AIR-TO-GROUND DRILLS. Reservist Cpl. Cesar Conde (left), designated radioman of the "Stick 2", performs the perimeter security formation along with other reservists who executed the parachute landing fall from the UH-1D helicopter during the air-to-ground field training exercises at a vacant lot in Barangay Paknaan, Mandaue City on Sunday (July 21, 2019). Around 150 reservists from the Philippine Army and Philippine Air Force joined the Air-to-Ground Operations Seminar training organized by PAF's 5th Air Force Reserve Center based in Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base on Mactan Island, Cebu. (Photo courtesy of Lt. Col. Tiburcio Adrian Umbac)
CEBU CITY – Around 150 military reservists in Central Visayas on Sunday joined air-to-ground exercises which are considered among the toughest drills experienced by the citizens' armed forces in the country, the 5th Air Force Reserve Center (5th ARCEN) said.
1st Lt. Czarina Arceo, operations officer of the 5th ARCEN, said the FTX (field training exercise) of the Air-to-Ground Operations Seminar (AGOS) training was successfully conducted with zero-casualty.
Brig. Gen. Simeon Felix Jr., commander of the Tactical Operations Wing Center based in Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base on Mactan Island, Cebu, said during the opening ceremony that the AGOS training would serve as simulation of joint mobilization of the reservists coming from the different provinces in the region.
Felix said the training was meant to prepare the reservists in Central Visayas for any eventuality.
“As a military, you must be physically fit, mentally fit, and emotionally and spiritually prepared,” Felix said, stressing that adventurous trainings will make the reservists emotionally prepared and can easily perform the tasks given to them.
The chief of the Philippine Air Force’s tactical operations in central Philippines said the AGOS training provides the reservists enough competence to coordinate and communicate with the aircraft pilot and conduct marshaling in guiding the helicopter to hover and to land.
Those skills, he said, would prepare the reservists in case of crisis or calamities which may strike the region.
Lt. Col. Rowel Gavilanes, director of the 701st Community Defense Center, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an interview that the Army Reserve Command’s 7th Regional Community Defense Group sent a 120-strong contingent to the training.
The Army reservists who joined the training came from Cebu, Bohol, and Negros Oriental. The Cebu contingent which was considered as the biggest comprised members of the 1901st Infantry Brigade Ready Reserve headed by reservist Brig. Gen. Erik Miguel Espina and the 701st Ready Reserve Battalion headed by reservist Lt. Col. Antonio Esmero.
The training started with a series of lectures on Saturday to educate the reservists in the region about the role of PAF in the country’s peace, security, and development efforts, significance of weather in airborne operations, basic communications, codes and signaling, and forward air guide.
The lecturers also provided the reservists knowledge about aircraft identification and ammunitions, close air support, air to ground techniques and safety.
They were also trained to perform the parachute landing fall (PLF), the basic jumping technique in any air-to-ground operations. They boarded a UH-1D Huey helicopter flyby before jumping off, executing the PLF to the ground and performing the perimeter security formation before exfiltration.
1st Lt. Ronald Conopio and Cpl. Cesar Conde, who are both enlisted reservists of the 1901st, told the PNA that it was their first time to undergo such an adventure as a citizen army.
Among the notable reservists who joined the training were Maj. Liza Quirog of the provincial government of Bohol, Lt. Col. Lino Garsuta who is a licensed physical therapist and a college professor, Lt. Col. Mario Montejo who is the regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Lt. Col. Tiburcio Adrian Umbac who is a labor arbiter of the National Labor Relations Commission, and Maj. Thadeo Jonkie Ouano, an incumbent board member of the provincial government of Cebu, among others.
Other reservists who joined the training are teachers, psychologists, journalists, call center agents, security consultants, office clerks, among others.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1075626
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