Amazon troops head to military exercise in the United States
Marabá (PA) – Members of the 23rd Jungle Infantry Brigade, based in Marabá, in southeastern Pará, left for the United States on Monday, August 5, to take part in Exercise CORE 24 (Combined Operation and Rotation Exercise). On August 2, the Northern Military Command held a farewell graduation ceremony for the contingent that left for the mission.
The troops from Pará are made up of 180 soldiers, who are part of the CORE Subunit. The Northern Military Commander, Army General Luciano Guilherme Cabral Pinheiro, highlighted the importance of the troops who will be representing the country. “A large number of people from Pará, of all ranks and grades, will leave for the joint training, representing our Amazon region. They are prepared to represent Brazil and the Amazon in an exemplary way.”
To take part in Exercise CORE 24, the soldiers underwent intense training in nine editions of Operation Munduruku, held in Marabá. “This preparation began in February 2023, with a series of operational training sessions, psychological counseling and physical training, which were gradual and crowned with exercises in the field. This year we carried out exercises with real shooting, so that we developed all the skills that are part of a Jungle Infantry Battalion, specifically for this company that will be operating on US soil,” says Major Sérgio da Silva, Operations Officer of the 52nd Jungle Infantry Battalion (52nd BIS).
In addition to the personnel from Pará, another 41 soldiers from various military organizations in Brazil are part of the group, making a total of 221 soldiers from the Brazilian Army. In partnership with the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), the group is heading to the USA aboard a KC-30 aircraft (Airbus A 330).
One of the members of the CORE subunit is 2nd Sergeant Érika Sarges. A member of the health service, she talks about her expectations. “In ten years of service, I didn’t expect to go on this mission and have contact with both the country and the American troops, even more so with the Infantry. For me it’s a very noble and enriching feeling, both personally and for my profession,” she said.
CORE 24
The fourth edition of Exercise CORE will be held from August 5 to September 4 at Fort Johnson in Louisiana, USA. The exercise is the result of a cooperation program signed between Brazil and the United States, which stipulates annual bilateral exercises until 2028.
The first edition took place in Brazil, in São Paulo, in 2021, and the second in Louisiana, USA, in 2022. In 2023, the exercise was held in the states of Pará and Amapá, under the responsibility of the CMN, for the first time in the Eastern Amazon.
Through these exercises, troops from the two countries share experiences and exchange knowledge on defense doctrine, techniques, tactics and procedures, with the aim of increasing interoperability between the armies and developing military land doctrine.