include Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.