Army's special ops chief open to study downsizing elite units

The commander of the Army’s Special Operations Command (Socom) on Friday said that he is open to an ongoing study started by Army headquarters to downsize the elite Scout Ranger and Special Forces units. “It's still a study. Whatever comes out, we submit to the best judgment of the CGPA (Commanding General, Philippine Army)," said Socom commander Major General Benito Ramos, referring to Army chief Lieutentant General Romeo Tolentino, who ordered the study. The Socom, comprised of the Army’s elite units, includes the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR), Special Forces Regiment (SFR), and the US-trained and -equipped Light Reaction Battalion (LRB). “I’d like to make it clear: the study is for the good of the SF, SR and LRB…The study is to optimize the utilization (of FSRR and SFR). The (Socom officers and men) accept this with an open mind….We will accept the result of the investigation," said Ramos. A ranking military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity had said on Thursday that Tolentino organized a study on the possibility of reducing the strength of the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR) and Special Forces Regiment (SFR) to just one battalion each, from the current three battalions and one company each. The source said Tolentino ordered the review in response to the botched February 24 coup. Some 50 Scout Ranger officers and men, including erstwhile FSRR commander Brigadier General Danilo Lim, were tagged in the plot. FSRR commander Col. Reynaldo Mapagu, who assumed the post after Lim was sacked in February, said: “What I know is that there is a study on how to optimize the utilization of the Special Operations forces. I don’t know about the downsizing issue." For his part, SFR commander Col. Arturo Ortiz said: “I’ll reserve my comment for the meantime until further developments." Ortiz earned the Medal for Valor, the military's highest combat award, after leading a Special Forces company in an intense battle against communist rebels in Negros Occidental in 1990. Ramos, who spent most of his career with the SFR, said the team organized by the Army chief is presently holding consultations with the Socom officers on the planned downsizing of the FSRR and SFR. “We are being consulted. If there will be no consultation, without the study, there is going to be a problem. There is nothing final yet, no timeframe (when to finish the study)…Let us not be haphazard," added Ramos. But Ramos sought to downplay the claims that the study was meant to reduce the capability of FSRR and SFR to mount coups. “That is the not the reason, this (study) is for the good of the unit…We don’t like other interpretations," he said. Told the study could result in decreased Scout Ranger and Special Forces personnel, Ramos said the efficiency of a unit “is not based on the number of personnel, it’s the quality of the officers and men." Following the short-lived Oakwood mutiny mounted by the mutinous Magdalo Group in July 2003, the Army reduced the strength of the FSRR and the SFR to their present strength, from nine battalions and six battalions, respectively. The initial downsizing of the FSRR and the SFR “created a lot of tension and emotional stir especially to personnel who were displaced and transferred to other units," the source said, adding some opted for early retirement. -GMANews.TV