AFP Vision 2028: A World-class Armed Forces, Source of National Pride

ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES

Education Training Doctrine Command
Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City

15 October 2018

SMC CLASS 16-2018

SUBJECT: Enhancement of teaching competencies of ARESCOM Personnel.

1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The Army Reserve Command (ARESCOM) is one of Philippine Army Major Units,
which is mandated to implement various programs, activities and projects in the Reserve
Force Development Program as embodied in Republic Act 7077. One of the unit’s
functions is to develop, organize, train, equip and administer and maintain the ready reserve
component of the army.

Most of the personnel of ARESCOM are involved in administering and managing in

the conduct of trainings like pre-reservist training to Basic and Advance ROTC Training,
Probationary Officer Training Corps, Basic Citizen Military Training and other reservist
trainings. Thus, is there a need to enhance the teaching competencies of ARESCOM
personnel?

2. FACTS BEARING ON THE PROBLEM

a. Personnel assigned at ARESCOM are either high school graduates or have

units in college. Only few are college graduates and these are the people who manage
ROTC and are designated as Admin NCOs and instructors in the colleges/universities under
the supervision of RCDGs.
b. The teaching competencies and program of instructions (POI) are in line with
the subject matter. However, the problem lies with the availability of subject matter experts
(SME) who will serve as instructors.

c. Since English is the official language in the medium of instruction, it is a must

for the personnel of ARESCOM to be conversant in English. It is through this that the
students assess their instructor in his knowledge of certain topics and if he (instructor) is
able to explain very well to the students / cadets / trainees the subject matter at hand in
English language.

d. As Filipinos, our native tongue is Tagalog, most often than not we intend to
mispronounce words and sometimes we commit common mistakes such as pronunciations,
which may affect their meaning. The listener/student may interpret that as lack of
communication skills. As a result, they see it as an indication of low intelligence or lack of
education, which undermines the credibility of the instructor/trainor.

e. Military correspondence is always written in English and correct use of

grammar is very important in drafting a communication to convey the message. Personnel
in ARESCOM are doing multiple function. They are also the personnel in the G-Staff,
Technical and Special Staff during weekdays and as Admin/Training NCO during weekends.

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3. ASSUMPTION

a. The personnel of ARESCOM assigned in its Fifteen (15) Regional Community

Defense Centers located in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao areas are expected to teach
freshmen students of different colleges and universities, particularly the students enrolled of
Reserve Officer Training Course (ROTC).

b. ARESCOM personnel are also dealing with the different reservists and
stakeholders in the performance of their duty wherein they must comprehend properly in
exchanging ideas with them.

c. Well-trained and highly conversant instructors will be more capable with their
expertise in teaching the cadets. The personnel will boost their self-confidence and self-
esteem enhancing their image as professionals in their respective expertise.

4. ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION

The Army Reserve Command is a unique Unit wherein it renders services mostly to
civilian sectors, the ROTC cadets, the reservists and other stakeholders. It has 15 RCDGs
located in different parts of the country, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao areas. Each RCDG
has Community Defense Centers (CDC) representing per province handling ROTC Units
under its AOR. Personnel assigned in ARESCOM are either a high school graduate,
vocational graduate, undergraduate (college level), or a baccalaureate degree holder.

Universities and Colleges require our ARESCOM personnel their PRC License,
master’s degrees and other academic requirements in order to qualify to teach. To align the
personnel with these requirements, though, some of the personnel are not college
graduates, the ARESCOM is conducting in-service training to all RCDG personnel assigned
there one at a time or in schedule basis, which can help them to develop and enhance their
knowledge in teaching as well as to improve the training readiness of its RCDG. By this, we
are not left behind in terms of teaching approach; we only missed professional license, but
not the knowledge of teaching.

