American soldiers are building readiness alongside their allies and partners across the Indo-Pacific, a panel of leaders said May 14 during the Association of the U.S. Army’s LANPAC Symposium and Exposition in Honolulu.

“Our No. 1 priority is building warfighting lethality and readiness, and we do that through Operation Pathways throughout the year, with 40 exercises with 20-odd nations,” Lt. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, commanding general of I Corps, said during a panel discussion titled “Shoulder to Shoulder.”

As U.S. soldiers train with their partners, the Army is “continuing to improve and optimize the exercises to get more out of it, to get more readiness at the tactical and operational levels,” he said.

I Corps also is driving a “culture of transformation,” McFarlane said, citing the service’s recently announced Army Transformation Initiative, which outlines several sweeping changes to force structure and units.

“The Army Transformation Initiative that we’ve heard mentioned is really going to drive the most change I’ve seen in my 30 years in the Army,” he said. “It’s a huge opportunity to [hone] our ability to integrate new technology, to look and learn what’s happening in the world … to ensure we prevail.”

For Maj. Gen. Yann Latil, commander of the French Armed Forces in New Caledonia, who leads a force of about 2,000 personnel, one of his priorities is coordinating with neighboring countries whether for disaster response or to welcome reinforcements, if needed.

“With such a small force in this area, we need to coordinate,” he said. “It’s a strategic place.”

As troops from various countries train together, the exercises and events continue to grow in size and complexity, said Maj. Gen. Ash Collingburn, commander of the Australian Army’s 1st Division. He cited as an example the recent Balikatan exercise in the Philippines. “I think that exercise is a great example of how our operations have evolved,” he said about the event that grew from a bilateral exercise to a multinational event.

“Each of these activities is an opportunity for us to test our readiness,” Collingburn said. “We need to be ready to night, and every time we conduct these [exercises], we’re increasing our interoperability and our trust among teammates.”