ZAMBOANGA CITY — Two-hundred ninety-one aspirant-soldiers are undergoing a 14-week training starting Monday at the Philippine Army’s First Infantry Division Training School in Kuta Sang-an, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur.
The recruits consisted of 287 new Candidate Soldiers and four Privates, who took oath as military recruits on Monday in Kuta Sang-an, with Brig. Gen. Jacinto Bareng, 1st Infantry Assistant Division commander, as the guest speaker.
Maj. Ronald Suscano, Army’s 1st Infantry Division information officer, said the new recruits will comprise the Candidate Soldier Course Classes 567-18 and 568-18 of the command.
Suscano said that 264 of the 291 Army aspirants are males and the remaining 27 are females, including a Maranao from Butig, Lanao del Sur.
He said the chosen candidates are considered to be the most competent among over 1,000 applicants. They passed the Armed Forces of the Philippines Service Aptitude Test (AFPSAT), physical fitness test (PFT), and physical and medical examination.
The recruits will undergo rigid training in the next 14 weeks at the Division Training School (DTS)on “Transformation”, “Basic Squad Training”, and “Application of Knowledge,” all aimed at molding them to become well-disciplined, competent, and capable soldiers to fill in the ranks of the Army.
“The candidate soldiers’ training is indeed tedious as they will initially experience an abrupt change from being a civilian to adapting the military lifestyle,” Suscano quoted Bareng to have told the new recruits.
“I am reminding the personnel of DTS to instill discipline and respect to the recruits, share all their knowledge, skills, and professionalism and to guarantee that they will develop a mindset of survival in the profession of arms,” Bareng added.
He encouraged the new Army recruits to do their best and efforts to survive the four months rigid training as it will also test their mental, physical and spiritual capabilities if they are really fit to be a soldier.
The recruitment is an annual program of the Philippine Army to fill-up the vacancies left by retirees and those separated from the military service. (Teofilo Garcia, Jr/PNA)
