MANILA — One of the Philippine military units being trained by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in urban warfare in Camp Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal, would graduate on Saturday (Dec. 2), 2nd Infantry Division commander, Maj. Gen. Rhoderick Parayno, said.
Some 100 to 110 troopers of the 1st Infantry Battalion (IB) are participating in the urban warfare training being provided by about 60 ADF personnel, Parayno said, adding that an initial cadre of troops, also from the 1st IB, was also taught the same tactics and techniques last October.
A third batch from the Philippine Marine Corps would be trained on the same combat skills soon, he added.
After completing the course, the Filipino soldiers will in turn train their colleagues so that more Philippine military units would be equipped with knowledge on urban warfare.
Parayno said urban warfare is a new concept for the Philippine military as the Armed Forces has been trained on jungle warfare tactics to deal with insurgents.
“(Urban warfare) is a totally new doctrine dahil while nasa doktrina yung Army, yung military operation on urban terrain, yung tinatawag naming MOUT sa school, hindi masyadong nabibigyan ng emphasis kasi talaga namang ang Army nasa bundok (Urban warfare is a totally new doctrine because while it is included in the Army doctrine, the military operation on urban terrain or MOUT is not given much emphasis as most of the time, the Army troops are in the mountains),” he explained.
Australia made the commitment to train Philippine troops in urban warfare last September at the height of the Marawi City crisis, which began May 23 and ended on October 23. (Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
