The school for reserve commission

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Part of Philippine Armed Forces Journal

Title: The school for reserve commission
Language: English
Source: Philippine Armed Forces Journal Volume 6 (No. 6) November 1953
Year: 1953
Rights
Fulltext: L ITTLE known outside of its ]ow cation in F-ozot McKinley, Rizal, the School for Reserve Commis. sion of the Armed Forces of the Ph1lippmcs is the fertile training ground for officers who in time of wat will lead our 1eserve components in the field. As early as 1937, the PhiHppine Army had its Schools for Reserve ComnJission. In June of that year, two SRCs . were opened _at Csmp Ord, Tarlac and at Camp Keithley, Lanao for the Infantry and another was established at Camp Dau, Pampanga for the Field Artillery. Two yelrs, later, a fourth school was opened for the Coast At·tillery Corps .at Fort. Wint. Thes.! pre-wa1' SRCs were opened only for outstanding trainees who had show11 cxceptionai qualities and apti. tudes for military leadership during their l'egular training period. When these ichools were closed in J1.1ne, 1941, the Philippine Army already had a size. able corps of reserve officers. Along with the ROTC and the ROSS, the SRCs had trained and furnished the resen·es who were to man the infant Philippine Army in the gallant defense of the Philippines in 1941.42. The first post.war SRC was opened at the PAF Training Group, Nichols Air Base in March 1951 pursuant to GHQ Training .Direct:ve No. 9. Ad. minion to the School was however limited to non.<:omJTiissioned officers who had at least three years of active ser. vice, at least high school g1·aduates and who were not more than 30 years of age. Before the opening of the Nichols School, enlisted men could get com. missioned only if they possessed except. JOilal qualifications and very few of them did. Three classes were gradua... ted hom the Nichols SRC with a to.. tal tu1·nout of 244 reserve officers be.., fore the school was closed. In 1952, a new School for Reserve Commission was established under GHQ Training Directive No. 22, series of 19. ~2. This directive provided for Officer Candidate Courses at the Philip. pine Army Training Command, the Philippine Air Force and the Philippine Nav)', but so far only that at the PATC has been established for training all officer candidates from all the major commands of the Armed Forces. The course at the SRC covers a 24week ~chedule designed to develop selected non-commissioned officers of the Regular Force, selected trainees, and basic ROTC graduates into commissioned officers of the reserve force. Thl' age qualification has been raised to not more than 45 years, obviously to give a chance to enlisted men who have sptnl the best yurs of their lives in the ser. \ice to go up the rank and achiev(' officership. The size of the clas$es at the school depend~ on directives issued from I , 20 PHILJPPI~'E ;\RMEIJ F:ORCES JOURNAL CADETS' LIFE AT THE SRC A Pll.ttenl of rigid trmni.ng, in f/1e field. anr1 m cla.~sruom~r, 1111d t11e ylumol<T rwd thrill of cade! life in a milit«ry $Choo1 make up tlu? daily exislel!c~ of aspirurtl.~ ~·or rtserve commission at the S RC in F'ort MrKinley Above. the cadet., te.~t their "1a1ksman.~hip ar the flri~lg range, Belou•, cadet.~ pr11e/irP ITtt nmt•1, lilt tn.n~/PJ'Y' of which i.~ >~fl imli.~pem;able iu nclua/ u·arfare. THE SCHOOL FOR RESERVE COr MISSION • ~ \11"'''•,.., . The 24-week training is not c(Jmplete witT1o1!1 the long mnrcl!es with which foot soldierl! should be familz'rtr. Physical fitn.e.~s and endurance 11re essential asset:;, c.~pecially for tTwse who in the future ttoill le!td the citizrn army of tl1e Republic. • Af•Ol"P. lht. SRC cnrlet.• rl"to><~ n 11"oor~en ~1"i<1.qe i1_1 the ~ountr:,r in th~ course Of rt long trammg trek. The ro.qorous life IS ?WI Wilhou.t 1!.