MANILA, Philippines (AP) — American special operations forces are ready to step up warfighting-readiness exercises with counterparts in the Philippines and other countries in Asia to further strengthen a security alliance and help deter a major conflict in the region, a U.S. military official said Thursday.
Adm. Frank Bradley, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, is in the Philippines after a trip to South Korea. He will then head to ***** an for talks with military officials.
He is the latest American military top brass to visit key Asian allies in recent weeks to reassure them of Washington's commitment to the region given the U.S. preoccupation with the war in Iran.
Bradley's command, which has about 80,000 personnel and is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, undertakes the U.S. military's most sensitive and dangerous covert operations. The majority of his forces are deployed in more than 80 countries worldwide, Bradley said.
He discussed with Filipino counterparts the Philippine military's continuing effort to modernize, intensify combat exercises with the U.S. and other allies and broaden an arc of security alliances to deter China's increasingly hostile actions in the South China Sea.

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