Bilateral Dalan Ba Dame exercise combines Timor-Leste, U.S. forces
FORUM Staff
Timorese and United States military forces improved tactical interoperability and honed collective readiness at exercise Dalan ba Dame 2023 in late July and early August in Baucau, Timor-Leste.
The bilateral training’s name means “path to peace” in Tetum, a native Timorese language. The partnership’s third iteration included 90 Soldiers and staff from the Falintil-Forças de Defesa de Timor-Leste (F-FDTL), 75 U.S. Soldiers, four U.S. Sailors and two U.S. Airmen.
The training aimed to improve interoperability and increase combined capacity for conventional, complex and future contingencies throughout the Indo-Pacific. Participants received medical training and enhanced their knowledge of land navigation, small unit tactics and engineering. The annual exercise promoted goodwill, cooperation and friendship.
Lt. Gen. Falur Rate Laek, the F-FDTL’s Chief of Defence Force, presided at a July 24 opening ceremony along with U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Tom Daley and Maj. Gen. Reginald Neal of the U.S. Army Pacific. “We hope that we not only strengthen our militaries, but also our ability to work together and provide ways to improve the lives of the Timorese people, including providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” Daley said in opening remarks. “Through this joint exercise, we are building on the hope that Timor-Leste will be better able to defend its citizens, protect its sovereignty, and advance its own national interests.”
The F-FDTL’s priority is defending Timor-Leste and its more than 1.3 million citizens against a potential attack. Secondary missions include nation-building and improving domestic security. The country’s defense force has air, land and naval components and about 1,500 personnel. The land unit has two light infantry battalions, an engineer company, a logistics support company and a military police platoon.
The U.S. Army contingent at Dalan ba Dame included a platoon from the 115th Military Police company of the Rhode Island National Guard and the Army Reserve’s 412 Theater Engineer Command, which made structural improvements to a medical clinic at the F-FDTL’s Army base. A U.S. Air Force chaplain from 143rd Airlift Wing of the Rhode Island National Guard conducted services with bishops from Baucau and Dili.
U.S. Navy Seabees have conducted more than 100 humanitarian projects in Timor-Leste since 2009, including building schools and medical clinics, the U.S. State Department reported. Timorese and U.S. authorities have promoted good governance, improved health services, installed professional security forces and bolstered the economy to create jobs for the growing population.
Timor-Leste’s location — the eastern half of the island of Timor in the Malay Archipelago — has geostrategic advantages as a forward line of defense in the Indo-Pacific. It is at the crossroads of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Island Countries and is well positioned to help ensure a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.
Timor-Leste broke gained independence from Indonesia in 2002 and remains one of the world’s youngest countries. The U.S. is committed to working with Timor-Leste and supports its ongoing effort to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the State Department reported. “The United States is proud to partner with Timor-Leste, while underlining its commitment to supporting the nation’s sovereignty, security, and prosperity,” the U.S. Embassy in Dili stated in a news release.
Dalan ba Dame follows the U.S. delivery of a Cessna 206 surveillance aircraft to the F-FDTL in June 2023. U.S. Airmen from the 36th Tactical Advisory Squadron trained with their Timorese counterparts to enhance skills such as airfield management, aircraft maintenance, fire protection, refueling and security measures to support maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