~ con•pe11Sat10n. Below, "Rcco.tJnitio-n Day" sus the mcoming fir;,s rapfni11 and wriet.o get tluir senior stripes. Social affairs to break the mtmottmy of continuous training are held by the cadets. Red-letter day is the Senior-Junior Hop, above. Then, after the long • schooling, t1ze cadets nalite their one ambition: to be 1'ommissi011ed in the Re. i111ve Fo-rce. Photo below sho"ws the cadets taking their oath after the grad.' uation ceremonies culminating their stay a~ the SRC. . THE SCHOOL FOR RESERVE COMMISSION 23 t1mc to time. Each dass usually star ts to the subj~t. . ~~t~ld51200f ~~~e~F~~om all major com. reqAui:e~~t;n~~t 1~~~~~i!~e ~~~:wi~~ Major Jose Q Arce, commandant of th<' Ground Combat School at the PATC, is concurrently tt.e SRC commandant. He is assisted by the GCS staff and faculty. For admini.strative purposes, the SRC is a part of the student bat. talion under Captain Daniel C Agus. tin and his .tactical officers. It consists of SRC 3, 4, and 5. SRC 1 and 2 were graduated early this· year with :~~~ce~f their top men • now in active As in other military schools, a rlass system exists at the SRC, each class traditionally known as "Seniors", "Junin1·s'', and ''Plebes". The Seniors, the lords of the SRC world. are diStinguished by tv.·o black bars on their l'l!t!. shoulder loops. They are the pri~ vileged class, the lawmakers and the source of officers for the SH.t: corps. The internal management of the corps is mostly left to them. Cadets with a single black bar on their loops ar~> the Juniors, the wrps •n1iddlemen. They have been recognized by the upper class and vested with the responsibility over the Plebes. The lo.tter a.re in the lowppt ·rung of the SRC class ladder. They wear a plain red shoulder loop with their khaki uni~ forms and have their collars closed with their HB'l's. Cadets in the SRC are given two ra~ tings, one in Academics and th~: other in Military Aptitude. The weights aSsigneq to Lh.ese ratings are: Academics, 1,000 pointa, and Military Aptitude 150 points. The sum of these two ratings determine~ a cadet's cla811 standing which is the basis for appo1ntment a~ a cadet officer and for priority in recommendation of SRC graduates for call to active duty, The 1,000 points for Academics is allotud among the different subjects taken during. the en~ tire course, the allocatiqn depending on the importance of the subject. The points credited to a cadet for each subject is the percentage..grade he obtains in a ~,-raded examination on the subject multiplied by the weight allnUed can graduate; (a) He must obtain a minimum of 700 points, <b> He must have satisfactory gradt!s in at least 2/ 3 of the subject of the (c) He must have a satisfactory grade in Map Reading. <dl He must qualify in Marksman~ bhip Course with the Ml Rifle. The 150 points for Military Aptitud~ i~ credited to the cadet on the folftlw. mg basis: tal Merits and demerits - 40 points <b> Physical fitness tests -20 (c) Tacti.cal Officer's ~valuation reports - 30 '' (dl Classmates' evalua~ tion reports -30 le) Instructional ability - 30 " Ratings on merits and demerits are ren. dered every month. Physical {;~""'"" tests are given on the second, fourth and last month of the course. A mi~ nimum of two performance teBts in t he conduct of instruction are given during the 'ourse. Each cadet rencter111 :'11'1 evaluation report on all his classmates after the first three months of the course and another report at the end of the course. The tactical officer ren~ det'il his evaluation report at the end of the course. The rating for Military Aptitude does not affect a cadet's passinll or failing the course except when his rating is CJ~ceptionally low in which case the Academic Board of the school conducts an investigation to detennine the advisability of returning the cadet to the school or sending him back to his unit. The program of instruction is a systematic blendin~e of General Instruction, Tactics, and Weapons subjects taught b' instructors at the Ground Combat School. The twenty four weeks in the school is a continuous field and dusroonl instruction, the field work wvPri"g about 55?:. of the entire period. \ ' 24 PHILIPPINE AIWELJ FORCES JOURN-AL Most of the cadets have \earned their and fine-looking bunch of men•·, in the :;~~g~fi0~ t;hee!arcdo;;~~ tf~-~arfhee p~:: ~~:~h~f o~c:n~r8aJ :·~r~~~~~·pa~·~~:; gulars. The instruction has therefot·e his escort of honor. The SRC is the been