Being an Admin NCO in Colleges/Universities, there are lots of responsibilities to

handle. In the absence or in behalf of the Commandant and/or other Tactical Officers
assigned, he is the one in-charge of communicating with the School Officials when there are
ROTC activities. He is attending meetings with the deans, professors and other teaching
faculty. And if there are problems with regards to ROTC Cadets, he is coordinating with
them, either verbal or non-verbal means.

Most soldiers, either officers or enlisted personnel, and civilian employees, are not
that conversant in using the English language, but sometimes it cannot be avoided in using
it, especially in the unit where we are teaching young generations, ROTC cadets and
reservists. It is one factor where cadets/students can see that the instructor is
knowledgeable of a certain topic. There are some who prefer to do hard works than to draft
a written explanation. Why? Because of difficulty in English language like grammar usage.
But it cannot be avoided because some words are better expressed in English rather than in
Tagalog.

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 AFP Vision 2028: A World-class Armed Forces, Source of National Pride

Confidence is acquired through knowledge and mastery. Skills can be acquired and
honed; once acquired, it can help improve and reflect the good image of the AFP as a whole
perceiving the organization composed of professional and world-class soldiers.

Pronunciation is the most important and difficult problem that non-native English
speakers have to face when studying English. Improper pronunciation can lead to negative
impression, misunderstanding and ineffective communication. When an instructor talks to
students during classroom instruction, the pronunciation is the first thing they notice during
the conversation. In everyday communication, one usually does not have to use many
complicated words, so if his limited vocabulary is not a big issue, then he can use simpler
terms to express the word that he does not know. In fact, the students will notice right away
if his pronunciation is good or bad with the first few simple words he has said. If he has a
poor pronunciation with a very strong regional/foreign accent, they will think of the instructor
as bad English speaker and his good vocabulary and grammar are sometimes neglected.

In military correspondence, English is used in day-to-day administrative function in

the office and in military organization as a whole. It is a tool in conveying information from
one unit to higher headquarters or to subordinate units and to civilian office as well. To
maintain relevance and effectiveness in this ever-changing world, one must be committed to
continuous personal and professional development and growth. This program serves as a
useful tool in helping the ARESCOM and the Army as well to aspire and achieve a high
standard of active learning.

This study aims to enhance the acquired skills and teaching capabilities of
ARESCOM personnel. Since some of the Enlisted Personnel are not confident in their use
of the English language, particularly in the verbal (proper use of grammar) and non-verbal
aspects. It will attempt to see the correlation of their apparent lack of confidence vis-à-vis
their training and preparation, education and practice prior to the performance of their duties
in ARESCOM.

Based on the information gathered through interviews and surveys, the following
courses of actions are recommended.

COA#1. Incorporation of the Communicative Skills Module in the Program of

Instruction (POI) of Instructor Development Training (IDT) in ARESCOM.

DISCUSSION:

Based on the Program of Instruction of the IDT of ARESCOM, it was found out that
there is no Communicative Skills Module in the POI. It was further learned that it is
necessary to have this module in the POI. As compared to personnel taking Sgt Major
Course, the Communication Learning Competency Module is included in the POI so that the
trainees will be more confident in dealing and communicating with peers and superiors.

According to the data gathered thru interviews with the G8 and G3 ARESCOM, the
Commandant and an Admin Officer of ARESCOM Training School, S3 of NCRRCDG and
related surveys, the inclusion of Communicative Skills Module is the most suitable remedy
to enhance and elevate the teaching competency of the ARESCOM Personnel. With its
inclusion, the students’ grammar and usage enable them to be proficient in both verbal and

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 AFP Vision 2028: A World-class Armed Forces, Source of National Pride

non-verbal communication in English. By doing their compositions and allowing them to edit
their own works in the future, practice using the correct forms of punctuation to clearly
convey messages, producing high-quality business documents that present their ideas
without all the unwelcome verb tense errors, misplaced and dangling modifiers, and vague
pronouns that inevitably find their way into their sentences including updates or changes to
the English language, avoid common grammatical mistakes, the subject being their first step
in sounding more like a native English speaker with appropriate tenses and pronunciation
and use them confidently in conversation, and inclusion of the subject can also serve as a
pre-assessment of the students’ capability in delivering reports and lectures.

