US Army expands presence in PH
The US Army has established a sustained rotational force in the Philippines, marking a shift from previous short-term deployments to the country.
The Army Rotational Force-Philippines, activated in July 2025, consists of roughly 50 personnel under the operational control of US Army Pacific (Usarpac), working closely with the Task Force Philippines that serves as a coordination hub for US and Philippine military activities, including joint planning, training, and operational support.
The mission of the rotational force centers on strengthening army-to-army partnerships and improving infrastructure to safeguard the security, freedom, and prosperity of the United States, its allies, and partners, Col. Isaac Taylor, chief of public affairs for Usarpac, said on Thursday.
“While the rotational force is not permanently assigned, this represents a shift from previous years’ iterative engagement cycle to a more sustained rotational presence, enabling deeper and more consistent collaboration with our Philippine Army counterparts,” Taylor said in an email to Filipino reporters.
The disclosure comes as US and Philippine forces continue to deepen coordination across multiple service branches.
Nine Edca sites
Taylor did not say where the members of US Army’s rotational force are assigned, but they are likely dispersed across the nine Philippine sites where American troops may be deployed under the 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca).
These deployments operate within the framework of the 1951 Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty and the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement, which governs the temporary presence of US troops in the Philippines.
The US Marine Corps established its own Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia (MRF SEA) in 2024. This unit also maintains a presence in the Philippines and across the region to strengthen security cooperation, conduct joint training, and support crisis response with regional allies.
Geopolitical analyst Don McLain Gill said the deployments mark an important step in the evolution of US military presence in the country.
“This is an important development,” Gill told the Inquirer, noting that the rotational force arrangement followed through on the nonpermanent framework
Under Edca, US forces operate in the Philippines on a rotational—not permanent—basis.
The increased frequency and higher level of coordination of the rotations makes it more significant, he said.
Gill said that in previous years, similar engagements were not conducted as regularly or within a sustained cycle. The new arrangement, he added, appears designed to institutionalize a more consistent presence.
“It fills in the functional gaps that were not present before and makes coordination more seamless,”he said.
Regional security
Officials say that the Task Force Philippines, announced in October 2025 by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr., is intended to enhance deterrence and deepen the long-standing military partnership between the two Pacific allies.
Taylor said the force’s deployment was part of broader US efforts to bolster regional security amid rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, including the West Philippine Sea.
He added that closer coordination with the Philippine Army was aimed at strengthening disaster response, counterterrorism capabilities and joint training programs.
The rotational force complements ongoing US-Philippine activities, including joint exercises, infrastructure projects and capacity-building programs to improve the Philippine military’s readiness and interoperability.
According to Usarpac’s 2026 vision document, FY26 Operation Pathways, the Army’s primary operational approach in the Indo-Pacific is designed to enhance readiness, build partnerships and project credible combat power across the region.
The document says that its activities include multinational exercises, rotational deployments and training that keep US forces “forward-postured” to respond to various contingencies.
It highlights strengthening alliances and improving interoperability with regional partners, including the Philippines, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Australia to boost “mutual trust and ensure they can operate seamlessly during real-world missions.”
The US Army Rotational Force-Philippines is part of the ongoing deployments to maintain US forces in the region, the latest form of American troop presence in the country since the US military bases closed in 1991.
Operations vs Abu Sayyaf, JI
In 2002, the US deployed the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P) to help fight the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah.
It had an estimated 2,000 US personnel at peak strength, though numbers fluctuated from 2002 to 2015, when it was disbanded. It was the biggest US military presence on Philippine soil over a sustained period of 13 years since the bases’ closure.
The Americans advised and shared information, as well as conducted joint civil military operations, with the AFP. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
