Training the Citizen Army

Media

Part of Philippine Armed Forces Journal

Title: Training the Citizen Army
Language: English
Source: Philippine Armed Forces Journal Volume VIII (No. 10) October 1955
Year: 1955
Rights
Fulltext: Training the Citizen Army by Lt. Romeo A. Solino //z^NLY that nation is secure I J which is prepared at any given moment to defend its independence sword in hand.” With this concept of prepared ness for war in time of peace comes the need for the develop ment of the essential qualities of a military organization; namely, an aggressive eagerness for com bat, a proper training and inde pendence of the leaders in time of peace, a remarkable ability for foot movement by troops, and a capability for thorough utilization of all the means of transporta tion and communication afforded by modern science. These quali ties can come only from training — rigid and relentless training. Defects cannot be condoned in time of combat, nor is this time the proper one during which to correct defects. The costs of defects are always in terms of blood and lives, and, worse, de feat. The correction of defects is too late if it is done in com bat. To prevent these great and unwanted sacrifices, there 'must be a thorough screening of men and materials. This insures that only the best are at hand. Not only must officers and men of good judgment and actions in time of peace be appointed, but also 38 they must be developed as well as supplied and trained with right equipment. Any nation having a military organization with these qualities is assured of security. As Von der Goltz said: “Mobili zation takes today all intellectual and material resources of the country in order to insure suc cess.” Without these resources, there can be neither an armed force nor efficiency. From the lack of efficiency alone results ul timate defeat. The Armed Forces of the Phil ippines, which is entrusted with the mission of maintaining the security and defense of the na tion, cannot afford to fail in its responsibility. In order to insure the accomplishment of its mis sion, it embarked upon a vast program of training and activat ed the 3rd Infantry Training Di vision. One of the units of this Division is the 9th Infantry Re giment, which was the first to be activated and with which this article deals. Leaders In any military organization, success depends in a large mea sure upon the qualities of the leaders. A well-trained militia with a poor leader is like a body with well-developed muscles but a A 20 year old trainee with SCR 300 coordinates with others before an attack. A team leader of the attacking force issues orders by radio. weak eyesight. But a group of ill-trained men, even if endowed with good leaders, is worse, be cause the success of any venture depends upon how well a plan, brilliant it may be, is carried out. Ill-trained men cannot be relied upon to carry out a plan efficient ly. However, it may be stated that an army of well-trained men with a poor leader has more chances of success than an army with a good leader but half-baked personnel. This is so because there is still the possibility of a change of leadership overnight. On the other hand, efficient men cannot be had at the flick of the fingers. The fact emphasizes the imAn officer briefs trainees on map reading. 40 Photo above shows an officer demonstrating to the trainees at a bivouac area in Lamesa Dorn how to load the 2.36 rocket launcher. portance of leadership, especially in the early stages of training. Good leadership will impress itself well on the plastic minds of the men undergoing training. Train ing is largely the foundation of success in battle. The 9th Infantry Regiment is headed by Col. Antonio V. de Veyra, who was with the 2nd Battalion Combat Team sent to Korea. With him are Lt. Col. Eduardo P. Soliman, commander of the 1st Battalion, Lt. Col. Da vid A. Pelayo, commander of the 2nd Battalion, and Lt. Col. Mel chor Acosta, commander of the 3rd Battalion. These command ers are lately engaged in a friend ly competition as to who trains the best unit in the regiment. Most of the subordinate officers Shown below are pup tents set up by trainees. 41 of the Regiment came from the field where they gained wide ex perience combatting dissidents. Others came from the reserve force. In the Regiment, all these officers impart their knowledge on warfare and in turn they im bibe the latest intricacies of the art and science of war. Method And Concept Of Training The concept of training is in line with the United States Army standard to which the AFP has been accustomed since its incep tion. Great efforts are exerted to adopt the men to local condi tions and terrain. Masses of men are brought to a common place of instruction to undergo training on the same subject under one instructor and his assistants. In structors are required to make detailed lesson plans and attach manuscripts thereto. Rehearsals are part of the instructional ac tivities. The cadre enlisted per sonnel comprise the demonstration group. All instructions are cen tralized. Standards are maintain ed and instructions are made uni form. In these are employed the "B" Co and "C" Co, 1st Bn, 9th Inf Regt, on target firing at the 57 RR range. 