KOTA BARU: More than 17,000 personnel from the Army Western Field and their spouses in four of six states involved in the upcoming state elections are eligible to vote.
Army Western Field commander Lt Gen Datuk Tengku Muhammad Fauzi Tengku Ibrahim said the members would vote by post while their spouses would be early voters on Aug 8.
"There are 27 areas in the Western Field, Terengganu (eight), Penang (seven), Kelantan (six) and Kedah (six).
"Everyone needs to fulfil their responsibility as a citizen and make a choice according to their own views," he said after officiating the closing ceremony of the Keris Strike Exercise between the Malaysian Army and the United States Army Pacific (Usarpac) at Kem Desa Pahlawan here on Friday (Aug 4).
Also present were US 11th Airborne Division Commanding General, Major Gen Brian S. Eifler, Commander of the Second Malaysian Infantry Division, Major Gen Datuk Muhammad Huzaimi Sabri, Commander of the Eighth Infantry Brigade Brid Gen Azudin Hassan and Lt Col Jonathan Earl Doiron.
Tengku Muhammad Fauzi said the exercise, which started on July 17 and ended on Friday, was aimed at increasing combat readiness of the Army and Usarpac for interoperability in various situations.
He said the exercise, involving 3,303 soldiers from Malaysia and 414 from Usarpac was also to improve the skills of the commanders, officers and members in the planning and implementation of operations.
"The implementation of this exercise is also to raise the level of knowledge, especially in the phase of conventional warfare in addition to sharing ideas and experiences.
"With this training, we can learn from them and vice versa. This exercise also facilitates defence cooperation which is part of the element of military diplomacy," he said. – Bernama
