DMST and the Corps of Cadets
Cinnamon. She's the clerk in the Department of Military Science and Tactics who acts as if she controls the department. Good thing she doesn't, and there are cadet officers to correct her on this perception.
I got to the DMST to log in. Not knowing where the logbook for the cadet officer candidates is, I have to get inside the DMST office and ask (or that's what another cadet who's in-line told me). I got to the ritual.
I knocked the door (with the DMST seal on it) three times, opened it a bit (so that my voice could be heard inside), and shouted at the top of my lungs:
"SIR, Cadet Private Tomi dela Cruz, requesting permission to enter the room, SIR!"
The usual response of the person inside: Dead Silence.
But then, a voice responded after about ten minutes (in my perception of time, that is). It was a lame female-ish voice, "Enter."
I opened the door fully and took one step inside, then saluted to the general direction of the source of the voice. A female creature with a UP uniform sitting in her table and powdering her face greeted me. "Ano'ng kailangan mo?"
Not knowing who she is, I have to address her in the least offending manner. "Ma'am, magla-login po ako sa logbook."
"Ano'ng unit mo?"
Not knowing that I wasn't even allowed to tell her that, I answered, "COCC po."
"Ah, ganoon ba. Sige. Andoon yata ang logbook ninyo." I walked into the other room (the Corps office) and saw a line inside. It was about 1500H, so there are less cadets going to the ROTC area to log in.
There was a cadet officer inside, and I don't know his (male) rank or class (anyway, I have had no idea of the concept of the class). He dictated if a person who's next to log in could take his seat.
If he said, "Take seat," the COC has to say, "Sir, Good afternoon, Sir!" or what is appropriate.
Due to the length of the set of instructions (I learned later when I would write my logbook for my own unit that it is always this way for the first training day), each cadet took about 10 minutes reading and understanding (lest the possibility of being punished the very next moment, I understood later), and about 15 minutes to copy the things that needed to be copied. They are basically the training director's or COCC Tactical officer's message, anthologies to memorize (the basic first anthologies were Duty, Honor and Country; Don't Quit, If and Invictus); training day instructions; SOPs; and enrollment instructions for those who might not have properly completed the enlistment procedures.
There were instructions for COCs to go to the Corps office to clean the area once a week. It was suggested that the COCs go to the area in batches so that they could clean the area easier. The rationale was not given in the logbook, but for me, it was just like Karate Kid's chores; it has a reason (I learned that they had, later).
After my turn (I was the last), I decided to take my turn in cleaning the area. Not knowing what I could do (I was in a military area, I thought), I just got the broom and the dust pan from the area called the "log area," which served both as a library and as an area for the cleaning materials such as brooms, dust pans, rags, floor wax, etc. I started sweeping the floor because I do not want to mess with the cadet officers' tables (there were two, as I remember: the Corps Commander' table and the Staff table).
Cinnamon saw me sweeping the floor, so she asked me to clean her area as well. Not knowing better, I obeyed.
I was not under the proper knowledge that I was not supposed to do that. The building's utility personnel was the one supposed to clean the DMST area, and not COs nor COCs. A cadet officer saw me doing that, so he called me to stop doing it.
Cinnamon countered the call, so I was confused whom to obey. The quiet behavior of the upperclass cadet officer gave me the clue whom to obey. I walked into the room of the cadet officer.
The cadet officer explained to me that I should not obey Cinnamon. She was just a clerk. COs nor COCs do not need to obey her, because she has no command authority nor function that requires that we obey her. In my mind, I thought, Thank God! That imbecile-behaving creature is killing me! I obeyed immediately. The cadet officer also explained to me that we should obey only cadet officers.
This set the idea of who cadet officers are in the Department, and in the University.
The next time she called me, I told her that I am not supposed to obey her.
And I learned a bit more of the organization that is the Corps of Officers.
I got to the DMST to log in. Not knowing where the logbook for the cadet officer candidates is, I have to get inside the DMST office and ask (or that's what another cadet who's in-line told me). I got to the ritual.
I knocked the door (with the DMST seal on it) three times, opened it a bit (so that my voice could be heard inside), and shouted at the top of my lungs:
"SIR, Cadet Private Tomi dela Cruz, requesting permission to enter the room, SIR!"
The usual response of the person inside: Dead Silence.
But then, a voice responded after about ten minutes (in my perception of time, that is). It was a lame female-ish voice, "Enter."
I opened the door fully and took one step inside, then saluted to the general direction of the source of the voice. A female creature with a UP uniform sitting in her table and powdering her face greeted me. "Ano'ng kailangan mo?"
Not knowing who she is, I have to address her in the least offending manner. "Ma'am, magla-login po ako sa logbook."
"Ano'ng unit mo?"
Not knowing that I wasn't even allowed to tell her that, I answered, "COCC po."
"Ah, ganoon ba. Sige. Andoon yata ang logbook ninyo." I walked into the other room (the Corps office) and saw a line inside. It was about 1500H, so there are less cadets going to the ROTC area to log in.
There was a cadet officer inside, and I don't know his (male) rank or class (anyway, I have had no idea of the concept of the class). He dictated if a person who's next to log in could take his seat.
If he said, "Take seat," the COC has to say, "Sir, Good afternoon, Sir!" or what is appropriate.
Due to the length of the set of instructions (I learned later when I would write my logbook for my own unit that it is always this way for the first training day), each cadet took about 10 minutes reading and understanding (lest the possibility of being punished the very next moment, I understood later), and about 15 minutes to copy the things that needed to be copied. They are basically the training director's or COCC Tactical officer's message, anthologies to memorize (the basic first anthologies were Duty, Honor and Country; Don't Quit, If and Invictus); training day instructions; SOPs; and enrollment instructions for those who might not have properly completed the enlistment procedures.
There were instructions for COCs to go to the Corps office to clean the area once a week. It was suggested that the COCs go to the area in batches so that they could clean the area easier. The rationale was not given in the logbook, but for me, it was just like Karate Kid's chores; it has a reason (I learned that they had, later).
After my turn (I was the last), I decided to take my turn in cleaning the area. Not knowing what I could do (I was in a military area, I thought), I just got the broom and the dust pan from the area called the "log area," which served both as a library and as an area for the cleaning materials such as brooms, dust pans, rags, floor wax, etc. I started sweeping the floor because I do not want to mess with the cadet officers' tables (there were two, as I remember: the Corps Commander' table and the Staff table).
Cinnamon saw me sweeping the floor, so she asked me to clean her area as well. Not knowing better, I obeyed.
I was not under the proper knowledge that I was not supposed to do that. The building's utility personnel was the one supposed to clean the DMST area, and not COs nor COCs. A cadet officer saw me doing that, so he called me to stop doing it.
Cinnamon countered the call, so I was confused whom to obey. The quiet behavior of the upperclass cadet officer gave me the clue whom to obey. I walked into the room of the cadet officer.
The cadet officer explained to me that I should not obey Cinnamon. She was just a clerk. COs nor COCs do not need to obey her, because she has no command authority nor function that requires that we obey her. In my mind, I thought, Thank God! That imbecile-behaving creature is killing me! I obeyed immediately. The cadet officer also explained to me that we should obey only cadet officers.
This set the idea of who cadet officers are in the Department, and in the University.
The next time she called me, I told her that I am not supposed to obey her.
And I learned a bit more of the organization that is the Corps of Officers.
posted by Ricky at 7:34 AM
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