Posted to Kalinaw News (Sep 29, 2020): Experimental “Big Brother” concept kicks-off at 91st Infantry Battalion
LTC REANDREW P. RUBIO (GSC) PA, commanding officer of 91st IB said that the “big brother concept” opening ceremony formally started on Saturday regarding the actual role of the big brother concept in molding Reservist into a real infantry of the Philippine Army.
The move is to enhance the cooperation and coordination between the active military and Philippine Army Reservist.
This is also to familiarize actually the operational procedures and roles of the Battalion Commanders, Executive Officer and key staffs in the office and in the fields.
“The role of a big brother in molding his younger siblings is critical in the development of our attitude and behavior. It produces a strong fraternity among brothers that cultivates positive relationship and support,” according to COL BENJAMIN L HAO, PA, Assistant Division Commander for Reservist and Retirees Affairs wherein the said concept is also the proposed strategy to be adopted in developing the planning capability of the Ready Reserve Infantry Battalions (RRIBn) in 7ID.
Based on consultations and meetings conducted by the Office of the Division Reservist and Retiree Affairs to the different reservist units in August of 2020, it was found out that the command and control (C2s) of the RRIBns were not given appropriate trainings to conduct basic military planning procedures and not even empowered to plan for their own unit development.
Almost all officers assigned in the C2s of the RRIBns have no training on their given positions. According to the RCDGs and CDCs consulted, they were selected by a special committee from the members of the RRIBns and RRIBde based on their personality, experience, and current position in the civilian sector.
The RCDGs will then process the approval of the selections made before issuing their assignment orders.
After assigning them to their respective position, there is no training program given to them to improve their respective functions.
On empowerment, it was found out that all plans and programs of the RRIBns are done by the Community Defense Centers (CDCs). When asked if they want to develop their own plans, the members of the C2s said that they only rely on what the CDC director asked them to do.
Developing the capability of the RRIBns’ C2 to conduct battel staff planning is part of the concept of “mirroring” the Army reserve force with the Army regular forces. It simply states that what the regulars can do must be the same as what the reservists can do also.
Considering the identified gaps, 7ID can complement this capability development effort in many ways. It can provide field trainings for the members of the RRIBns’ C2s such as observation tours and even the conduct of on-the-job-trainings at our regular infantry battalion headquarters.
Empowering the C2s of the RRIBns is supposedly an implied task that has not been practiced for a so long time. Doing this empowerment is a critical initiative that has a lot of opportunities for development if properly managed. Once the C2s are trained to conduct basic military planning, they can also be prepared to plan for their own unit development. This will most probably lead to a 360-degree turnaround in developing our Army reserve forces, i.e., the role in developing the reserve force is not only given on the shoulders of the regular force but also on them.
The “big brother” concept comes in the picture by assigning a regular unit to act as ‘big brother’ to a reserve unit.
As ‘big brother’, it will become his responsibility to guide and mentor the reserve unit in understanding better how the Army operates, particularly in the infantry battalion level.
Since the concept is still considered under experiment, only one RRIBn per RCDG shall be involved in the process.
and, develop respective staff plans and products for their respective units.
The ‘big brother’ experiment shall be conducted from September 2020 to December 2020. For the 1RCDG and the 702nd Brigade, they shall facilitate the concept in Ilocos Sur province particularly to the 102nd RRIBn and the 81st Infantry Battalion respectively.
While for the 3RCDG and the 703rd Brigade, they will commit the 307th RRIBn and 91IB in this province.
The result of the experiment shall be the basis in the future complementary programs of the Command in support to the development of the reserve forces in 7th Infantry “Kaugnay” Division.
“Big Brother Concept is part of the guidance of 7ID, PA through ADCRRA in order to train and capacitate our reservists for them to effectively and efficiently perform their respective duties and responsibilities in support to the mission of 91IB, 7ID, PA. It will also enhance the capability of our reservists in the conduct of admin and operational activities,” LTC RUBIO said.
LTC RUBIO commended the participants as he explained that the training is necessary to hone the reservist’s skills, explaining that the training is the best morale that the Army can give to the troops, as it would help enhance their expertise and attitudes in conducting non-traditional and traditional activities inside and outside the camp.
Captain Renan Cyngin P. Roldan said during the unit briefing that part of the Operations is mandated to give support to AFP Triad (Combat Operations, Intelligence and Civil Military Operations) in discharging its duties to the public against insurgency.
2nd lieutenant Jevie Saragao, assistant operation officer of the 91st IB led the presentation of Big Brother Concept and an open forum was conducted to clarify issues and concerns of the reservists.
[Kalinaw News is the official online source of information on the pursuit for peace in the Philippines This website is a property of the Civil-Military Operations Regiment, Philippine Army located at Lawton Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. Contact us: kalinawnews@cmoregiment.com]
https://www.kalinawnews.com/experimental-big-brother-concept-kicks-off-at-91st-infantry-battalion/
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