ZAMBOANGA CITY – Sixty-two soldiers have completed a six-month K9 Explosive Detection Course boosting the capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on bomb detection, official announced Wednesday.
Brig. Gen. Bagnus Gaerlan, 1st Infantry Division (ID) assistant commander, said that 62 soldiers, who comprised of the K9 Explosives Detection Course of class 06-2020 have finished training Monday together with their canine partners.
Camp Major Cesar Sang-an that houses the 1ID headquarters in Pulacan, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur, served as the venue of the training with students coming from the different units of the AFP.
Gaerlan said that the graduates together with their canine buddies will be deployed back to their respective mother units.
Gaerlan congratulated and reminded the graduates on how important their role will be in their units particularly in ensuring that the operating troops are protected against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) fashioned out as landmines since most of the casualties were inflicted by IEDs.
“This training is important to prevent bombs and explosives from being used by the terrorists to inflict casualties and terrorize the populace in order to advance their violent cause,” he said.
“This training is a big boost in our campaign against the threats existing in our joint area of operations especially in our efforts in finding, fixing and finishing the enemy,” he added.
Col. Jonathan Obena, 1ID Training School (1DTS) commandant, assisted Gaerlan in pinning K9 patches to the 62 troops during their graduation ceremony Monday. – Nikolai Gonzalo
