Army company retrains, gears for combat

By Eldie S. Aguirre,
Davao del Sur Bureau Chief

DIGOS City — After intensive and rigorous training for almost three months, the entire troop of the 73rd Infantry Battalion (IB) has been declared graduates after passing with flying colors.

Major Gen. Rafael Valencia, 10th Infantry division commander announced their success in undergoing the Battalion Retraining Program (BRP) during the formal graduation rites at the battalion headquarters in Barangay (village) Felis, Malita, Davao Occidental, last week.

Valencia announced that even if they don’t have built-in BRP facilities, the 73rd IB managed to become one of the two army units in his turf that was given the ‘Go’ signal.

A ‘No Go’ signal will mean another one month of retraining before a unit will be allowed to go back to their respective field assignments.

“I am very proud of you. This is the fruit of your unwavering dedication to your job in close coordination with your superiors,” Valencia told the graduates.

“You are now back to operational status. You are fit for re-deployment to carry out the mission of your unit,” he said.

Lt. Col. Felix Ronnie Babac, the 73rd IB commander said the refresher course commenced on June 1, where all troop members were called back to the headquarters to join the BRP. At the same time the battalion was declared non-operational until the retraining will be through.

Babac said he was very excited over the performance of his troops during the training exercise which is aimed to make individual soldiers to be more focused, responsive, and realistic in their respective fields of assignment.

The BRP training was designed with five modules beginning with a common module, marksmanship, specialization, unite refresher, and evaluation wherein every participant will experience how to hurdle each module when being consolidated or done simultaneously. It also maximize time and availability of field instructors.

“The main purpose of this training is to prepare the troops to be physically fit, mentally awake and emotionally upbeat especially when they are on their own at the battlefield. They have to be ready and prepared for any eventualities at any given time,” Babac said.

BRP is a regular activity of every army units to avoid personnel obsolescence due to technological changes and the tendency to forget what they have learned in the past. It enhances their skills and the commanders could determine if it remains effective as expected from a well-trained group of soldiers.