Superannuated soldiers
It’s amazing, what one learns everyday. There’s a factoid which recently caught our attention. And our leaders said while it is worrisome, it is not really a serious problem. The average age of our soldiers is 44. But not to worry, according to the AFP leadership, the superannuated soldiers are assigned to office jobs. So there is really no degradation of fighting ability. Moreover, these soldiers need their jobs. Where will they go if not to the ranks of jobless if they are separated from the service?Here we are again seeing our tendency of grabbing the bull by the tail whenever we are faced with an anomaly that requires correction. For the issue is not about the quality of the fighting men we are sending to the front lines. Or of providing opportunities for those who otherwise could not find a job.
Since the enactment of Commonwealth Act No. 1, the defense of the Republic has always been considered the duty of every citizen. The professional armed forces are meant to serve as the cadre organization – that is, the backbone – of a citizen’s army. This is in recognition of the reality that the Philippines, or any modern country for that matter, cannot afford to maintain a huge standing army in proportion to its population.
So how do we ensure that full-time farmers, factory hands and clerks can answer the call in the event the balloon goes up? They are supposed to serve in the military for a short period in their adult life, three years if our information is still current. They gain the skills and the discipline for waging war and, as a bonus, such skills may prove useful when they return to civilian life.
The idea is for the pipeline to have regular batches of trainees at the intake while disgorging those who have already served at the other end. The result is a steady stream of trained men organized into the reserves.
Military service need not even be universal. There is an excess of 18-year-olds and above volunteering to join the AFP. The training program, thus, need not be frightfully expensive.
Everything we have said above is nothing new. The puzzle is why AFP leaders have all but forgotten their lessons during their plebe year at the PMA.
And while we’re at it, while the AFP is neglecting the basics, why is the PNP divided into "commissioned" and "non-commissioned officers," following military practice, when it is by law a professional and civilian organization?
More on this some other time.
