Our citizen army

Title

Our citizen army

Language

English

Source

Philippine Armed Forces Journal Volume 9 (No. 2) December 1955

Year

1955

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

' OUR .CITIZEN ARMY 8yth•Jt...rveAffol!a~ T~: t~:c~~~~~i0o: ~~ ::r~t~~~ tizcn." This is one of the national defense policies as stated in Commonwealth Act No. 1, commonly known as the National Defense Act, as amended. Thie policy is based on the principle that the "ultimate bulwark of liberty is the readiness of free citizens to sacrifice themselves in the defense of that boon". In incorporating the above-mentioned policy based on the principle as stated, it was :~~h!~:~~ti:~ an:u:b~:~~:ca1of ~t;: fensc, namely General Douglas MacArthur in his capacity as Military Adviser to the late President Quezon, and then Major now President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower, to foster national pride and patriotism in the young men by making them participate actively in the process of maintaining national defense through military training and service. Accordingly, young men of a given age were ordered to ttaining. Under this system which is generally known as Universal Military Training, male citizens who will attain the age of 20 during :;o the calendar year, mu11t register for military training. Those who were subsequently selected to train arc ordcreU to report to training camps where they are intensively taugllt the art of warfare by selected officers and soldiers of the regular force. After their graduation they are assigned to units of the reserve force and from then on until they reach the age of fifty, they are members of the reserve force and are subject to csll to active duty in times of emergency or war of for refreshel· training. Since our Army is composed mostly of these reserves with a small standing force forming as its core, our Armed Forces is consillered truly a citizen army. System of< Selection For Training Our country is not rich. It can therefore afford to train only a limited few every year. A system has to be set up therefore in order to select who among the ap-proximately 220,000 young men who attain the age of twenty every year should report for training. This system is as follows : L On April 1 to 7 of each yC"ar, all young men who attain the age of twenty during the cal''· E!lldar year / register for military training with their municipal secretaries 9r city police chiefs. Exempted fro,m this registration are the members of the Armed Forces 'oC the Philippines and those who are abroad. Those who are awaiting trial in civil courts or 11erving santence are also temporarily exempted until the termination of their trials or release from confinement. Failure to register is punishable by imprisonment of six months or a fine of P200 or both upon the discretion of the COtlrt. 2. On May 15 of each year, the Governor, the fiscal and PC Commander irr the province, constituting a board, conducts the drawing of lots to determine who among those in the province who registcred will be• selected for training. In the city, the board is com posed of the mayor, the fiscal and an officer of the AFP. Those whose names are drawn by lot are now known as draftees. 3. The draftees a~e ordered to report to Acceptance Boards constituted in the provinces and ci t1es for classification into the following: Class I - Fit for unlimited service Class II - Fit for limited service · Class III - Deferred Cor a later date Class IV - Unfit - exempted. As much as possible, only those who are classified as fit for unlimited service arc finally selected Troinu• gel inofruclion• on how lo lire f~•ir indi•iduo' weopon nnd ordered to report for training. To train these young men, cadre camps under the supervision of regular officers anc.l ~oldiers were established in the Military Uistricts of wl,ich there were ten before ti<e war. 1n view however of their destruction Uuring the war and Jack of funds with which to reconstruct them, trandng is conducted at the Philippine Army Training Comnmnd. With tho: establishment of a Divisiou T raining Camp at Laur, Nue\'a Ecija, the training of trainees re<:eived the much needed boost. ROTC To supplement the meager out-put of our training camJJS, ll1ere is established inc the colleges nnJ universities Reserve Of!icers Training Corps under the J;Upervision of the Armed Fot·ccs the basic graduates of which arc 11.ssigned as enlisted non-coms in the Reserve Force. The Ad\·ance Course g1 aduates are commissioned as second lieutenants ami are also :J.ssignl'o.l to the resen·e force. Guerrillas Dul"ing the Japanese occupation, thousauds of young T11en banded themselves into units 'wh"h h,,/.,., tho '"'my and made possible the early liberation of our country. In recognition of their meritorious services, these mcmhcrs of the guerilla units rue incorporated into the reserve force. Surely their experience and trnining acquired will be an asset should our country once more I.e under the heel of an invader. Reserve Officers The number of regular officers in the standing army is not enough to officer the units of the Armetl Forces, both in the standing army and the reserve. To provide for these units, therefore, the Armed Forces has to draw from numerous sources its offi cet·s. These sources are the following: I. Graduates of the Advance Course of the ROTC. 2. Regular EM who are graduates of the School for Reserve Commission. 3. Graduates of the Philippine Navy Line School and also those graduates of the School fot Merchant Marines of the United States. 4. Graduate of the Philippine Air Force Flying School. ~>. Degre Holders and Specialists. G. Deserving enlisted men of the regular force. To train these officers, they arc called to Annual Active Duty Training in accordance with the provisions of the National Defense Act. In addUion, the A1·mcd Forces has instituted a correspondence course wherein reserve offi cers 1n the inactive status arc given lessons i1~ certain subjects conunensUL'ate with their ranks and intended positi.9n to be occupied in the reserve force. Plans an: presently being perfected to gi\'e these reserve officers more tmining. Home Stations In thlo! course ol the administration of the reserves, tiLe Armed Forces are faced with so many problems. One of the biggest problems is how to get in touch with the reservists whose addresses are 110 longer known because of the mass movement of the population after the last war from the urban areas to the rural areas and vice versa. Although it is a provision of the National Defense Act that reservists, whether \hey are officers or enlisted men should notify their headquarters of their new addresses, there are certain l'easons for the failure oC these reservists to register their new addresses. In order to solve this problem, facilitate the administration of the reservists and also make possible theil" training even while they are in the inactive status, our reserves are pl'esently Ucing reo1·ga.nized in accordance with what is popularly known as the regional concept. Under this concept, reservists residing with in a certain radius are grouped together, constituted into a unit, and given its own headquarters 53 Weapon• used in '"'ining indude the 57~~ to be known as a "Home Station". Reservists residing in a barrio may be formed into a squad. Squads in several barrios adjac· ent to each other may be formed into a platoon. Several platoons maY be fonned into companies. lt is felt that this project will meet favorable endorsement by our leaders and people. Aside from the fMt that this is not a new idea, it is at the same time an implementation of the provisions of the National Defense Act which dictates that the organi:r:ation for national defense shall follow closely as much as po9sible the territorial and admnistrative organi:r:ation of the country. The advantages of organi:r:ing home stations are the following: 1. It will facilitate mobili:r:ation. 2. It will make possible the training of reserve units " while they are in the inactive status. 3. It will develop in the mem· hers of the units the feeling of "belonging" which is essential for the morale of the members. This feeling will be communicated to their families and subsequently to all the members of the community. Members of the community will in turn encourage the members of the \m.'a\ units to strive hard. The spirit of friendly competition between units in barrios, in towns and even in provinces and cities will be developed and the whole country will catch on and becomes national dtlfense conscious. 4. Contact of reservists will not only be facilitated but it will also be constant. Information affecting their status can be communicated to them through the home stations.

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