ADVANTAGES:

a. Students will develop their everyday grammar, usage which enables them to
be proficient in both verbal and non-verbal communications and compositions and allows
them to edit their own works in the future.

b. Students will practice using the correct usage of punctuation marks to clearly
convey the messages, produce quality documents that present their ideas and to avoid
common grammatical errors including updates or changes in the English language,
information on common grammatical mistakes, and tools for correcting outdated
grammatical habits.

c. The subject is their first step in sounding more like a native English speaker
with tenses. By the end of the course, they’ll know the proper use of English grammar and
pronunciation how to use them confidently in conversation.

d. Inclusion of the subject can serve as a pre-assessment of the students’

capability in delivering reports and lectures

DISADVANTAGES:

An additional time and days based on their original training schedule that may cause
to the lack of interest in the part of the students.

COA#2 To recommend the inclusion of Communicative Skill Training in the In-

House Training being conducted by the RCDGs.

DISCUSSION:

With the fifteen (15) Regional Community Defense Groups located in the different
parts of the country, as part of the Training, Readiness, the RCDG Headquarters is
conducting their own in-house training to the Organic Personnel assigned to its HQs and to
its CDCs. In order to maintain the individual competencies of the personnel. With this
program, the personnel can enhance their communicative skills and it can also boost their
confidence when facing cadets, reservist and other stakeholders. This training can increase
their knowledge in their day to day administrative function in the office during planning,
managing and communicating with higher headquarters, to its subordinates and to civilian
offices.

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 AFP Vision 2028: A World-class Armed Forces, Source of National Pride

ADVANTAGES:

a. Personnel can enhance their communicative skills and can apply their
acquired knowledge in their respective offices as well as during training with the ROTC
cadets and reservists.

b. Making this as a practice in respective RCDG will let the personnel to develop
a natural response wherein it will be natural for them to speak in English during their reports
and discussions.

DISADVANTAGE:

Lack of Available Subject Matter Experts to teach on the subjects

COA#3 Possible assignment of EP who are college graduates and or MS 43

graduates in the ARESCOM.

DISCUSSION:

The personnel of ARESCOM are becoming involved in training, whether through

managing, planning or designing courses, instructing, conducting evaluations or attending
training courses themselves. There are many books and articles covering virtually every
aspect of training, but none of which is tailored to ARESCOM’s needs as a provider of
training both to its own personnel and to the reservist community. To maintain our relevance
and effectiveness in this ever-changing world, we must be committed to continuous personal
and professional development and growth. In view of this, the Command needs personnel
who are College Graduate and or MS43 graduates who can help to address the issue, top
and calibrated personnel are needed to be assigned in this unit; especially this command is
tasked to train not only a reservist but conduct pre-entry training to the future officer of the
Philippine Army.

ADVANTAGES:

a. Quality Instruction of college graduate personnel.

b. Personnel can easily adopt and comprehend with the ROTC and reservist
since they have the same level of understanding.

DISADVANTAGE:

Difficulty in finding college graduate personnel because of personal intention (family

matter, holding a key position, specialized skill in respective field) and besides those college
graduates might not be released from their gaining unit.

This course of action intended to develop the capabilities of ARESCOM personnel

particularly those involved in training to be oriented with proper communication skills and to
improve self-confidence.

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 AFP Vision 2028: A World-class Armed Forces, Source of National Pride

5. CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATION:

Based on the result of the survey and interview conducted by the proponent to the
respondents, it was found out that the best and most probable is COA Nr 1 as it meets the
Suitability, Feasibility and Acceptability.

SFA Summary:

There are Twenty (20) respondents assigned to different units of the Philippine Army.
Their opinion on the prepared Survey Questionnaires are indicated in the Table below.
Following are the COAs that were evaluated.

