THE 38th edition of Balikatan, an annual joint military exercise between Philippine and American forces, comes off the wraps today, April 11.

Balikatan, which is a Tagalog term meaning 'shoulder-to-shoulder' or 'sharing the load together,' is designed to improve interoperability between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the US Armed Forces' Indo-Pacific Command in the areas of maritime security, amphibious operations, urban and aviation operations, cyber defense, counterterrorism, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness.