Title: 
Should I Visit Thailand During Exercise Cobra Gold?

Word Count:
563

Summary:
This comes up every year – guys wanting to know if it is still fun in Thailand when the military is in town.  Having participated in Exercise Cobra Gold 4 times, all I can say- is “Come on down”.  Yes, there are many guys in town with short hair – but for the most part we are working 12 – 16 hour days and don’t have much time to go out on the town until the exercise finishes.  So, go to Pattaya during Cobra Gold, have a good time, and if you see a soldier or a marine – buy him or her a beer.


Keywords:
gold, exercise, cobra, united, cobra gold, security, multinational, joint, operations, thai, nations, cg, joint multinational


Article Body:
Here is the official info on Cobra Gold.

COBRA GOLD (CG) is a Thailand, United States Co-Sponsored exercise designed to train United States forces operating with Thailand and additional nations (to be determined) in Joint and Multinational operations.  The exercise will demonstrate Joint and Multinational capability and interoperability to conduct United Nations (UN) sanctioned Peace Support Operations (PSO) contingency response planning and execution.  COBRA GOLD exercise reinforces USPACOM Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) goals, exercises HQ USPACOM CONPLAN 5070 (SSC), supports the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), National Security Presidential Directive-44, Department of Defense Directive 3000.05, demonstrates United States capability to project forces strategically, and is a GPOI Capstone event.  COBRA GOLD 2007 will be the 26th iteration in the COBRA GOLD series.  MARFORPAC is the exercise Executive Agent (EA) for COBRA GOLD 2007 and United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) is for 2008.

Cobra Gold 2007

U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Alexander A. Arvizu and Thai Supreme Commander General Boonsrang Niumpradit today officially opened the annual joint/combined military exercise “Cobra Gold ‘07” (CG ‘07) at the Ambassador City Hotel Jomtien in Chon Buri province.  Singaporean Ambassador Peter Chan Jer Hing, Japanese Ambassador Hideaki Kobayashi and Indonesian Ambassador Ibrahim Yusuf also attended the opening ceremony.
 
At the opening ceremony, DCM Arvizu said, “For a quarter century, Cobra Gold has been the most visible symbol of U.S. and Thai military cooperation.  Over recent years, Cobra Gold has evolved from being a strictly bilateral joint exercise to a multilateral event designed to enhance our ability to respond to peace enforcement and peacekeeping responsibilities under the United Nations……Cobra Gold this year is truly a regional affair, with representatives from more than twenty countries present.  We welcome our friends from around the world and we are grateful for the gracious hospitality our Thai hosts have shown to all of us.”

Cobra Gold is a regularly-scheduled joint and combined multilateral exercise held in the Kingdom of Thailand.  The purpose of CG exercise is to improve U.S., Thai, Singaporean, Indonesian, and Japanese military readiness and combined-joint interoperability, enhance security relationships, and demonstrate U.S. resolve to support the security and humanitarian interests of friends and allies in the region.  During the exercise, there will also be a special emphasis on daily medical, dental, and veterinary clinics in villages throughout the exercise area, in addition to numerous construction projects that will enhance the quality of life of local residents.

Here is another official definition of Cobra Gold

COBRA GOLD (CG) is an annual RTARF / USPACOM co-sponsored joint and multinational exercise conducted in the Kingdom of Thailand.  Exercise COBRA GOLD is designed to improve joint and multinational interoperability and capability to effectively plan and execute complex multinational operations.  The exercise scenario is focused on the most likely contingency operations expected in the Southeast Asia region, addresses regional security Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) and Counterinsurgency (COIN) issues, and improves participating nation's military-to-military relationships, advances USPACOM Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) objectives and Royal Thai Supreme Commander training guidance.  Full participating nations for CG 08 include; Thailand; United States; Singapore; Indonesia; and Japan.  Up to 10 Multinational Planning Augmentation Team (MPAT) nations, and up to 10 Combined Observer Liaison Team (COLT) nations are also expected to participate.

Don’t worry about the military – you will find them well mannered, polite, and a lot of fun.  And they won’t ruin your vacation – they will probably make it a little more interesting.