Philippine Army

The Philippine Army (PA), (Filipino official name Hukbong Katihan ng Pilipinas), is the main branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) responsible for ground warfare. The current Commanding-General Lt. Gen. Noel A. Coballes, who assumed office on January 21, 2013.

History
The Philippine Army was initially organized under the National Defense Act of 1935 (Commonwealth Act No. 1) from among former holders of reserve commissions in the United States Army, from among former officers of the Philippine Scouts and Constabulary.

After the establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth on November 15, 1935, President Manuel L. Quezon sought the services of General Douglas MacArthur to evolve a national defense plan. The official rebirth of the Philippine Army occurred with the passage of Commonwealth Act No. 1, approved on December 21, 1935, which effected the organization of a Council of National Defense and an Army of the Philippines. The act set forth the organizational structure of the army in some detail, set forth enlistment procedures, and established mobilization procedures. The act specified that in so far as may be practicable, original appointments by the President in grades above third lieutenant shall be made from among those formerly holding Reserve Commissions in the United States Army, from among former officers of the Philippine Scouts and Constabulary, from among former officers of the National Guard and from such others who possess exceptional ability or special training and skill.

A decade later, with the threat of war with Japan becoming imminent, on July 26, 1941 a new U.S. command in the Far East was created, known as the United States Army Forces Far East (USAFFE). On the same date, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, issued a Presidential Order (6 Fed. Reg. 3825) which called the Philippine Army into the service of the Armed Forces of the United States. The Presidential Order did not order all the military forces of the Philippine government into the service of the United States Armed Forces. Only those units and personnel indicated in orders issued by a general officer of the United States Army were mobilized and made an integral part of the United States Army Forces Far East (USAFFE), and only those members of a unit who physically reported for duty were inducted. With an annual appropriation of 16 million pesos, the mobilized units trained new Filipino members in defending the nation and protecting its people.

Japanese forces invaded the Philippines after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu on 7 December 1941. At this time, two regular and ten reserve divisions of the Philippine Army undertook the defense of the Philippines. These divisions were incorporated into the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. The equipment of these units included: Canon de 155mm GPF; 75 mm Gun M1917; 2.95 inch QF Mountain gun; Stokes Mortar; Brandt mle 27/31; Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP; M2 Browning machine gun; M1917 Browning machine gun; M1919 Browning machine gun; M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle; M1917 Enfield rifle; M1903 Springfield rifle; Thompson submachine gun; and the M1911 pistol.

After the surrender of the Filipino and American forces in the Philippines in May 1942, independent guerrilla groups, composed of both civilian and military personnel, began to form throughout the Islands. Many of these groups worked under the control of General Douglas MacArthur's General Headquarters, Southwest Pacific Area. A recognized military force is defined as a force under a commander who has been appointed, designated or recognized by a general officer of the United States Army.

Service of the Philippine Army as part of the United States Armed Forces terminated as of midnight, June 30, 1947, by authority of General Order #168, Army Forces Western Pacific. The next day, on July 1, President Manuel Roxas issued Executive Order No. 94 s. 1947 which, among other things, reorganized the Philippine Army into the Armed Forces of the Philippines. This resulted in the formation of the Philippine Air Force and reformation of the Philippine Navy as separate organizations after long years as part of the Philippine Army.

1950 would see the PA not just fighting Communist groups in Luzon but from August of that year, even the Korean People's Army and their allies in the People's Liberation Army in the Korean War as PA Battalion Combat Teams (BCTs) forming the bulk of the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea formed part of the UN forces, led by the US, that fought in the conflict. The decade saw the raising of the first active division of the Army, the 1st Infantry Division. With the victory over the Huks later in the 50s, the BCTs became active duty infantry battalions. Formed in the same time was the 1st Scout Ranger Regiment, and in 1962 the PA raised its airborne and special forces formation, the Special Forces Regiment (Airborne) following the traditions of the US Army Special Forces (the Green Berets) and the 11th Airborne Division that helped liberate Southern Luzon and Manila at the closing stages of the Japanese occupation of the country.

