Expanded Valiant Shield 2024 highlights advanced warfighting capabilities in Indo-Pacific

FORUM Staff

A series of firsts marked Valiant Shield 2024. The 12-day biennial exercise in Guam, Japan, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and other Indo-Pacific locations allowed the United States and Allies and Partners to focus on interoperability in a multidomain environment.

The exercise prepared forces to rapidly respond to crises and contingencies across a spectrum of operations from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to armed conflict. Drills included maritime interdiction, counter-air operations, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and command and control.

Among the milestones at the 10th iteration of Valiant Shield in mid-June:

• The exercise became a multinational event for the first time. Participants included the Japan Air, Ground and Maritime Self-Defense Forces and Canadian and French navies. The Japanese contingent included an attack submarine, helicopter carrier and guided-missile destroyer, according to the U.S. Navy, as well as about 4,000 personnel, 130 vehicles and 60 aircraft, the Japan Times newspaper reported. Previously, Valiant Shield, which began in 2006, was a United States exercise involving joint forces from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM).
• Marines and Sailors established the first “role 2” medical field hospital in Palau. The mobile medical facility was capable of providing laboratory services, X-rays, dental support, surgery, resuscitative surgical support and other treatments. The role 2 designation means the facility included a hospital operating room and appropriate blood supplies. “Once we touch the ground, the role 2 is operational in four hours and can support a regiment for up to 60 days,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Jenniffer Katekintha.
• The U.S. Army showcased advanced warfighting capabilities by firing the newly fielded Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) from Palau International Airport. Soldiers successfully engaged a moving target at sea, the first time the PrSM had been used outside a U.S.-based testing site.

“The Precision Strike Missile will provide Joint Force commanders with a 24/7, all-weather capability that will counter the enemy’s ability to conduct combat maneuver and air defense operations,” Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said in a December 2023 statement when the Army took delivery of its first PrSM.

At Valiant Shield, Soldiers launched two PrSMs from a prototype autonomous multidomain launcher, which officials called “a significant milestone in the Army’s development of long-range fires capabilities.”

The launches came during a sinking exercise involving the decommissioned USS Cleveland in the North Pacific Ocean, about 50 nautical miles from the coast of Palau.

Valiant Shield also expanded multidomain cross-combatant command collaboration with the involvement of U.S. Space Command and U.S. Transportation Command. That collaboration is necessary for large-scale operations such as Valiant Shield, which integrated Ally and Partner forces with the U.S. Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Navy, Marine Corps, and Space Force.

“Valiant Shield provides us a unique opportunity to operate and engage with our allies and partners and to demonstrate our shared commitment to global security and stability,” said Adm. Stephen Koehler, the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet commander. “It takes all of us to maintain a safe, stable, and secure Indo-Pacific, as we flex our joint and combined capabilities to advance multi-domain operations.”