The first US-Asean Maritime Exercise (AUMX) officially began with a ceremony at the Royal Thai Fleet headquarters in Chon Buri's Sattahip district yesterday.
The ceremony, attended by naval representatives from 10 participating countries, was jointly presided over by Vice Adm Charoenpol Kumrasee, chief-of-staff of the Royal Thai Fleet, and Rear Adm Kenneth Whitesell, deputy commander of the US Pacific Fleet.
The joint exercise, which runs until Friday, involves 1,250 military personnel.
Taking part in the drills are Brunei's Darussalam-class offshore patrol vessel KDB Darulaman, Philippine offshore patrol vessel BRP Ramon Alcaraz, Singaporean frigate RSS Tenacious, Myanmar frigate UMS Kyan Sittha, and the Royal Thai Navy's HTMS Krabi, an offshore patrol vessel.
The US, meanwhile, has sent the littoral combat ship USS Montgomery (LCS 8), the guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108), three MH-60 helicopters and a P-8 Poseidon aircraft.
The vessels will form a combined task force (CTF) for the exercise, which will take place in Cape Cà Mau on the Cà Mau Peninsula in Vietnam -- the southernmost point on the Vietnamese mainland.
The AUMX -- co-led by the US and the Royal Thai Navy -- will be preceded with pre-sailing activities in Thailand, Singapore and Brunei, followed by sea drills in international waters in the Gulf of Thailand as well as the South China Sea.
The exercise will conclude in Singapore.
Vice Adm Charoenpol said the multilateral drill, the first of its kind, is aimed at improving maritime cooperation and enhancing security in the region.
The US's participation in the AUMX sets the stage for the sharing of naval experience. The US is a participant in the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (Carat) exercises as well as Cobra Gold, the largest Asia-Pacific military exercise held annually in Thailand.
Vice Adm Charoenpol said countries are expected to take turns hosting the US-Asean Maritime Exercise. He insisted it has nothing to do with the regional maritime conflict in the South China Sea as the exercise does not involve arms training.
"The aim is to train regional navies in delivering humanitarian assistance and mitigating disasters," he said.
Rear Adm Whitesell said the collective training reflects a stronger regional military partnership. He also insisted it is not a case of the US imposing its will on other countries, as each participating navy has their own set of objectives it wants to accomplish in the exercise.
"When we do join together, we know we have an understanding of how we are going to operate together. That's why this exercise is critical," he said.
He denied the AUMX is intended to challenge China's maritime dominance in the South China Sea.