COBRA GOLD INTEGRAL TO USG ALLIANCE STRUCTURE IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 001670

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2018
TAGS: PREL PTER MARR MOPS PINS PHUM TH
SUBJECT: COBRA GOLD INTEGRAL TO USG ALLIANCE STRUCTURE IN
EAST ASIA

Classified By: Ambassador Eric G. John, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. Cobra Gold, America's largest multilateral
exercise in Asia, is much more than a bilateral exercise with
Thailand. In that Thailand provides good training
infrastructure, large areas for unrestricted live fire
operations, and access to bombing ranges -- all in short
supply in Asia -- Cobra Gold allows U.S. troops to conduct
training activities not found elsewhere. Furthermore, the
exercise is a symbol of American engagement in Asia and an
opportunity to further our military goals in Southeast Asia.
Our annual Cobra Gold exercise has just concluded; the quick
and significant expansion of relief operations at Utapao and
our military's ability to interact rapidly with Thai
counterparts during recent post-cyclone relief operations to
Burma underscored the results of our joint combined
exercises, training and cooperation. End Summary.

MUCH MORE THAN A BILATERAL EXERCISE
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2. (C) Cobra Gold is the largest joint/combined military
exercise in Thailand and America's largest multilateral
exercise in the Asia Pacific Region. Cobra Gold 2008 marked
a milestone in that it was the first time that all
participating nations have taken part in all facets of the
exercise. In the 27th year of Cobra Gold, nearly 12,000
soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines from the U.S.,
Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Indonesia participated in
activities throughout Thailand. Cobra Gold is vital to our

strategic interests in Asia, including advancing regional
security cooperation and engagement, strengthening our joint
and combined capabilities and readiness, and posturing forces
for agile and responsive deployment. Cobra Gold also
strengthens our relationships with key partners by enhancing
multilateralism, promoting a greater role for Japan and
Singapore in the region, and assisting our goal of developing
a more full and normal military relationship with Indonesia.


3. (C) The strength of our military relationship with
Thailand is the result of extensive security cooperation,
particularly our rewarding exercise program. Due to this
close relationship, the U.S. is able to take advantage of
unique live fire training opportunities and ready access to
Utapao Naval Air Base, which became a hub for our regional
tsunami assistance program after the December 2004 tsunami
and for relief flights to Burma after the recent cyclone.


4. (C) The majority of Cobra Gold participants came from the
U.S. and Thailand. Singapore, Indonesia and Japan, however,
also sent robust teams to take part in the three elements of
the exercise - a Command Post Exercise (CPX),a Field
Training Exercise (FTX) and Humanitarian Civic Action (HCA).
Cobra Gold was a constructive challenge to U.S. and other
forces despite some U.S. forces being diverted to aid cyclone
Nargis relief operations. Among the milestones of the
exercise were the first multilateral ground FTX, the first
multilateral engineer-constructed humanitarian civic action
projects, and complete staffing of an exercise "UN
peacekeeping headquarters" by non-US personnel under a Thai
commander.

UNIQUE FIELD TRAINING EVENTS
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5. (C) As the largest multilateral military exercise in Asia,
Cobra Gold included wide-ranging land, sea, and air training
activities. Land training included live fire events such as
integrated artillery and close air support. Air activities
were robust with both the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force
allowed to conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground exercises and
assault support training. As such, Thailand continues to
provide the opportunity to conduct training in unrestricted
air spaces. The opportunity to perform these operations is
particularly important to the U.S. military, which finds it
difficult to perform them elsewhere in the region. For
example, opportunities such as this are increasingly
restricted in Korea and Japan for both geographic and
political reasons. Although Australia is a willing partner,
distance and agricultural inspections complicate what is
normally limited by GOA preference to bilateral training.

Thailand continues to be the only venue in Asia where the
U.S. military can fully engage in multilateral FTX.

BROADENING PEACEKEEPING TRAINING EFFORTS
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6. (C) In operations that complement our Global Peacekeeping
Operations Initiative goals, Cobra Gold provides an
opportunity for the U.S. military to conduct peacekeeping
training events with Thai, Indonesian, and Singaporean
forces. Regional peacekeeping capabilities were also
enhanced by providing security for a noncombatant evacuation
operations training event involving Japanese nationals living
in Thailand. This FTX event was a significant step forward
in multilateral cooperation, especially for the Japanese.

