DND and AFP: An alternative approach to a defense posture
The Department of Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines will have to live by this phrase: transforming while performing. Among their mandates on many fronts: defending our sovereign rights against incursion, campaigning against remnants of the communist movement, maintaining fragile peace in the Bangsamoro, supporting the people’s outcry against systemic corruption and thwarting destabilization attempts.
Such a transformation should be anchored on a grand strategy and should work with other state institutions. Secretary Gilbert Teodoro’s Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) is a fresh start, but it needs to be reconciled with the DND’s National Defense Strategy, the AFP’s National Military Strategy, and its external defense campaign plan.
This process of reviewing the military organization is essentially political.
The DND’s challenge is how to expand its civilian workforce given the staffing summary ceiling. This will be a problem in reforming the department. We need to recognize that certain tasks are best performed by bureaus under the DND’s direct supervision instead of the AFP.
Meanwhile, the AFP needs to revisit the “force provide-force employer concept,” which made the Unified Commands solely responsible for the conduct of joint operations and relegated the Army, Air Force and Navy to a supporting role.
Archipelagic defense, then, will involve the collaboration between the Navy, Air Force and the Marine Corps. On the other hand, homeland defense becomes the responsibility of the Army and the Reserve Forces of the three services.
The game changer is the transformation of the Unified Commands into an Army Corps.
Reserve Forces, or the Citizen Armed Force, is composed of reservists and reserve forces from the three major services. It will have to be integrated into the regular force, instead of operating independently under a redundant command structure.
Reserve Forces organized from private companies will all be integrated into the Army for homeland defense. Afloat Reserve Squadrons composed of shipping, passenger ferry and commercial fishing companies will be under the supervision of the relevant Army divisions.
The Army Reserve Battalions that are involved in land transport, forwarding logistics, civil engineering and construction will be supervised by appropriate support units. Air Reserve Squadrons composed of Filipino-owned airline companies and aircraft maintenance firms will be part of the AFP’s strategic airlift capability.
Individual reservists from the Navy can be assigned to the naval base or station to perform office duties, while those with the Marine Corps can augment the naval base security force or be tasked to protect civilian ports and harbors being used as alternate naval facilities.
Army Reservists can be assigned to a battalion nearest their residence or place of work for community defense. Air Force Reservists can be sourced from freelance fixed-wing and rotary pilots, air traffic controllers, flying school instructors, retired aircraft mechanics, or aeromedical doctors and nurses.
If some of the critical workload of the CSAFP and General Headquarters is elevated to the DND, the AFP’s senior leadership can now focus on warfighting and campaign execution, while its joint staff can work under a 24/7 battle rhythm.
However, care must be taken with the sudden increase of three-star and two-star rank senior officers in the organization. These are cost drivers. If left unchecked, there is always a danger that resources will be concentrated at the upper tier of the organization, instead of cascading to the warfighting units that form the tip of the spear.
With the three major service chiefs allowed to direct ground, air, and maritime operations in defense of the archipelago and homeland, resources can be concentrated on frontlines. Operational and tactical commanders should be encouraged to learn to ‘lead from the front.’
Secretary Teodoro has expressed his desire to increase the strength of the AFP to 220,000 to 250,000 across all services. Considering the impact of such an increase on the AFP’s budget for Personnel Services, perhaps other options can be considered as alternatives for DND to consider as a way to mitigate the lack of personnel.
These include the hiring of additional skilled civilians, civilianizing the leadership of finance, procurement, special services and health services offices, subcontracting to the private sector for food preparation and catering, forwarding of supplies and non-lethal materiel, bus transportation, maintenance of staff vehicles, security and maintenance of regular offices and buildings.
For the Navy and Air Force, the introduction of unmanned systems in the Navy and Air Force would lessen the need for manned ships and aircraft.
The Army, on the other hand, can consider merging its battalions to improve the personnel readiness profile, and the integration of reservists at the Army Division level to fill up battalions in cleared areas.
Strategy is the heart and soul of any consequential defense posture. It is the focal point not only of organizational reforms, but also operational and resource planning, capability development and human capital investment. Given the current security regional and domestic challenges faced by the country, time is not our friend.
RADM Rommel Jude Ong (Ret.), a non-resident fellow at think tank Stratbase Institute and professor of Praxis at the Ateneo School of Government.
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