Army integrates reserve force in drills

The Philippine Army has deployed the ready reserve force, for the first time, in a military exercise with American and Japanese forces in northern Luzon, an army spokesman said.

Active-duty and reserve personnel participated in the SALAKNIB Phase 2 JPMRC-X Exercise at Col. Ernesto Rabina Air Base (CERAB), Capas, Tarlac training grounds on May 13, 2026. Photo from Philippine Army.

Manuel Mogato | May 18, 2026

MANILA — The Philippine Army has deployed the ready reserve force, for the first time, in a military exercise with American and Japanese forces in northern Luzon, an army spokesman said.

Colonel Louie Dema-ala said the Army was testing its “total force” concept during the second phase of the “Salaknib” ground force drills in Tarlac.

“The roll-out of the Artillery Regiment’s Reservist Integration Concept through a first-of-its-kind Hybrid Training Model integrated reserve personnel with active-duty units for the first time in the history of the Artillery’s bilateral exercises,” Dema-ala said in a statement.

“Structured under a deliberate ‘Total Force’ framework, the Artillery Regiment’s training unit was composed of 15% active-duty personnel and 85% reserve personnel.”

Dema-ala said the Army units trained with the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces (JGSDF) and a small contingent from the US Army Pacific during Salaknib drills in various locations in northern Luzon.

He said the exercise participants rehearsed several military and non-military training activities, such as command post exercises, displaced civilian operations, combat support training, and interoperability drills, which are designed to improve coordination and combat effectiveness in addressing conventional and emerging security threats.

The centerpiece activity was the Artillery Regiment drill, which tested, for the first time, its reserve force integration concept, he added.

The Philippines has a ready reserve force of about 100,000 trained civilians and a standby force of nearly 1.5 million, most of them in the Army.

Dema-ala said the Salaknib drills were held at the newly created Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center-Exportable (JPMRC-X) at the Colonel Ernesto Rabina Air Base (CERAB), Capas, Tarlac.

The JPMRC-X also has an aerial gunnery range at Crow Valley, where the US and the Philippine Air Force trained in bombing and strafing runs.