Marines Play Hide-and-Shoot in the Philippines

by Jose Campos

PALAWAN, Philippines -In the sweltering heat of Palawan, the defenders went to work, one palm frond at a time. Members of the U.S. Marine Corps  and Philippine Marine Corps went to ground, to dig and disguise fighting positions ahead of a live-fire counter-landing drill at Quezon. The mission: vanish into the terrain, then hit back hard.

The mission unfolded on June 2 during the 9th annual KAMANDAG exercise. KAMANDAG, short for Kaagapay ng mga Mandirigma ng Dagat (“Cooperation of Warriors of the Sea”), is all about Marines from the two nations working together. 

The Marines are in theater as part of Marine Rotational Force–Darwin 25.3, a forward-postured crisis response unit under I Marine Expeditionary Force. They train with Australian and regional partners. 

This portion had no high-tech gimmicks. Just dirt, sweat, and jungle cover—layered on leaf by leaf to make positions that could hide a weapon from even the most determined enemy eye.

Camouflage, concealment, and callouses. That’s what went into the palm frond segment of this live fire counter-landing drill during the heat of summer in Quezon.

Jose Campos writes frequently for Soldier of Fortune.