The Juicy Girl Homeland Re-opens: US Military in the Philippines

[Guest]

http://thediplomat.com/2014/04/us-philippines-enhanced-defense-cooperation-agreement-bolsters-pivot-to-asia/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/04/28/remarks-president-obama-filipino-and-us-armed-forces-fort-bonifacio

The President (or somebody from the US government) signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with the Philippines yesterday. I glanced through the brief 10 pages of the agreement, and it does not stipulate the number of personnel, aircraft, vessels, or locations, but that certainly will follow in the next few years.

FYI for anybody with memories of Clark AB, the former installation now has some 50K residents and is a sizable international airport, so it's pretty damn unlikely we're going to get much of that particular plot of land back.

Anybody have any thoughts?

[RASH]

Reopen the Nipa Hut, Fire Empire!

Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

[waveshaper]

My first recommendation for the anticipated new PACAF General Orders;

GO #1; No lusting after round eyes: This rule/law worked exceptionally well for that region of the world in the past

(for the units that embraced it). This GO #1, if enforced, will significantly reduce or eliminate military on

military sexual harassment/assault and it hopefully will make the SAPR folks happy and keep them from harassing the

troops. Note; This old rule/law will have to be updated to include guidance for the LGBT community.

[Spoo]

Maybe it's just me, but WTF are you talking about?

[HercDude]

FYI for anybody with memories of Clark AB, the former installation now has some 50K residents and is a sizable international airport, so it's pretty damn unlikely we're going to get much of that particular plot of land back.

http://www.gov.ph/2014/04/28/qna-on-the-enhanced-defense-cooperation-agreement/

"11. Does EDCA mean the return of US bases in the Philippines?

The Agreement is very clear on this matter and specifies in the Preamble the Parties’ “understanding for the US not to establish a permanent military presence or base in the territory of the Philippines.”

EDCA does not authorize the establishment of US bases. It allows the US military access to Agreed Locations."

[waveshaper]

Maybe it's just me, but WTF are you talking about?

I'm not sure if the statute of limitations on some of this stuff has expired yet so here is a short version of no

lusting after round eyes, one of many, unit level by-laws.

I was stationed in PACAF 4 times during the 1970s/80s and my particular units never had a sexual harassment/assault

problem with any other U.S. military/civilian female members, not once. We avoided U.S. military/civilian female

members at all cost. This may be due to some of the by-laws/codes we lived by during this time. Example; Lusting after round eyes was absolutely outlawed and any violators/violations were harshly punished (in house). Even talking to,

looking at for a prolonged period (more than 3 seconds), or talking about a round eye would bring swift punishment if

you were caught in the act. Now the units that I was in had no females (U.S. round eyes assigned to them) but there were

round eyes on the bases, in other units, so you still could be busted if caught compromising/violating the unit by-laws.

Original intent/meaning of "no lusting after round eyes" (old school) = you (members assigned to a specific unit) can

only "legally" lust after indigenous/native females........!

Modern intent/meaning of "no lusting after round eyes" would possibly look something like this = USAF members can only

"legally" lust after indigenous/native persons as determined by the USAF members sexual orientation, preference, and/or

choice. This modern stuff gets way to complicated.

[ForgotPassword]

If anyone hears about no-shit GS positions available out there please post up...

[MC5Wes]

Didn't FedEx move out of Cubi Point down at Subic Bay?

[pbar]

I got be on one of the AO-level negotiation sessions with the Phils a couple of years ago for all of this. What a goat rope. It seemed to me that the Philippine officers in the meeting were first and foremost concerned about how all of this could benefit them personally (Oh the Yankees want to do some Exercise Related Construction there? I got a cousin who owns a cement company there...). Like HercDude said, this agreement isn't for permanent basing which is prohibited by their Constitution. It's all about rotational presence. The catch is that most of their bases we'd like to use require a lot of work to make them really usable.

Edited April 30, 2014 by pbar

[Lawman]

Army is sending a small aviation task force of Lift and Attack on what is supposedly to be a rotational basis. First units are slated to head here around September of this year.

TDY in the Philippines.... What could possibly go wrong.

Edited April 30, 2014 by Lawman

[matmacwc]

Herpasyphilhiv?

[Lawman]

Herpasyphilhiv?

That and Alimony payments are the two things I would be most worried about

[AFsock]

We just talked about it yesterday. They only expect ~$150/month. This dude keeps his baby mama in the lap of luxery on $250/month.

[Lawman]

We just talked about it yesterday. They only expect ~$150/month. This dude keeps his baby mama in the lap of luxery on $250/month.

True but this is Army Aviation we are taking about. Most of us in the Warrant corps are already spending half our base pay keeping 1-2 dependapotamus harpy monsters happy and fed.

Now that I think about it that would be a good discriminator on who we send.

[panchbarnes]

Herpasyphilhiv?

Don't worry, the VA is one step ahead of you.

http://www2.va.gov/directory/guide/facility.asp?ID=682

The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has been in operation in the Philippines since the U.S. Veterans Bureau was opened in 1922 (except during the Japanese occupation of WW II), and it is an integral part of the United States’ Mission to the Republic of the Philippines.

[pbar]

The article's title is also misleading. OEF Philippines has been going on since 2001 and at its height, ~600 people were deployed and we're still there (though a reduced presence). So it's not a re-opening... We've also lost some folks there in accidents and VEO attacks. See OEF-P case study here link.

When I went to Manila on that TDY, I was astounded at the size of the VA hospital there.

