Can Scout Ranger leadership principles and practice be imbibed by high school students?

(Part II of “Let the Dynamic Junior Police Academy of the US Inspire Us”)

Former Commanding General of Philippine Army, Lt. Gen. Noel Coballes believed that a corps of competent and confident non-commissioned officers like the Scout Rangers is critical to the transformation of our institution into a truly world class army.

The Books of Golden Deeds – a detailed Philippine combat guide

Lt. Col. Dennis Eclarin, one of the protégés of the late Gen. Rafael Ileto, who founded the Scout Rangers, was a captain when he fought with distinction as a Scout Ranger in Mindanao. During the epic series of engagements leading to the fall of Abubakar in the bloody battle against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Capt. Eclarin, so inspired by the heroic efforts of the Scout Rangers wrote and illustrated the 572 pages of Scout Ranger Combat Guide 2003. This was published by Philippine STAR. The introduction “A Salute to the Brave” was penned by its publisher Maximo V. Soliven, my husband who stated that, “finally we can hold our head high in the world for having our own detailed Philippine combat guide. What spurred Capt. Eclarin to write books regarding the “golden deeds” of the Philippine Scout Rangers?”

After graduation from West Point in 1993, Lt. Col. Dennis Eclarin served with the First Scout Rangers Regiment. He first served with the 5th Scout Ranger Company in Northern Luzon. He then took command of the Mindanao-based 4th Scout Ranger Company, which he led until the conclusion of the Mindanao wars in 2000. For combat leadership and gallantry in action, Eclarin received six Gold Cross Medals, an Outstanding Achievement Medal, a Bronze Cross Medal and a host of military medals.

Scout Ranger books needed to prop up high schools

Having met 2nd Lt. Eclarin at West Point in 1993, I have been consulting him about our military high school cadet training. Starting SY 2017-2018 when ROTC is mandated to be restored to Senior High School he agrees that we should reinforce our original Leadership Training (LT) and Citizen Army Training (CAT) in Junior High School with his 20 “Scout Ranger War Stories” to animate Grades VII and VIII. His two manuals for operation recorded in detail in “Disaster Survival” and “Philippine Jungle Survival” would easily stimulate Grade IX and Grade X. We could continue with “Army Tactical Combat Leadership” and the basic information of the “Scout Ranger Combat Guide” for Grades XI and XII of Senior High School.

Know the soldiers you never knew were defending you

Here are excerpts from the best selling book “Scout Ranger War Stories”:

Cpl. Basman Casim, 4th Scout Ranger Company narrated, “I was born and raised in a territorial village. My mother and father were devout Muslims, as my father was an Imam. I was brought up in the strict Islamic tradition. Our house was a very small hut, without any electricity, deep in the cluster of communities that the terrorists call their territory. My mother had no education as did my father, but they had enough foresight to send my siblings to school. Had I not become a soldier, I could be one of the rebels by now. I matured into a teenager just as the terrorists started gaining strength in our province. They would go around our village recruiting teenagers like me to become full-fledged members. It was not really hard to lure an out-of-school young man of 14 to join the kidnapping band. Naturally attracted to their display of firearms, we would stand in line, jaws dropping at their amazing arsenal.

“The terrorists would also mask all their activities, justifying that they were doing these for an independent Mindanao. They would distribute crisp thousand peso bills to those in need. But, as the devout Muslim that I was, there was something wrong about their activities. Nowhere in the Quran did it say that kidnapping was ever right. Nowhere in Allah’s sayings did it state that killing helpless kidnap victims, if their families could not afford the unbelievable ransom demanded by their kidnappers was allowed. Violence in the name of religious war is tacitly encouraged by the Quran if it is targeted against invaders and non-believers. Such a line is actually used by fundamentalists to rally community support. But the armed band that reigned in our communities were no jihadists, they were plain bandits using the name of Allah to entice potential recruits like me to increase their ranks of kidnappers.”

Cpl. Michael D. Binauhan, 1st Scout Ranger Company states, “My family was very poor. My father worked the sugar fields. Back-breaking as it was, he encouraged us, as early as the age of 12 to help out. My best friend and I enlisted with the Scout Rangers. After the grueling training, we were assigned to different companies. My unit was not wired for close quarters battle in urban areas, much less slums. We were trained as jungle fighters. Our orientation was in effecting surprise attacks against rebels encamped in the denseness of the forest. Our enemies this time have been drug-crazed rebels. They were just too ruthless to be normal humans. They fired at us and changed firing positions with ease and confidence. Sensing that we were in grave danger if we kept moving forward without the benefit of a spotter who could guide us, I volunteered to position myself on a rooftop overlooking our main target.

“Those were the most dangerous moments of my life, as I dashed with grenades in hand and tossed these into the other side of the fence. It took more than ten of those grenades before I felt confident that I could already call my buddies forward. I was so happy when they got close to me. I even had time to play pranks on the remaining rebels inside the compound. As I had run out of grenades, I threw dummies – stones, rocks and the rebels scampered…”

71 years of Scout Rangers service for the country

During the battle of Abubakar, Lt. Col. Dennis Eclarin spent his nights eating and drinking with his Scout Ranger comrades while they recounted their stories. By 3 a.m. he wrote them down as the manuscript of the Scout Ranger books. Today, he heads the organization of retired Scout Rangers. Of them he says, “I fully support retired Scout Rangers teaching jungle survival training. They are trained to be jungle fighters. Most have adolescent children, so they know how to teach and nurture. This will be good for our camp-out for either junior or senior high school as well as father-son partnership.”

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