devised so as to endow them with show house of the PATC, always a · the finer and higher points of "sol- stopping point for all important visidiering!' through lectures, seminars, tors. • tt·aining 'film!!;, demonstrations, field exercises, orientation trips, wd the like. The 26-hour subject on "Command and Leadership'', for example, is supple. mented in the senior class with assignments of th(' students as cadet officers, c::ommander of the guat·d in the PASC interior guard duty, platoon leaders for school troops during parades and inspections, and instructors in training coftrses for enlisted men which the PASC conducts from time to time. In the subject ''Unit Mess and Supply'', the students undergo a weekly 1·otation as assistant mess officer in the PASC consolidated mess. Upon graduation, the successful cadets earn a commission in the Reserve Foret' of the Armed Forces. The top men 'usually the first ten, depending on GHQ policies) are discharged from , tn(' ~ervice as enlisted men and artcalled to active duty as officers. The rest arc returned to their respectiv!.' units in their NCO stripes to wait for possible call to active duty as officers. In some units graduates of the SRC arc assigned as acting platoon leaders and othe1· responsible positions which are vacant d11e to lack of officers. The state of discipline in the corps is most exemplary. In the short span since SRC 1, traditions strictly SRC have been evolved by the cadets themselves. The spic r.!ld span appearance, while traditional with any military unit, has found an add("d gloss, an additional spring in the steps .,f these battle. tested men. One has to visit their area and their quarters or sec them at Saturday inspection and mid-week even. ing parades to wonder how such hard(l'fled men brQught together from all units of the AFP can be knit into a grouo the Armed Forces can be proud of. There is no army, no navy, no air force, no PC here; j(lst a "damn good The school ~perates on an Honor System. Breaches of regulations are punished with penalties 0 which range from the "cirop" lpush-upsl and weekend tours to dismissal and possible discharge from the serv1ce. Cheating during examinah8ns cases are rare and when they come up, the book is thrown at the offenders. Cheating is one of the gravest offenses an SRC cadet ran commit. Recognition Day is a red-letter day for the col'ps, especially for the Plebes. They get their bla~k stripes on their shoulder loops and their HBT collars are opened by their uppies over a handshake and to the traditional tune, "Auld Lang Syne.'' Their double-timing days end with this day which is usually starting with intricate ballroom stepping in the Senior-Junior hop. ' The corps is at its best during the evening parade, a ihuch-awaited event at the PASC every week. These are ocusions for the award of decorations earned by cadets in Ot"'e battlefield or another and the publication of com. mendations. These days when the opposite Camps of the world are at luggerheads, the matter of preparedJ,ess should be lift.. ed from the planning stage. An indispensable part of our preparedness program is the establishment of a sufficient well-trained and well-officered ReSf'rve Force. The SRC stands at the forefront in the efforts to realize this objective. We have the officer• and men "Cady, willing and eager to prove what blood and fire have tested in the past: the worth of Filipino soldiery, The School for Reserve Commiaaion makes it eloquent with their motto, "DO OR DIE AND KNOW WHY!" The youth of today are the hope of tomorrow. Nowhere do these words ring with more truth than in the great task of national de· fense. The youth of today will be the vanguard of the nation's defense in tomorrow's wars. And to prepare them for the tasks ahead, to train their minds a11d hearts and develop their courage and skill, is one of the primordial undertakings of the Armed Forces of the Philippines today. This is achieved through the Reserve Officers Training Corps in colleges and universities throughout the country. / '7pqt' ) . ' ' I a heavy day f1ghtlng the 1magmary battles that may come to reahty m the future