Thayer Consultancy Background Brief

ABN # 65 648 097 123

U.S.-ASEAN 1st Maritime
Exercise: Media Storm in a Tea
Cup
September 8, 2019

We are preparing a report on the U.S. and ASEAN Maritime Exercise which ended
yesterday. Could you give us your asesssment about the result of this exercise and the
reactions from related countries like China?
ANSWER: The United States and ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) just completed their first five-day Maritime Exercise or AUMX (2-6
September). AUMX involved eight warships (see Table 1 below), four aircraft and
1,260 personnel from participating navies operating as a Combined Task Force.
Generally, the media produced “a storm in a tea cup” by misinterpreting the objectives
and scope of this exercise. For example, the International Business Times printed the
following headline, “South China Sea: US to Hold War Games with South Asian Nations
to Challenge Chinese ‘Bullying’.”
Mike Ives of The New York Times, reported “Southeast Asian countries tend to be
deeply reluctant to collectively challenge China’s growing military and economic
prowess in their region. But this week, they appear to be doing just that – by holding
their first joint naval drills with the United States Navy.” While it is true that this was
the first time all ASEAN navies combined with the U.S. Navy for a maritime exercise,
the U.S. Navy has interacted bilaterally and multilaterally with regional navies in
Cooperation Afloat and Readiness and Training (CARAT) and Southeast Asia
Cooperation Training (SEACAT) exercises since 1995 and 2002, respectively.
Some media further reported that AUMX was a U.S. response to the first China-ASEAN
Maritime Training Exercise held in October 2018. The first China-ASEAN Maritime
Training Exercise was quite limited in scope (search and rescue and disaster relief)
compared to AUMX.
In fact, the genesis of AUMX dates back to November 2015 when ASEAN members and
the United States, meeting in Malaysia, adopted the Plan of Action to Implement the
ASEAN-US Strategic Partnership, 2016-2020. The concept of AUMX was first proposed
by the U.S. Secretary of Defense at an informal meeting with ASEAN defense ministers
in the Philippines in October 2017. The U.S. proposal was accepted at the ASEAN
Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore in October 2018.
AUMX was co-hosted by the United States and Thailand, as ASEAN Chair for 2019
under the theme “Enhancing Shared Awareness and Interoperability in the Maritime
Domain.” Opening ceremonies were held at Sattahip Naval Base in Thailand, and then
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included pre-sailing activities in Brunei and Singapore. Maritime exercises were held
in the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea off Ca Mau province in southern Vietnam.
AUMX concluded in Singapore.
Table 1

Country Naval Ship Class

Brunei KDB Darulaman Offshore Patrol Vessel

Myanmar UMS Kyan Sittha Frigate

Philippines BRP Ramon Alcaraz Offshore Patrol Vessel

Singapore RSN Tenacious Frigate

Thailand HTMS Krabi Offshore Patrol Vessel

United States USS Montgomery Littoral Combat Ship

USS Wayne E. Meyer Guided-Missile Destroyer

Vietnam HQ Ly Thuong Kiet Frigate

The U.S. Navy also contributed three MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters and a P-8 Poseidon
maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
The U.S. Navy issued a statement on 1st September that AUMX would include “a sea
phase in international waters in Southeast Asia including the Gulf of Thailand and
South China Sea” that would focus partly on “search and seizure… maritime asset
tracking… [and] countering maritime threats.” AUMX involved a number of activities,
or serials, that promoted “interoperability in visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS),
maritime domain awareness, division tactics and maritime asset tracking.”
On 3 September, Rear Admiral Murray J. Tynch III, Commander of the Logistics Group
in the Western Pacific, told a telephone press briefing that AUMX is focused on
strengthening skills that would be applicable throughout international waters for
maritime security. “It’s to enhance the skills of ASEAN and the US working together…
So, the concept of the AUMX this year is to enhance situational awareness and
interoperability for all of ASEAN and for the US as well,” said Rear Admiral Tynch.
According to Vietnamese military sources AUMX included the following maritime
activities: PHOTOEX (aerial photography of ships moving from a line formation to a
diamond shaped formation), PUBEX (decoding and encoding signals) FLASHEX
(signaling by flashing lights), VBSS (counter piracy and transnational crime), and sailing
at night in combat formation.
Vietnam’s frigate was part of the third tactical group including Brunei and the
Philippines. It was assigned the role of guard during the VBSS serial carried by naval
ships from Brunei, the Philippines and the United States.
When asked by a journalist why the Vietnam People’s Navy participated in AUMX,
Captain Pham Quang Hieu, the head of the Vietnam People’s Navy to AUMX, gave
 3

three reasons: (1) to observe guidelines on “actively and proactively integrating into
the world through exercises to contribute to peace, stability, security and safety in the
East Sea,” (2) to support the ASEAN-United State Strategic Partnership’s Plan of Action
and (3) to support ASEAN member countries in general and the United States in
particular “to host international activities and events for regional peace, security and
cooperation.”
As of this writing, China has not publicly expressed any criticism or disapproval of
AUMX. Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir struck the only discordant note in remarks
given in Phnom Penh. On 2 September, Agence France Press reported Mahathir as
saying that “China had a right to feel ‘threatened’ by exercises in the region, calling
the drills provocative and a waste of money even as his country takes part in them.”
Mahathir was directly quoted as stating, “Now if China were to have naval exercises
off New York, then I think the New Yorkers. Might not feel so comfortable.”

The ASEAN-China Maritime Training Exercise and the ASEAN-United States Maritime
Exercise should be viewed as an example of ASEAN balancing its external relations
rather than siding with the U.S. against China or vice versa. Or, as regional analyst
Colin Koh put it, AUMX is an example of ASEAN’s long-standing policy of “inclusivity,
not exclusivity.”

Media Identification: Carl Thayer is emeritus professor at The University of

New South Wales, Canberra or Carl Thayer is emeritus professor at The University of
New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra.
Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “U.S.-ASEAN 1st Military Exercise: Media Storm
in a Tea Cup,” Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, September 8, 2019. All
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Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and
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