By Shirin Bhandari | 2026-02-20

The US Army has established a sustained rotational presence in the Philippines, shifting from previous short-term deployments as Washington expands army-to-army cooperation with Manila and strengthens allied capabilities along the "first island chain."

The strategic chain includes Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. Washington devotes considerable attention to it as it expands forward posture and interoperability with allies and partners.

The Pentagon established the Army Rotational Force-Philippines last July. It includes about 50 personnel from US Army Pacific operating in coordination with Task Force-Philippines.

Task Force-Philippines, which Washington and Manila unveiled last October, is "designed to deter Chinese coercion in the South China Sea and enhance alliance defense cooperation," USNI News reported at the time. It includes about 60 troops.

The task force "does not involve new combat forces or offensive operations, unilateral deployments, or permanent military basing," US Pacific Fleet said at the time of its unveiling.

Undisclosed until January

The rotational force became public knowledge after a January 29 post by the US military showed US Marines and US Army personnel during a key leader exchange in Manila on January 12.

The rotational force's "mission focuses on strengthening our enduring army-to-army partnerships while improving infrastructure to protect the security, freedom, and prosperity for the US, our allies, and partners," Task & Purpose quoted Col. Isaac Taylor, a spokesperson for US Army Pacific, saying in a statement in February.

It is not permanently assigned and represents "a shift ... to a more sustained rotational presence, enabling deeper and more consistent collaboration with our Philippine Army counterparts," said Taylor.

The force is designed to expand day-to-day US coordination with Philippine army counterparts, including joint planning, training support and infrastructure work that enables more consistent engagement than did past short-term deployments.

The rotational force is operating as Washington and Manila cooperate to thwart China's designs on the South China Sea.

China claims more than 80% of that sea, even though an international court rejected that assertion in 2016.

The US Army's approach in the Indo-Pacific emphasizes multinational exercises, rotational deployments and keeping US forces "forward-postured" for contingencies, according to US Army Pacific, Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

Concerns over a 'spillover'

US ground forces have increasingly prioritized ground defense operations in northern Luzon, since such contingencies could include a Chinese invasion of Taiwan and its spillover. At the same time, they remain dispersed across the Philippines to aid in both internal and external security, USNI News reported in February.

The US Army has expanded deployments and drills in the Philippines since 2022, using weapons including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, expeditionary Patriot air defense units and the Mid-Range Capability (a missile system also called Typhon).

The rotational force "fills in the functional gaps that were not present before and makes coordination more seamless," geopolitical analyst Don McLain Gill said, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

It will help institutionalize a more consistent US military presence, he added.