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Philippines Army
The Philippine army was formally organized in 1936 after the
United States accorded the Philippines commonwealth status in
1935, but it traced its origins to the rebel forces established
in 1896 to fight for national independence. The army was intended
to be a small standing army modeled on the United States Army,
but army strength varied widely over the years, depending on the
internal threat. After dramatic growth during the 1970s, total
army strength remained relatively stable during the 1980s. With
some 68,000 troops in 1990, the army was by far the largest of
the services. The commanding general, a major general, directly
controlled the service's administrative, logistics, and training
functions from headquarters at Fort Bonifacio in Manila, but area
unified commands exercised operational control over nearly all
combat units. Army units were actively involved in the fight
against the communist insurgency and, to a lesser extent,
monitored the mostly dormant Muslim rebellion.
The army's major tactical units were its eight light infantry
divisions. Three divisions were headquartered on the northern
Island of Luzon, two were based in the central Visayan Islands,
and three operated on the southern island of Mindanao. All except
one consisted of three brigades, and that one had two brigades.
Although the army's overall strength did not change, during the
late 1980s it was structurally expanded, from the four divisions
that had existed since 1983 to eight in 1990. The basic maneuver
unit was the infantry battalion. Although authorized to contain
some 600 soldiers, battalions typically had 500 troops or fewer
assigned.
In addition to these infantry formations, the army had a
light armored brigade, eight artillery battalions, three engineer
brigades, and a construction battalion. Support units included a
service support brigade, a training command, a signal group, an
intelligence and security group, a civil-military operations
battalion, and a finance center. The elite army Scout Ranger
regiment, a specialized counterinsurgency force, was disbanded
following its participation in the 1989 coup attempt.
The army's weapons were appropriate to its light infantry
force structure and counterinsurgency mission (see
table 19,
Appendix). Major items included 41 light tanks, 85 armored
infantry fighting vehicles, 285 armored personnel carriers, and
assorted light and medium towed artillery. Most arms and
equipment were of United States make or design, although sources
of weapons and supplies had diversified since the 1970s. The
standard infantry weapon was the United States M-16A1 rifle,
manufactured in the Philippines under a license agreement.
The army operated a variety of schools for its arms and
branches. The Army Training Command was located at Fort Magsaysay
in Nueva Ecija, north of Manila. The training command provided
basic training for enlisted personnel and officers and advanced
training in some specialties such as infantry and artillery.
Specialized training in other areas, such as armor, intelligence,
and engineering, was the responsibility of service extension
schools operated by the commanders of those army units. Many
soldiers, however, never attended centralized military schools,
but instead were trained by army divisions at basic training
centers throughout the country.
Data as of June 1991
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