COURSES OF ACTION
CRITERIA COA Nr COA Nr COA Nr
1 2 3
SUITABILITY
Which option provides appropriate solution?
Which suits the need of the ARESCOM?
Which of these options enhances the
capabilities of teaching personnel of
ARESCOM?
FEASIBILITY
Which option implementable and
sustainable?
Which option common with the routine in
Army Reserve Command procedure?
Which can be implemented without extending
available funds allotted time available
materials and present manpower?
ACCEPTABILITY
Which will be worth implementing?
Which is more appropriate and practical?
Which is more likely to solicit the approval of
the Philippine Army?

Through this SFA test, COA Nr 1, was the best possible option by obtaining
the major points in all criteria and satisfying each categorical question in determining
the possible solution.

6. ACTIONS RECOMMENDED:

1. Adoption of nr 1 course of action

2. Notation on the Proposed POI (Annex A)

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ANNEXES:

Proposed Output - - - - A
Photo Ops/Documentation - - - B
COAs Questionnaires - - - C
SFA Questionnaires - - - - D
Complete Staff Actions - - - E
References - - - - - F

DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. Grammar – the study of the classes of words, their inflections and their
functions and relations in the sentence; a study of what is to be preferred and
what avoided in inflection and syntax. It is the set of structural rules governing the
composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. the whole
system and structure of a language or of languages in general,

2. Instructor – a person who teaches a subject or skill: someone who instructs people;
one who instructs; one who imparts knowledge to another; a teacher

3. Development – the act or process of growing or causing something to grow or

become larger or more advanced; the act or process of creating something over a
period of time; the state of being created or made more advanced.

4. Training – is the process of learning the skills that you need for a particular job or
activity; Organized activity aimed at imparting information and/or instructions to
improve the recipient's performance or to help him or her attain a required level of
knowledge or skill.

5. Language – the method of human communication, either spoken or written,

consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way.

6. ROTC Cadets - a male or female student who is presently enrolled in the ROTC
Basic or Advance Course

7. Reservist – a commissioned officer or enlisted reservist specially defined or

prescribed in Section 11 of RA 7077 who are not performing regular military duty with
the AFP.

8. Reserve Force – able-bodied citizen and organization constituting the reserve

component of the AFP that are utilized to augment the AFP Active component of AFP
Regular Force in the event of national emergency.

9. Program of Instruction (POI) – is the primary document that captures content

(curriculum) and resources for Army-instructed courses. The POI includes the
curriculum and information needed to determine funding, manpower, land, ranges,
simulations, automation, facilities, classrooms and other resources.

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 AFP Vision 2028: A World-class Armed Forces, Source of National Pride

10. ARESCOM – Army Reserve Command

11. RCDG – Regional Community Defense Group

12. CDC – Community Defense Center

13. Ready Reserve Units – these are units with physically-fit and tactically-current
reservist personnel that are always on constant alert and training; ready to mobilize
once a mobilization order has been given.

14. Reservist Training – refers to training to prepare and qualify individuals to become
officer and enlisted reservists.

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 AFP Vision 2028: A World-class Armed Forces, Source of National Pride

Profile of Personnel

College Graduate 343 343 554 39.97

College Level 188 188 333 24.03
Vocational
62 62 190 13.71
Graduates
HS Graduates 165 165 309 22.29
758 1386 100.00

NAINTERVIEW KO SA CAVITE:

LTC CADIENTE, G3 ARESCOM

MAJ MATIC, ADMIN OFFICER, ARESCOM TRNG CENTER
LTC BUGARIN, G8 ARESCOM
CO, ARESCOM TRNG CENTER.. DI KO MATAANDAAN NAME … HEHE
AND
CG, PA… DURING OUR CALL TO HIM LAST 29 OCT 18… ASK NYA KAMI ISA ISA
ABOUT OUR STUDY AND SABI NYA IMPORTANTE DAW HEHEHE

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