U.S. troops in Manila

U.S. troops in Manila

MANILA (AP): More than 300 U.S. troops arrived in Manila on
Saturday to take part in the first large-scale joint military
exercises under a new agreement that gave legal protection to
American soldiers in the Philippines.

Maj. Ann Freed, a spokeswoman for the U.S. troops involved in
the "Balikatan" or "shoulder to shoulder" exercise, said the
soldiers include 130 from Company C of the Army's 2-1 Infantry
Battalion, 35 engineers from the Company C of the 84th
Engineering Battalion, both based in Alaska, and 165 Marines from
the III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa.

She said the soldiers will be in "various locations" on the
main island of Luzon until the exercises end March 3.

Freed said 3,500 U.S. soldiers will take part in the
exercises, including 900 aboard ships at sea. Only about 1,000
will be on land at any given time, she added.