Bilateral military exercises plays a significant role towards the development and the upgrading of skills between the Royal Brunei Land Forces and other Armed Forces in the region. Bilateral exercises are not only for the individual development but also at the organisational level as a whole at tactical, operational and stratagic perspectives.
By conducting bilateral exercises with the more experienced Armed Forces, enhancement of knowledge, exposure and experiences are gained to upgrade the skill and professionalism of Royal Brunei Land Forces personnel.
Apart from establishing and maintaining solidarity as well as close cooperation with other Armed Forces, bilateral exercises allow improvements in the 'interoperability' of the Royal Brunei Land Forces if required to perform Joint Operations or United Nation's mission in view of the current global scenario.
MALBRU/BRUMAL SETIA is training conducted at a battalion level every 2 years where each country take turns in becoming the host country. In fact Malaysia is involved in various military exercises each year such as MALBRU/BRUMAL SETIA and MERTAK BERSATU.
The first exercise was conducted in 1993 in Miri, Sarawak which involved personnel from 'G' Company Second Battalion, Royal Brunei Land Forces led by Captain Tawih bin Abdullah and personnel from 10th Regiment of the Malaysian Armed Forces. For the first time in 2001, Exercise 'MALBRU SETIA' was held outside of Borneo. These exercises were held in Segenting, Negeri Sembilan which was also the former training grounds of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces pioneers.
Exercise 'MERTAK BERSATU' was first held in 1994 at Kota Belut, Sabah which involved personnel from the Mortar Platoons of the Royal Brunei Land Forces and some elements from the Malaysian Land Force Artillery Regiment.
The Singapore Armed Forces and the Royal Brunei Land Forces have conducted bilateral exercises for quite awhile now. These exercises have included the involvement of some infantry battalions and elements from the Support Battalion, Royal Brunei Land Forces.
Exercise 'TERMITE', currently known as Exercise 'FLAMING ARROW', was the first bilateral training held in 1984. The concept of the exercise was battalion attack at a level using live ammunition in the daytime. It involved one company from the Royal Brunei Land Forces, which was assimilated into a Singapore Armed Forces infantry battalion.
Exercise 'MAJU BERSAMA' is an annual exercise which began since 1995, previously known as Exercise 'BRUSING'. In this exercise, the Royal Brunei Land Forces and the Singapore Armed Forces took turns in hosting the exercises in their respective countries. This exercise involved one company from each respective armed forces, and was later assimilated into the hosting unit.
In 2001, the Royal Brunei Land Forces was invited for the first time by the Singapore Armed Forces to join Exercise 'DRAGONBALL' which involved 'C' Company of the First Battalion, Royal Brunei Land Forces under the command of Major Abdul Ghani bin Haji Abdullah. Unlike Exercise 'FLAMING ARROW', Exercise 'DRAGONBALL' is an attack using live ammunition at night. Apart from that, 'C' Company was given the opportunity to expose themselves in an urban warfare environment (fighting in built up areas). The exercises 'RINTIS BERSAMA', 'BOLD CASTLE' and 'BOLD SABRE' involved the Support Battalion, Royal Brunei Land Forces.
Exercise 'BOLD CASTLE' which was first conducted in 1989 involved the Combat Engineer Squadron, Royal Brunei Land Forces and the Singapore Armed Forces Combat Engineer.
Exercise 'BOLD SABRE' is a training exercise which was held for the first time in 1992 involving the Armoured Recce Squadron, Royal Brunei Land Forces and the 42nd Singapore Armoured Regime.
In 1987, the Australia Defence Force for the first time, invited the Royal Brunei Land Forces to participate in a brigade level bilateral exercise known as Exercise 'PREDATOR RETREAT'. This exercise combined both the infantry and amour units in a conventional warfare and was conducted by the Royal Australian Regiment in Melbourne. 'C' Company, First Battalion, Royal Brunei Land Forces participated in this exercise under the command of Major Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Muhammad Yussof, the Officer Commanding of 'C' Company at the time.
Bilateral exercises had begun in 1992 in which one company from the Royal Brunei Land Forces trained together with the Royal Australian Regiment at the Shoal Water Bay area in Queensland whilst one company from the Royal Australian Regiment conducted a similar training in Brunei Darusslam. This excercise was known as Exercise 'MALEE BULL'.
The Royal Brunei Land Force through the 'Mutual Assistant Programme' conducted excercises in New Zealand which began in 1989. The first excercise called Exercise 'AZAM BERSAMA' involved the Armoured Recce Squadron using the facilities at Queen Alexandra's Squadron based in Waiouru.
Exercise 'AZAM BERSAMA' held in 1993 in South Island was participated by 'D' Company, First Battalion, Royal Brunei Lad Force and led by Major Haji Ibrahim bin Haji Ahmad. The following exercise was held in 1996 in North Island conducted by 'A' Company, Second Battalion, Royal Brunei Land Force under the command of Major Aminuddin Ihsan bin Dato Haji Abidin. The exercise was conducted in the four phases of war (advance, withdraw, attack and defence). The concept of the exercise was mechanized infantry warfare using live ammunition. The New Zealand Armed Forces held a similar bilateral exercise in Brunei Darussalam in 1996, known as Exercise 'CROSSED SWORD'.
Exercise 'SETIA KAWAN' is a major exercise conducted by the Royal Brunei Armed Forces and together with the British Armed Forces. Exercise 'SETIA KAWAN 1' was conducted in 1988 and Exercise 'SETIA KAWAN 2' in 1997. This exercise was conducted with the concept of Combined Operation which involved all the units of the RBAF and some units from the British Armed Forces.
Since 2001, the Royal Brunei Land Forces was involved in an annual series of exercise known as Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) between the United States Army, mainly the Marine Corps and the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.
The involvement of the Royal Brunei Land Forces is the conduct of a military exercise with the concept of jungle warfare known as Exercise 'GREEN CANOPY' in the Temburong District.
An armour training known as Exercise 'BURAQ' was conducted in 1986 in the Sultanate of Oman led by Major Abdu'r Rahmani bin Dato Paduka Haji Basir. The exercise gave exposure and experience of training in the desert. The Sultanate of Oman had in turn conducted a similar exercise in Brunei Darussalam in 1988.
