PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea –
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea – U.S. service members and Papua New Guinea Defence Force soldiers marched across Murray Barracks Parade Field, signifying the start of exercise Tamiok Strike 2024 at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, July 15, 2024.
Tamiok Strike is a bilateral exercise sponsored by U.S. Army Pacific and hosted by the PNGDF with a focus on tactical interoperability.
Opening remarks were given by Papua New Guinea Defence Forces Col. Kingsley Wawada, the PNGDF support services commander, and U.S. Army Lt. Gen. James Jarrard, the deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific.
“On the occasion of this morning, the launching of this exercise Tamiok Strike 2024, I acknowledge your presence and welcome everybody on the parade field, including our guests,” said Wawada.
This is the fourth iteration of Tamiok Strike. The two-week long exercise will take place at Murray Barracks, Port Moresby and Ingam Barracks, Lae.
“Our commitment here is to work together, improve and learn,” said Jarrard. “Increase our interoperability to show all adversaries throughout this region, and in the world, that we are joined together, because we share the same values. Freedom, prosperity, and that we will work together to maintain those values.”
The exercise involves approximately 100 service members from both the U.S. and PNGDF, and aims to enhance combined interoperability through training and cultural exchanges.
At Murray Barracks, U.S. and PNGDF Soldiers will participate in a staff exercise to improve operational planning, and share logistics, medical and military police best practices through a series of subject matter expert exchanges to enhance soldier proficiency.
In Lae, a combined team of engineers are improving the area footprint to enable more bilateral training opportunities for future exercises.
Tamiok Strike 24 is a bilateral training exercise designed to improve the interoperability and readiness of the Papua New Guinea Defence Forces, and U.S. Forces, and to enhance partner capacity to respond to conventional and potential natural disasters throughout the Indo-Pacific region.