NCSC Class 67 convened

“The Philippines was successfully invaded by Japan during World War II because of a weak Navy and Air Force to defend the islands.” This was the belief of General Douglas McArthur as RADM VICENTE M ADGAMAG recounts of the famous American Army General in the latter’s speech during the Convening Ceremony of the Naval Command and Staff Course Class of 67.

In a sense, the Commander of Naval Education and Training Command who was the Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker in the said ceremony on August 25, 2009 at the Naval School Center emphasized the important role of the Navy in the past and present scenario. He stressed that the students of the Course are here to become better strategists and planners to fulfil the over-all mission to protect the people, preserve the constitution and maintain the integrity of national territory. That every student shall absorb into his system the value of honor, the object for the construction of a Conferment Hall which is to instil into every new member of the Navy the true essence of his personal oath to the Country as a loyal soldier.

That is why he stressed that NETC is doing its best to provide the most that it could for every course that is convened within its grounds. This is fulfilled through the direction of the Five Pillars of Education he mentioned as follows: competent faculty, enhanced curriculum, a facility conducive to learning, advanced references, and high-morale students. Through these pillars, NETC shall send officers fully armed and ready to be assigned into different strategic positions not only in the Philippine Navy but in the whole Armed Forces of the Philippines. Hopefully, help resolve the deficiency of the AFP in its present state of preparedness. Or rather, the AFP’s ill-preparedness which he observed during the year 2000 Camp Abu Bakkar Campaign where the military is into a full-scale war with the MILF yet the Navy’s vessel is in Singapore procuring ammunition to support the operation.

RADM AGDAMAG is indeed correct to note that our primary reason for existence as a military must boil down into its overall mission. Our mission is to keep the country safe from external aggressors and internal detractors. Training is certainly very vital in the over-all success of any organization. The individual contribution of a properly trained soldier counts and creates an influence among his peers, subordinates and even superiors. More so if applied to officers with a wider scope of influence within their respective units.

For the mean time though, we have at least moved a notch higher in trying to elevate the training standard by providing the necessary support facilities needed by the students. Because the ultimate reason of existence of NETC anyway is to train them which will be fully reinforced with the necessary logistic support. As with the Commander’s message of engaging in the Abu Bakkar campaign, the students are also “at war” and must be supported with essential logistics. And bringing in foreign military students is a laudable move for it will not only “compel” us to raise the standards of the school even higher. It will also bring in new ideas to every class which will make the Filipino students think out of the box.

Finally, preparing a strong Navy as Gen. McArthur stressed entails the availability of both material and well-trained human resources. Acquiring new ships and modern weapon systems or technology is useless in the absence of a weak Officer Corps who is unsupported by ill-educated manpower. On the other hand, a strong and credible Navy that we all are hoping to become by the year 2020 is not realistic with purely skilled personnel and does not have the ship or technology to apply their acquired trainings. Our Navy needs properly-trained men and fully-equipped ships to address our main mission of defending it against internal and external threats.