A different kind of  bonding

An invitation to the 1st Central Command Media Challenge gave a thrill up my spine. The rush of excitement took a peak when I was in the presence of men and women of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who were equally full of enthusiasm.  The target was to take the Media-Philippine Army fellowship into another level – a teambuilding of sorts.

Members of the press (radio, television and print media) were grouped together with members of the Philippine Army.  An obstacle course-cum-outdoor military immersion was laid before us, giving us a clear backdrop of the military life...in other words, it was a taste of military life. Teams hurdled through the seven military trainings: Humvee pushing, water discipline (where four members of the team filled an empty canteen cup with water using tiny cups); combat training (using tires), stock piling, the art of silent killing (dart), grenade throwing (Ops, not the real grenade though. We used stones instead.) and carrying the wounded in action. After the hurdles, the armored personnel carrier joy ride turned out to be a treat! The team with the best time won.

Lunch time came. We had the best fight of our lives – the famous boodle fight! A boodle fight is a messy yet seemingly  practical way of serving food to a large group of people; utensils are not available. We devoured  the bam-i, sardines, humba and buwad, kinawboy style! And according to my colleague, the boodle fight was worth fighting for.  Thus, we ended up burping in contentment.

The icing on the cake: the shooting challenge. When Major Samuel C. Sagun, (Infantry) Philippine Army,  announced that it was time to gear up our loins  and go to battle, we immediately proceeded to the shooting range. We took turns in firing 10 .45 caliber pistol bullets, making sure we would not lose focus. The feisty media practitioners were all smiles after the last “bang” – a signal of triumph. Yet, I remained in shivers with only 18 points out of 50 in the score board, hahaha!

The CentCom wishes to hold such events more often. Congratulations to the fearless media men and women who victoriously finished the challenges. Indeed, everything spelled F-U-N.  ‘Till next time!