TECHNICALLY SPEAKING

Contribution to the OCS Alumni Convention Magazine    

     Professional servants – these are the members of the Technical and Administrative Services (TAS).  Considered a service set apart from the Army, Navy and Air Force, the TAS is composed of individuals who have been practicing their specializations in their respective fields.  This is composed of eight (8) different corps namely: Chaplain Service (ChS); Corps of Professors (COP);  Dental Service (DS); Judge Advocate General Service (JAGS); Nurse Corps (NC); Medical and Administrative Corps (MAC); Medical Corps (MC) and; Veterinary Corps (VC).

     With the publication of Personnel Directive Nr 3 GHQ, AFP dtd 09 March 2009 entitled Selection and Appointment of Probationary Second Lieutenants (P2LT) in the Technical and Administrative Service, AFP, these professionals were given in-service orientation trainings to acquaint them with the rudiments of military life. The first eight (8) classes underwent their Marine Officer Training (MOT) at Ternate Cavite while classes nine (9) through thirteen (13) underwent theirs at the Philippine Army Officer Candidate School (PAOCS) at Camp O’Donnell Capas Tarlac.  The in-service trainings at PAOCS, which lasted for approximately two months, included basic military knowledges such as the AFP organization, the customs and traditions and leadership theories.  The orientation also included the acquisition of basic military skills such as marksmanship and field training exercises.  The training mind-sets the civilian professionals what the service expects of them, now that they will be military professionals.

     For Class TAS-POT Class 13 Lingap-Kalasag, the training developed more than just professional servants but camaraderie that this Service demands.  With the class’ induction into the AFPOCS Alumni Association last February 2013 vis-à-vis the graduates of the NOCS, this bond was strengthened as we were welcomed into the circle of those who walked through the portals of our beloved OCS.  With the warm acceptance they have given, the class was able to feel the sense of pride that being a soldier brings.

     With this sense of belonging deeply rooted in each of us, the members of the class further hope that we will be identified not only by our fields of specialization but also as true-blooded OCIANS.  The training may have been a stint because of its duration, but the “dumbguard” experience, the incorporation and recognition rites, and the “weather in Tarlac” has become an undeniable common ground with the other students at OCS.  This is why our class proudly carries the OCS tradition as we go about our duties as the AFP’s professional servants.