PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / July 27, 2013) – The Philippine Army’s 1st Infantry Division has formally opened a two-month reorganizational training for members of the 32nd Infantry Battalion in Labangan town in Zamboanga del Sur province.
Capt. Jefferson Somera, the division spokesman, quoted Lt. Col. Alex Rillera, the Assistant Chief of Staff for Education and Training, as saying that the retraining is part of the “Implementation Plan Pagsasanay Alfa.”
The training aims to develop the combat skills and knowledge of the soldiers.
“We will also refurbish their mobility equipment and at the same time strengthen their operational readiness towards excellent mission accomplishment,” Rillera said.
Brig. Gen. Felicito Virgilio Trinidad, Jr, the acting division commander, commended the accomplishments of the battalion, under Lt. Col. Johnson Jemar Aseron, in its long years of deployment in the province.
In welcoming the troops, he said: “Our core competencies, as soldiers, are fighting wars and battles, because that is what we are trained for. And we need to hone that competency so that we are always on the upper hand to protect our people and defend the integrity and sovereignty of our country against threats.”
Trinidad also emphasized the objectives of the organizational training which he summed at under the acronym “TRAIN” or Total Unit Readiness, Responsiveness or Responsibility, as a unit and as individual soldier, Acquisition of knowledge and skills, Imbibe the culture of professionalism, discipline and excellence, and Nurture the spirit of service and people oriented individual soldier and unit.
The battalion had its last retraining in 1998 and since then, it became one of the best units in the Philippine Army. The unit successful internal peace and security initiatives significantly contributed to the improved socio-economic development in the island of Basilan for the past four years, Trinidad said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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