SURABAYA, Indonesia - The United States and the Indonesian National Armed Forces officially launched the 2024 Super Garuda Shield exercise Aug. 26 with an opening ceremony at Juanda Naval Air Base Surabaya.
Super Garuda Shield is the largest annual U.S.-Indonesia training exercise. It originated as an information and training exchange between the United States and Indonesia in 2006. Since 2022, the exercise has expanded to include partner nations.
This year, service members from the United States, Indonesia, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom and New Zealand are participating. Twelve additional nations are observing.
“Every aspect of this year’s iteration of Super Garuda Shield should challenge us to collectively work together and achieve our training objectives,” Maj. Gen. Joseph R. Harris II, chief of staff and commander of the Hawaii Air National Guard, said during the opening ceremony. “I encourage all participants to take advantage of the excellent opportunities provided for professional and cultural exchanges ... to use this opportunity to develop and grow relationships with your counterparts that will last a lifetime.”
Air Vice Marshal Widyargo Ikoputra, the deputy commander of Kodiklat, Tentara Nasional Indonesia, said the exercise was “a means to create and build mutual trust in the military sector, strengthen bilateral military-to-military relations and multilateral relations.”
The U.S. Embassy Jakarta Office of Defense Cooperation said Super Garuda Shield 2024 involves 5,500 combined national forces, including about 2,500 U.S. service members.
The joint military exercise strengthens the U.S.-Indonesia defense partnership according to the Defense Cooperation Arrangement in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. That includes improving the ability of participating governments to securely and automatically exchange data regardless of geographical, political or organizational boundaries.
As Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, “The more that countries with complementary strengths and capacities can unite to achieve shared goals, the better.”
Service members from partnering nations will engage in various training opportunities, including airborne and amphibious operations and operability information exchanges. The 2024 iteration will also include a cyber exercise.
Super Garuda 2024 begins with expert academic exchanges and professional development workshops, followed by a command-and-control exercise and a joint field training exercise, ending with a live-fire event.
Regular exercises and engagements with allies and partners are instrumental in cultivating civil-military cooperation, increasing emergency preparedness and enhancing bilateral response capabilities.
Since 2006, Indonesia has partnered with the Hawaii National Guard as part of the Department of Defense National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program, which has grown to include 96 partnerships with 106 nations.