USARPAC hosts first international team competition

U.S. Army Pacific is hosting the inaugural Pacific Land Forces Team Readiness Challenge on Oahu, bringing together squads from nine nations for a six-day contest focused on strengthening readiness, teamwork, and interoperability. Movement and preparation activities run April 27–30, with competition scheduled for May 1–6.

Participating countries are Malaysia, the Philippines, Fiji, Mongolia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Each nation has entered a squad for a slate of physically and mentally demanding events. Over the week, teams will tackle marksmanship, fitness tests, tactical problem-solving, and other team-based tasks, alongside opportunities for cultural exchange.

“The upcoming PLFTRC is about more than just navigating the jungle or hitting targets under stress,” said Command Sgt. Major Jason Schmidt, the USARPAC senior-enlisted leader. “It’s about forging human interoperability that makes our combined forces the most lethal elements in the world.”

Organizers describe the challenge as a scalable model intended to enhance joint readiness and partner capacity across the Pacific, linked to an enlisted leader professional development effort aimed at improving interoperability, lethality, and alliance cohesion.

“When you see noncommissioned officers and Soldiers from nine different nations sweating, shooting, and problem-solving together, you are watching them build an unbreakable foundation of trust,” Schmidt said. “That trust is exactly what deters our adversaries and keeps the Indo-Pacific free and open.”

Updates are available at http://www.usarpac.army.mil and on U.S. Army Pacific’s Facebook, Instagram, and X accounts.