6th ID sends 150 recruits to basic military training

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao -- A new set of recruits was officially sent Thursday for a 20-week training to the 6th Division Training School in Barangay Semba, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, officials said.The group is composed of 150 candidate soldiers coming from the different municipalities in the provinces of Mindanao who have undergone the complete screening and pre-entry process since early of this year, Army Capt. Joan Petinglay said.Petinglay, speaking for the 6th ID, said the training will be in two phases, the Basic Military training which will run for 13 weeks and the Jungle Warfare Mountain Operations Course that will be expected to last for seven weeks.Parents, family members and loved ones of the recruits flocked to the grounds of 6th ID in order to wish their candidate soldier well and to witness the oath-taking ceremony.Major General Edmundo Pangilinan, 6th ID chief, said wanted the training to be purposive and relevant because what will be taught during the duration are the same lessons that will keep the would-be soldiers survive their military careers.He also reminded the trainers to make sure to inculcate discipline and respect for authority, to ensure adherence to uncompromising standards and for the recruits to develop a mind-set that everything done is essentially important.During the training, candidate soldiers are expected to undergo dramatic and abrupt change of their personal lifestyles to acculturation into the military routine.The trainees are expected to graduate after more than five months of training and will be incorporated to the regular members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines specifically with the 6th Infantry (Kampilan) Division with the rank of Private.Pangilinan stressed that the recruits were screened properly. This is voluntary, there was no favoritism in the recruitment process, Pangilinan said. You don't need to pay your way into the military training, this is purely voluntary and in the spirit of service to the people, he added.After the send off ceremonies, the candidate soldiers walked as one group from 6th ID compound in Barangay Awang to Barangay Semba, where the Division Training Center is located, about five kilometers away.