42 methods of instruction, the most common of which is the conference method. A new, revolutionary idea of responsibility was thought of by Col. Tirso G. Fajardo, 3rd In fantry Division vice commander. “The platoon leaders,” he said, “must be answerable for the state of training of their own men?” Brig. Gen. Alfonso Arellano, the Division Commander, said “the platoon leaders must know every thing about their men, even their smell.” This necessitated closer contacts by platoon leaders with their men. They are expected to handle actually all instructions pertaining to their respective pla toons. Training under this con cept became decentralized. Les son plans took an outline form in order not to tax the platoon lead ers too much. This concept is a good one. Pla toon leaders realized their Res ponsibility. They are also forced to study all the subjects involved in the training of their own men. The situation is conducive to effective training because the size of the class warrants concenF/emenfs of o training unit on o long march approaching the bivouac area. This teaches terrain evaluation, proper formation and maximum control of the men. 43 rhe trainees, being young, respond eagerly to drills, combat formation exercises, bayonet training, confidence courses, and other activities involving physical exertion. tration on individuals lagging be hind. Bleachers are considered obso lete. Instructions are conducted in the field. Emphasis is put on practical work. The men learn by doing what is taught them. The instructor sweats it out with his men in the field. The shift to decentralized train ing was temporary. After a team of the Division arrived from an observation tour of a training unit in Hawaii, the centralized system of instruction, seen to have its great advantages, was reverted to. Refresher Courses The regular officers pulled out from the field and assigned to the Regiment underwent refresh er courses in basic military skills so as to prepare themselves for their role as instructors. The officers underwent retrain ing on map reading, military leadership, military instructorship, signal communication, and intelli gence. They took up even highlevel subjects like the Fire Sup port Coordination Center. The officers in turn are imparting to the cadre enlisted men the basic military skills. The reserve officers called to active duty were made to ûndergo instructions even on the most basic one, dismounted drill. They were instructed on the fundamen tals. While the reserve officers were under training, the trainees started pouring in. The plans of 44 the Regiment included a stage of pre-cycle training in order to com pensate for the low educational level of the new arrivals. This was designed to give additional time for more important subjects in actual training time. Since the educational attain ment of most of the trainees is quite low on the average, most instructors remedy this by con ducting lectures in the vernacu lar. All except the more techni cal subjects like signal commu nication and also mechanical func tioning of weapons are conducted in Tagalog. The result of the work of in structors who took up refresher courses is remarkable. The train ees, being young, respond eager ly to drills, combat formation exercises, bayonet training, con fidence courses, and other activi ties which involve physical exer tion. They also took up firing of different infantry weapons, both individual and crew-served. Re sults of qualification firing were very satisfactory, in comparison with the record attained by pre vious training units. While before a 60 percent qualified firers was considered good enough, now even 85 percent qualified shooters per unit is considered poor. Competitions An organization will strive hard to improve itself if it is provided Reserve officers called to active duty are made to undergo refresher courses on map reading, leadership, instructorship, signal communication, and intelligence 45 Combat drills and combat exercises include training in simple tactical move ment, maneuvers offensive action, reorganization, defensive action and withdrawal. with incentives, or if it has other units to compete with. The Re giment has initiated the system of company competition in order to determine the best unit for the month. The bases of judgment are both administrative work and actual training. Lately, the regimental inspectors were concerned mainly with how companies administer their troops, including the beauti fication of company areas. Aside from company competi tions, the regiment sponsors bat talion contests. When the regi mental colors was presented to the regiment, there was a contest held as to which unit was the best marching unit during the oc casion. The judges gave the lau rels to the 1st Battalion. Other Activities Other activities involved are athletics and socials. In athletics, the system of intramural games was initiated. The different bat talions put up their own basket ball teams and pitted them against each other. Socials are sponsored from time to time in order to bring toge ther the officers and also in or der to get them acquainted with each other. The social side of military life is stressed as a ne cessity in the big family of the army organization. 46 The 1st Battalion has put out an official organ called “The Spearhead.” Two junior’ officers were assigned officers-in-charge of the publication. The battalion commander, Lt. Col. Soliman, said that the idea is to give the train ees an outlet for their ideas and also to give them a chance to voice their opinions through the paper. Conclusion Whatever were the difficulties encountered in the training unit have been remedied. With every thing seemingly against training at the start — low educational attainment of trainees and lack of equipment and facilities—now after remedial measures the sit uation is bright. The training goes on progressively as new les sons are learned in the prepara tion of the youth for national de fense. the trainees are taught to be aggressive, stealth and make the best use of cover. Prior fo instruction in combat exercises, to fire from all positions, to move by 47