Navy Chief inspires sailors and marines in spite of corruption raps vs AFP



 

Flag Officer in Command of the Philippine Navy, Rear Admiral Alexander Pama shared his vision with the troops, encouraging them that the government is prepared to take the step to modernize its Fleet following the pronouncement of President Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. to procure the US Coast Guard Hamilton Class vessel  scheduled to arrive sometime in August 2011.



The New Flag Officer in Command of the Philippine Navy, Rear Admiral Alexander Pama made his first visit to the Philippine Fleet headquarters on February 18, 2011 to dialogue with more than 500 sailors and marines assigned in the Philippine Navy’s largest Command.

Rear Admiral Pama announced to the troops that the government is ready to acquire modern ships and that this is an opportunity to modernize the Fleet, having the full support of Armed Forces of the Philippines, which President Aquino mandated during his State of the Nation Address.

Rear Admiral Alano said that the Fleet is preparing for the arrival of the US Coast Guard Hamilton which is scheduled to arrive mid this year. Seven more vessels are expected to arrive within the next two years, and hence it is crucial to carefully study the appropriate technical specifications of the vessels we are buying in order to achieve the desired capabilities needed for the vessels to perform its intended purpose.

The US Coast Guard Hamilton will be the largest ship in the inventory of the Philippine Navy measuring up to 380 feet in length. While the seven other vessels to be procured are three offshore patrol vessels, three multipurpose attack craft and a landing craft utility.

Meanwhile, addressing the men on corruption issues battering the Armed Forces, Rear Admiral Pama said he was deeply sad on how the credibility of the entire organization was tainted by a few, but he took a rather positive note that such situations are inevitable and sometimes necessary to bring about better reforms.

He added that these controversies happened several years back and it should not frail their spirits and sense of pride in the organization they swore to uphold. Generations of officers are changing for the better, and as far as the Philippine Navy is concerned, President Aquino’s mandate to modernize the Philippine Fleet is the best reason that should keep every sailor and marine focused on this long awaited opportunity to have newer vessels.

Navy’s elite disposes 400,000 lbs of explosive remnants of WWII



 

The impact of the shock waves caused by this explosion was strong enough to be felt 1.6 kilometers away.



President Benigno S. Aquino III detonated the remaining explosive ordnance of World War II using a Radio Firing Device on March 5, 2011 in Crow Valley, Tarlac, creating a fireball of mushroom while observing from a safe elevation 1.6 kilometers away.

Captain Rommel Jason Galang, the Commander of Naval Special Operations Group (NAVSOG) who led the entire operations under Joint Task Force Caballo, rendered safe 400,000 lbs of explosives, which consisted mostly of MK6 and MK9 depth charges.

The disposal operation dubbed as “Operation Flashpoint” is a joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Exercise participated by EOD teams from the Army, Air Force, PNP and Coast Guard led by NAVSOG.

Operation Flashpoint is a three-phased EOD operation whose first phase started on January 20 to February 4, 2011 inside a WWII storage facility in Caballo Island. This phase involved rendering safe vulnerable depth charges by removing their detonating devices and boosters inside every canister, and then securing them on wooden pallets.

The second phased involved the planning and shipping of the ordnance from Caballo to Subic Bay using a commercial Landing Craft Tank contracted by the US government. From Subic, the ordnance were transported to Crow Valley, Tarlac at past midnight to avoid the traffic and pose hazards to civilians.

While the final phase involved the controlled disposal of depth charges that was launched with the detonation of the first blast on February 9, 2011 led by Rear Admiral Jose Luis Alano, the Commander of the Philippine Fleet, who has the NAVSOG as its special operations unit. More than 2,500 lbs of gun powder was exploded during the initial blast.

Task Force Caballo’s EOD exercise involved combined EOD teams from the different uniformed services in the country to dispose 400,000 lbs of explosives as part of their training using controlled quantities for blasting daily.

On the security of nearby civilians, Captain Galang said that they had initiated dialogues with the local community leaders a month prior to their arrival in Crow Valley, showing them in details their plans and procedures to ensure everyone’s safety.

Caballo Island is a naval munitions facility since WWII located adjacent to Cavite and Bataan, while Crow Valley is a military reserved area used to conduct exercises on explosive ordnance disposals.

During an interview after the final blast, President Aquino said that he requested US President Barak Obama to assist his government in disposing the remaining WWII naval ordnance in Caballo Island when they met last September during the UN General Assembly in New York, and again, during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Japan last November.

The president emphasized that the manner in which Task Force Caballo safely handled the dangerous operation was very impressive. He stressed out that he closely monitored the situation and saw how safe and detailed the plan was undertaken and this only exemplifies how professional our EOD teams are.

Rear Admiral Alano commended the Navy’s elite, NAVSOG, and the other participants from the uniformed services who took part in Joint Task Force Caballo. He described their historic feat as an exemplified act of bravery, heroism and the unwavering dedication of the Philippine Fleet towards the welfare of the people whom it has sworn to serve.

US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. was among the dignitaries who witnessed the explosion of the last remnants of WWII in the Philippines.