It would only take until the 1970s and the Communist and Muslim rebellions that would force the PA into the establishment of its 2nd Infantry Division, which led to the raising of more infantry divisions all over the country.

Functions


The functions of the Philippine Army are:


 * Organize, train and equip Army forces for the conduct of prompt and sustained combat operations on land;


 * Prepare such units as may be necessary for the effective prosecution of national defense plans and programs and Armed Forces mission, including the expansion of the peacetime Army component to meet any emergency;


 * Develop, in accordance with the other major services, tactics, techniques and equipment of interest to the Army on field operations;


 * Train, organize and equip all Army reserve units; and


 * Perform such functions as the higher authorities may direct.

Regular units
The Philippine Army has several regular units dedicated to counter-insurgency and conventional army operations.

Infantry

 * 1st Infantry Division
 * 2nd Infantry Division
 * 3rd Infantry Division
 * 4th Infantry Division
 * 5th Infantry Division
 * 6th Infantry Division
 * 7th Infantry Division
 * 8th Infantry Division
 * 9th Infantry Division
 * 10th Infantry Division

Armor and cavalry

 * Mechanized Infantry Division (Light Armor Division)

Combat support units

 * 51st Engineering Brigade, PA
 * 52nd Engineering Brigade, PA
 * 53rd Engineering Brigade, PA
 * Army Signal Regiment
 * Army Artillery Regiment
 * Civil-Military Operations Group
 * Intelligence Security Group

Service support units

 * Philippine Army Reserve Command
 * Philippine Army Training and Doctrine Command
 * Philippine Army Support Command
 * Finance Center
 * Philippine Army Nurse Corps
 * Philippine Army Medical Corps
 * Philippine Army Security and Escort Battalion

Special units
The Philippine Army has a number of units dedicated to special operations. These units report directly to the Philippine Army Special Operations Command
 * 1st Scout Ranger Regiment
 * 1st Special Forces (Airborne) Regiment
 * Light Reaction Battalion

Bases
The list of all military bases in the Philippines

Future acquisitions
The Department of National Defense (Philippines) is planning to acquire 100 M113 APCs and 25 FH-70 155mm howitzers from Italy as part of a deal for further purchase of Italian armaments, although this is not final.

The Philippine Army is expecting delivery of 114 M113A2 armored personnel carriers from the ex-US Army stocks, which are expected by 2013.

A joint purchase with the Philippine Marine Corps for around 50,000 new rifles based on M16/M4/AR-15 platform and 5,500 close combat optics is underway, to replace the older M16A1 still in service on both armed forces branches. On May 4, 2013, the Department of National Defense (DND) has declared the United States-based Remington company the winning bidder to supply 50,629 pieces of M4 rifles, according to the Philippine representative of the company.

Another joint purchase with the Philippine Marine Corps is for around 44,000 new body armor or force protection equipment, composed of basic vest, plate inserts and soft-ballistic panel and weighing between 5.8 kilograms to 6.8 kg.

There is an ongoing bid for 100 units of 81mm mortar, 335 units of rocket launchers/light anti-tank weapons, 18 units 155 mm towed howitzers with 5-ton truck prime movers and night fighting systems.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will acquire close to P40 Million ($1M) worth of hand grenades to be used for security operations. A bid bulletin published in The STAR showed that the AFP will acquire 11,364 smoke grenades and 11,460 fragmentation grenades. The government has allotted P19.944m for the smoke grenades and P19.998m for the fragmentation grenades. The opening of bids will be on May 20 at the AFP Bids and Awards Committee Conference Room in Camp Aguinaldo.

Sources say the Department of National Defense is also “in the thick of negotiations” for the purchase of ground-to-air missiles from Israel, reported for the Philippine Army.

Major equipment
The Philippine Army makes use of different kinds of equipment in its arsenal like pistols, submachine guns, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, machine guns, grenades, grenade launchers, mortars, anti-tank weapons, night vision devices, force protection equipments, combat radios, armoured personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, utility vehicles, field ambulances, howitzers, surveillance aircraft and assault boats.