No plans to downsize Army’s elite unit, says Esperon

Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said there are no plans yet to downsize the Army’s Special Operations Command (Socom), although study is being conducted on how to optimize the deployment of troops in various military units.

In an interview, Esperon said the AFP has no plan to reduce the size of the Socom, which has control over the crack First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR), Special Forces (Airborne) Regiment (SFR(A)) and the Light Reaction Battalion (LRB).

"Wala naman kaming balak i-downsize iyan (Socom) in the first place," he said.

"Sino ba nagsabi noon? Siguro yung hindi nakakakilala. Baka kung saan galing. We are continuously studying as part of the standard operating procedures, we always study our organization," he said.

Esperon said that if there is any plan, that would be to find out how to fully utilize the manpower and resources of the AFP, particularly with the objective of meeting President Arroyo’s two-year deadline to defeat the New People’s Army.

"Nagkaroon kami ng study on the activation of the 10th Infantry Division, nagkaroon ng study sa division ng Southcom, meron kaming study on optimizing yung Scout Rangers saka Special Forces so panay study ’yan," he said.

Brig. Gen. Benito Ramos, who succeeded Esperon as Socom commander, said that the study on the optimization of the utilization of the FSRR, SFR and the LRB should not be interpreted in any other way.

"There are [other] reasons." he said. "Siguro malaki ang units, malaki ang span of control. Like here in the Socom, our forces are deployed nationwide, but our headquarters is in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija."

Ramos said the Army brass is still studying the move after consultation, but that they are not having difficulty in the administration of units deployed in the field.

"Para lang iyan sa pamilya, kapag marami kang anak, iyong iba hindi mo na masyadong matutukan," he said, likening military management to raising a family, where more children means less chances of directly supervising them.

Downsizing the FSRR and the SFR(A) or the LRB would not affect the performance of their functions as specialized units of the Armed Forces, he added.

Ramos said the study on the reduction of the elite Army units is being done for their good and should not be perceived any other way.

"Hindi sa dami ng personnel nakukuha iyan," he said. "It is the quality of the officers and men that counts."

Ramos said the move is still undergoing further studies, and that whatever comes out, he and his men would submit to the best judgment of Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino.

"Sana lang huwag itong bigyan ng ibang interpretation," he said. Wala namang masamang tinapay dito."

Ramos, himself a full-blooded Special Forces soldier, never left the Socom since he entered the military as a private, and led the regiment and eventually the entire Socom.

Before the failed Oakwood mutiny on July 27, 2003 — where some Scout Ranger officers took part — the FSRR had nine battalions and the SFR(A) had six.

In 2004, the military brass reduced these to three battalions each.