Edited April 30, 2014 by pbar

[waveshaper]

When I went to Manila on that TDY, I was astounded at the size of the VA hospital there.

The Philippines is unique when it comes to receiving VA benefits in a foreign country. It is the only foreign country

that provides veteran living there the same level of medical benefits/care as those living in the U.S. The medical

facilities, care, and ability to get referrals to contract hospitals is similar to the U.S.

They also provide full VA benefits (with some exceptions) to eligible members of the Philippine Commonwealth Army,

Recognized Guerrillas, and Philippine Scouts.

[billy pilgrim]

The article's title is also misleading. OEF Philippines has been going on since 2001 and at its height, ~600 people were deployed and we're still there (though a reduced presence). So it's not a re-opening... We've also lost some folks there in accidents and VEO attacks. See OEF-P case study here link.

When I went to Manila on that TDY, I was astounded at the size of the VA hospital there.

Watch out for the MILF! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moro_Islamic_Liberation_Front

[Alpharatz]

True but this is Army Aviation we are taking about. Most of us in the Warrant corps are already spending half our base pay keeping 1-2 dependapotamus harpy monsters happy and fed.

Now that I think about it that would be a good discriminator on who we send.

It would be a nice change from the Battle Hags and Hogasauruses I deal with every day.

.........................are the Huks still hanging around out there?....................

[Bergman]

Apparently the current crop of AAFES workers is nearing retirement age, so time to go stock up on fresh talent and get them trained up early.

I read "rotational presence" to mean "permanently TDY units", just like they've been doing with the bombers in Guam for many years. We can all hope!

[Hacker]

Original intent/meaning of "no lusting after round eyes" (old school) = you (members assigned to a specific unit) can

only "legally" lust after indigenous/native females........!

Modern intent/meaning of "no lusting after round eyes" would possibly look something like this = USAF members can only

"legally" lust after indigenous/native persons as determined by the USAF members sexual orientation, preference, and/or

choice. This modern stuff gets way to complicated.

In short, LBFMs will be used to reduce the number of deployed sexual assaults on military members.

[waveshaper]

In short, LBFMs will be used to reduce the number of deployed sexual assaults on military members.

The point being if you have any lusting to do, take it downtown/out the gate and find someone/thing that's not

affiliated with the DoD and this could be applied at any location (including CONUS). Back then, in my units, one of the

duties of a good "Wingman" was to step in and prevent such indiscretions as lusting after other military members. Also, sexually assaulting LBFMs/anyone = beat down/criminal act/prosecution/jail time....!

[olevelo]

Besides OEF, we've also had several exercises there. When I was at Yokota from 07-09, I spent at least a month or two there between exercises and OEF. So I don't really see a big change.

[deaddebate]

http://thediplomat.com/2015/08/how-the-philippines-plans-to-revive-a-former-us-naval-base

On 28 April 2014, Philippine Defense Secretary Gazmin and U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). This executive agreement provides the framework by which the Philippines and the U.S. can develop their individual and collective (defense) capabilities.

[...]

Unfortunately, left-wing groups and ultra-nationalist personalities questioned EDCA’s constitutionality as an executive agreement requiring no concurrence from the Philippine Senate. EDCA is currently in a legal limbo as both sides wait for a decision from the Philippine Supreme Court before the agreement can be implemented.   However, confronted by Chinese island building activities in the South China Sea, the Philippine government decided to push through with the development of Subic Bay as a training and forward launching facility for U.S. forces operated by the AFP.  Secretary Gazmin admitted that U.S. military (rotational) presence in the AFP military facilities would help.  However, if the court decides against EDCA, the Philippine government will still proceed to develop these facilities inside Subic Bay Freeport.

The U.S. Navy has adopted the Philippine government’s pragmatic position of utilizing Subic Bay with or without EDCA.  Since mid-2015, several U.S. Navy ships have docked in this former naval facility.  In early May, the U.S. Navy’s newest littoral combat ship the U.S.S. Fort Worth (LCS-3) made a brief refueling and resupply stop at Subic Bay. Before the month ended, the Ticonderoga-class-guided-missile cruiser U.S.S. Shiloh (CG-67) arrived in Subic Bay for a port visit.  In July, the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer U.S.S. Lassen (DDG-82) dropped anchor at the former U.S. naval base for a routine port call.  Early this month, the Los Angeles-class attack submarine U.S.S. Chicago (SSN-721) docked in Subic Bay for its first visit to the Philippines.  With or without EDCA, both the AFP and the U.S. Navy are exerting their own respective efforts to make Subic Bay again a major staging base for U.S. power projection in the South China Sea.

[deaddebate]

So eventually the DOD will station folks at only one of these five locations at a time for an indeterminate but temporary length, with a fixed rotation of locations.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/03/254833.htm

 

Quote

Sixth United States-Philippines Bilateral Strategic Dialogue Joint Statement / March 18, 2016

[...] agreement on five EDCA [Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement] Agreed Locations encompassing portions of the following facilities and areas: Antonio Bautista Air Base [Palawan], Basa Air Base [Pampanga], Fort Magsaysay [Nueva Ecija], Lumbia Air Base [Cagayan de Oro], and Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base [Mactan] [...]

 

From the text of the EDCA at:

http://www.gov.ph/2014/04/29/document-enhanced-defense-cooperation-agreement

Quote

(b) Authorizing access to Agreed Locations in the territory of the Philippines by United States forces on a rotational basis, as mutually determined by the Parties.

Edited April 13, 2016 by deaddebate