THE Civil Military Operations School of the Armed Forces of the Philippines graduated yesterday, Friday, 29 May 2015, its new batch of warrior diplomats, Class 08, who took the Civil-Military Operations (CMO) Officers Correspondence Course in three months of gruelling online assignments and a week of integration phase.
The course was originally designed for AFP officers, but due to several requests, the AFP Civil Relations Service, under which the CMO School belongs, allowed the enrolment of civilians from the private sector, NGOs, and other government organizations who will have the distinction of being called the “Warrior Diplomats” upon graduation.
Utilizing the available IT communications system of the AFP, the 12-week distance learning program which was originally a class consisting of 30-40 officers, have now grown to more than 80 enrolees, usually trimmed down to about half the number come graduation time.
According to Major Ed Talaroc, AFPCMO School Commandant, the class he belonged to started out with more than 30 students and graduated only 16.
This year’s class consists of intelligent, smart, and dedicated students that include a military chaplain, an evangelical pastor, AFP senior and junior officers, a Philippine Coast Guard doctor, a congressman’s chief-of-staff, and Senate officers, among others, fortunately including myself.
Among the prominent personalities during the one-week integration phase were Cong. Ashley Acedillo who spoke about the Legislative Perspective on Adaptive Leadership—Building Opinion and Mindset Towards the West Philippine Sea (WPS); Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Charles Jose; Director Larry Agpalo of the Office of the Executive Secretary, Office of the President; BJMP Director Michelle Bonto; Bai Rohaniza Sumndad-Usman; Dr. Bernadette Escobar; Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno; US Army Cpt Jay de Jesus; and Mr. Chito Sto. Romana.
Aside from Major Talaroc, the course was ably handled by Major Mike Aquino, Major Jo-Ar Herrera, and other distinguished mentors from the academe and Subject Matter Experts. I thank numerous personalities for making my schooling possible, most especially Brigadier Gen Joselito “Joey” Kakilala, the AFP Civil Relations Service Chief and concurrently AFP Spokesman. BEEN THERE DONE THAT/JOSEPHINE JARON-CODILLA
