U.S. and Philippine Army Soldiers Conduct a Targeting Working Group During the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center-Exportable (JPMRC-X) in the Philippines

FORT MAGSAYSAY, Philippines — U.S. Army Soldiers with the 25th Infantry Division (25th ID), 196th Infantry Brigade (196th IN BDE) and the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Division (7th ID) targeting working group, conducted a targeting decision board during the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center-Exportable (JPMRC-X) exercise, June 7, 2024.

The targeting working group’s targeting decision board is highly beneficial to the JPMRC-X exercise mission planning process. It is a way to promote interoperability between the joint forces as they work together to create a plan to present to the command team for approval. Sharing knowledge and experience helps the soldiers to assess what has been successful in the past.

“It’s been a great experience to work with the U.S. Army because of a lot of knowledge shared with each other and the integration of the U.S. Army and the Philippine Army,” explained Philippine Army 1st Lt. Ena Sugon, an analysis control element officer with the 7th ID. “I am happy working with the targeting working group because I learn a lot from them and it is something that I can treasure for the rest of my life.”

Behind the scenes, the targeting working group brings together subject matter experts from various career fields such as intelligence, fire support and operations, that have the knowledge and capabilities to produce plans that follow the U.S. Army’s targeting methodology of decide, detect, deliver and assess (D3A) efficiently.

“Following the D3A targeting methodology, we’ll all discuss together with our Philippine counterparts to decide,” said U.S. Army Capt. David Brauer, an intelligence targeting officer with the 25th ID. “Deciding what targets need to be removed from the battlefield, how we’re going to detect those targets in time and space, which assets we’re going to use to deliver and then we’ll assess whether or not our targeting efforts were successful or not.”

Holding a targeting decision board is important for a commander during the planning process. The commander will use their own guidance and resources along with the recommendations of the targeting working group, to plan and execute missions.

The JPMRC-X command team utilized the targeting working group’s targeting decision board for further guidance on upcoming mission execution recommendations and analysis of previous efforts completed during the exercise. The team came together to prioritize targets based on their ability to locate the targets and track them, the challenging terrain in their surrounding environments, the resources available to the soldiers and if it is believed they can be defeated.

“A big focus for this one was enabling our bilateral partners to embody the targeting process and conduct that process from their point of view and their intelligence capabilities,” explained Brauer.

Participating in the targeting working group during the JPMRC-X exercise, has provided leadership personnel opportunities to expand their leadership capabilities and improve their merging capabilities while working with other nations.

“Our bilateral partners do intel a little bit differently than us,” explained Brauer. “So, it was really kind of fun to see from the different perspectives and different culture how intel is better suited for them and how our bilateral partners do intel and how we do intel. Between the both of us and the scenario we were given, it really kind of came together like pieces of a puzzle.”

This iteration of the JPMRC-X exercise has made an impact on the soldiers who participated and allowed them to come together as a joint force to learn from one another and create lifelong memories that they can take with them.

“The targeting working group helps me a lot to give some ideas that I can share with my colleagues when we are finished with this exercise,” said Sugon. “As a lieutenant in the Philippine Army it’s been a great opportunity to do this JPMRC, because of new knowledge and great experience and great memories with the U.S. Army.”