Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne at the invitation of Commander U.S. Marine Corps and Pacific Commanding General Fleet Marine Force, Lieutenant General John A. Toolan, took part in the Pacific Command Amphibious Leaders Symposium (PALS) 2016.
Commander of the Navy was accompanied by the Naval Secretary, Commodore Udaya Hettiarachchi. The event took off ground on 11th July and held until the 14th in Southern California, USA.
The intent of PALS 2016 was to promote shared awareness, increased cooperation and enhanced interoperability among like-minded forces. Further it brought together senior leaders of allied partner nations to discuss key aspects of amphibious operations, crisis response, sea-basing and capacity development.
The symposium was consisted of academic discussions, a scenario based Table-Top-Exercise, Sea-basing and amphibious landing demonstration and group discussions. Moreover the four-day forum allowed senior leaders to share their ideas, provide better understanding of their own amphibious capabilities and set goals for their forces to achieve.
Engagements in the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region such as PALS and other exercises result in better training and interoperability among the friendly military leaders and partners throughout the region; they also pave the way for enhanced regional stability and economic ties that are beneficial to all. The event was attended by more than 20 Marine Corps, Naval Forces and Armies across the world.