REALISTIC COMMAND POST OPERATION
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7. (C) The command post exercise focused on the transition of
authority from a peace enforcement mission to a peace keeping
mission. The two headquarters, Combined Task Force (CTF)
Cobra Gold and the UN Peacekeeping Force Headquarters
(UNPKFHQ),were established in discrete locations and the
physical separation forced realism into the exercise. The
UNPKFHQ was led by a Thai Army Special Colonel (Brigadier
General equivalent) and had its own processes, objectives,
and requirements. This added to the complexity and realism
of the exercise by requiring real world-like coordination
between CTF and UN participants.

EFFECTIVE HUMANITARIAN AND CIVIC ASSISTANCE TRAINING
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8. (C) The Cobra Gold HCA program continues to provide
outstanding training for engineers, medical, logistics,
contracting, and civil affairs personnel. Seventeen HCA
projects were completed this year, and approximately 400
personnel from the five participating nations were able to
train together while completing HCA activities.
Additionally, the inclusion of members of the international
humanitarian community and subject matter experts from the
Center of Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian
Affairs enhanced the realism of the exercise and allowed CTF
personnel to develop relationships for future engagements.
Tens of thousands of Thais in remote rural areas benefited
from the HCA medical and construction activities, and local
media coverage of these events was extensive and positive.

ENHANCING MULTILATERAL COOPERATION
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9. (C) We have no venue comparable to Cobra Gold that brings
together military officers from so many countries for a
military exercise in Asia. This year's exercise allowed us
to move toward our goal of increased regional cooperation
with a total of nineteen countries involved in the exercise.
In addition to the five participating nations (Thailand,
U.S., Singapore, Japan, and Indonesia),Cobra Gold brought
together seven Multinational Planning Augmentation Team
nations (Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, France, Malaysia,
Mongolia, and the Philippines),and seven observer nations
(Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Pakistan, South Korea, and
Vietnam). Unlike some other nations that only host bilateral
exercises with the U.S., the Thai actively have supported our
objectives of enhancing military cooperation among countries
in the region. In fact, we are exploring inviting South
Korea and Australia as participating nations.


10. (C) Cobra Gold also has provided a forum for the Japanese
military to play a greater regional role in Asia and for the
U.S. to engage the Indonesian military. We have worked
closely with our Thai military partners to gradually increase
the extent of Japanese military activities and achieve
Indonesian participation.

IMPROVING DISASTER RESPONSE CAPABILITIES
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11. (C) Multi-national responses to numerous humanitarian
crises in the region have been bolstered due to the strong

ties developed as a result of Cobra Gold. During Cobra Gold
several years ago, PACOM first tested its Multinational
Planning Augmentation Team (MPAT) concept -- a cadre of
military planners designed to execute coalition responses to
contingencies. The MPAT was made fully operational and
facilitated relief effort coordination among militaries from
twenty one countries during the response to the December 2004
tsunami.

COBRA GOLD AS PLATFORM FOR DISASTER RELIEF
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12. (SBU) As noted, the timing of Cobra Gold and cyclone
Nargis enabled the USG to rapidly ramp up relief operations
at Utapao for relief operations in Burma. To date almost 100
C-130 relief flights from Utapao have delivered more than
eight hundred tons of aid. Even without the coincidental
timing of this year's exercise, our cooperative exercise
program, with Cobra Gold the headline event, provides the
foundation for easy access to Utapao for U.S. forces. As we
saw in the 2004 tsunami relief operation, U.S. and Thai
forces work together easily and effectively to conduct
regional relief efforts.

POSITIVE PORTRAYAL IN LOCAL MEDIA
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13. (SBU) Cobra Gold received good local press coverage with
more than twenty reports in the Thai press. In a contrast to

the often critical coverage of U.S. military exercises found
in the press of other nations with which we have exercises,
local reporting stressed the benefits of the exercise,
particularly joint training and humanitarian assistance.
Following the devastation caused by cyclone Nargis, media
focus highlighted U.S. military relief efforts. There was
intense interest in how U.S. military assets in the region
for Cobra Gold could be leveraged to support delivery of
disaster relief supplies to Rangoon and more severely
affected regions of Burma.

COMMENT
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14. (C) Cobra Gold remains an exceptional forum to influence
key regional nations and to demonstrate that the United
States is a steadfast partner. This year's exercise was a
tremendous training and team building activity that remains a
foundation of our military engagement in Southeast Asia.
This will continue to be the case in the years ahead.
JOHN