From Mike Mount at the Pentagon
WASHINGTON (CNN) --U.S. Special Forces in the Philippines are moving into a new a stage of training that country's military forces, putting the U.S. troops a step closer to possible involvement in jungle fights with terrorists, a Pentagon spokesman has said.
Beginning this past weekend, 160 U.S. Special Forces were divided between 25 companies of the Philippine military in the southern islands of Basilan and Mindanao, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Commander Jeff Davis said Monday.
Previously U.S. troops were training Philippine troops at a much larger battalion level, mainly in classrooms.
Training in smaller groups -- there are 80 to 100 soldiers in each company -- means the Philippine troops will receive more hands-on instruction as they learn various counterterrorism and basic combat skills from U.S. troops.
Davis said that should the Philippine troops respond well to the training, the next step could be for U.S. forces to accompany the newly trained troops on missions into the jungle to hunt members of the al Qaeda-connected Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.
To date, U.S. forces have strictly played a hands-off role, offering only intelligence and advice during the jungle hunts for Abu Sayyaf terrorists.
U.S. troops are still instructed not to shoot unless shot at, Davis said.
Pentagon officials say putting U.S. troops into the jungle with the Philippine troops would have a two-pronged advantage.
First, U.S. soldiers would play an advisory role that would offer real-time field intelligence and combat advice to the Philippine soldiers during missions.
Second, U.S. troops would be able to asses the abilities of the Philippine soldiers for training in the future.
On July 31, the United States will begin a scheduled removal of the Special Forces trainers and military engineers who have been working to improve roads and infrastructure in the southern islands of the Philippines.
