COCC - First Training Day (Part 2)

CLOSE YOUR EYES! the cadet officer shouted.

And so we did. Or at least I thought everyone did. Until a loud "BLOG" filled the hallway. Someone got hit with the ball of the palm at the solar plexus.

"Why are your eyes not closed?" the same cadet officer asked someone (obviously, someone did not close his eyes). In the darkness of the hallway and in the cover of my eyelids, I could only hear the next words... "Drop and give me twenty!"

I swallowed the liquid in my mouth - saliva. Now, it is serious. I mean, if earlier, I thought it was scary, now, it is real. Life wouldn't, or couldn't, get more real than this, I thought.

I could hear the One, Two, Three... Nineteen, Twenty of the fellow cadet. After that, I could hear the person scruffle to stand up. The cadet officer (like me) waited what he would say.

(The cadet, I learned later, was the corps commander of their high school CAT.)

* * *

After allowing us to open our eyes, the cadet officer commanded asked us to go to the lecture room - on the double, stick to the wall, right side, mouths shut. The first person in the line, taking every EXTRA precaution, knocked first at the door and asked permission to get inside, even though no one was inside. The cadet officer behind us told us, "Enter."

As usual, the cadet took one step forward (followed by the person immediately behind him), then gave a salute. The cadet officer said, "Carry on."

On the double, an observer would have described us as a group of molecules randomly moving while waiting for the last cadet to enter. Finally, the cadet officer walked inside, and the person who asked permission to enter for the class, shouted, "ZHUN!" It was short for and the last syllable of "Attention." After that, he gave the salute. A few of us (including me) gave a salute as well, not knowing that only the person who shouted or only a representative for the class needed to do so. The cadet officer returned the salute.

"Fall in," the cadet officer mentioned in a firm voice. It was a vague command, for most of us. While many of us have higher learning of CAT in high school, some do not have any idea what is COCC in the first place. Some were "persuaded," or asked to sign into a sheet not knowing the difference between two papers.

The cadet officer started without introducing himself. Not that I thought it was needed it, I didn't think I would remember any of them, anyway. As soon as I learned over the week before that this is a special unit and requires more time than any ROTC unit, I thought I would get out of this fast.

To allow us to do the first thing that needs to be done in any training day, the cadet officer started with the basics of FIA - Formation, Inspection and Administration. We learned the command and what we should do. Above all, however, we were indoctrinated to the nature of the military organization - perfection and synchronization.

I personally saw it during the basic FIA (For me, I thought of basic FIA as what the cadet ought to know - not what a cadet officer needs to know.) - it was not as simple as us cadets doing the things ordered of us, but everything has to be done simultaneously. All of us cadets learned that it is not simply us doing the same things at the same time - it was beyond that. We soon learned that we have to have one HEART.

The heart is the part of the body that sets the pace of an action. It speeds up or slows down what the body does. In this class, we have to have one count. If we step backwards, after the command "KAD," we have to have a set time when that "d" sound has ended, and when our simultaneous counting would begin.

Yes. This is just the beginning.

* * *

We learned later how to sit down. The cadet officer commanded, "Take seat," in a softer (relatively) voice.

We jumped (shortly, the first count), then proceeded to Indian Seat (cross-legged, the second count).

Another cadet officer came in, this one, more formal, and taller than the earlier, who was wearing a green uniform.

(I learned later that the uniform being worn by the first cadet officer is called "combat fatigue uniform," while the latter is "Undress White".)

The cadet officer introduced and explained the Cadet Officer Candidate Course, or COCC.

We learned we are the COCC Batch 06-A ("A" being used for First Semester classes). It means that we are, in UP Manila ROTC history, the sixth COCC class.

Now, we are no longer simply Cadet Privates. We are Cadet Officer Candidates, or COCs.

(An ambiguous term created by the UP ROTC. A COC is actually a designation, but has a rank roughly the same as the Cadet Probationary Second Lieutenant, since COC is an officer-in-training cadet. A Cadet Probationary Second Lieutenant, while not yet an officer, already has authority for cadets and cadet NCOs, since these people would soon be their officers in the field. Within the Corps of Officers, however, the cadet probationary second lieutenant rank is given after the academic phase - meaning, the rank would appear in the namecloth of the uniform in the 11th training day only.)

Our batch would soon become Class of 2001.

But that is looking too far forward.

* * *

The COCC training course (or simply, COCC) is composed of 10 training days. In 10 training days - all on Sundays - we are to be taught military subjects that all cadets in our level (Military Science 11) have to take, as well as command and leadership subjects. We would undergo the same basic "things" that a regular cadet undergoes - inspection, drills, graded exams - and on these concerns, we would be measured the same way. When it goes to leadership and OJT (On-the-Job Training), however, things would be very different.

COCs, as future officers, have subjects dealing with leadership, military command, and administration lessons which are not taught to regular units. Only cadet officers know them, basically because they are the only ones that need to know them. They run the cadet corps from the top, but with the experience from below, they also understand how a regular cadet "feels" in a situation.

COCs also have advanced and more practical training compared with cadets in the regular units. They go on real "night" training (which should have given me the idea of overnight training), something which regular infantry units (particularly, the Kampilan Battle Group) do on the shadow of buildings in broad daylight.

Starting the 11th to 13th training day, the COC (presuming the cadet has managed to stay in the course) goes to OJT. In OJT, the cadet officer candidate would be taken to the field, given a unit to command, and be assessed for leadership, command, and responsibility aspects - aside from ALL the military proficiency (more like expertise) that is expected of him (or her). How you walk, talk, shout, carry your uniform or your sword, eat during mess, speak to cadets, upper class, military officers, sponsors - all these, you have to consider, in minute detail.

A graded exam is to be taken on the 5th training day, for military proficiency aspect.

Every training day, a COC is given merits, or demerits, based on uniform inspection, or performance efficiency.

A cadet could leave the COCC only before the 4th training day. After that, the only way out of the COCC is to graduate or drop (that's what we were told, anyway).

In the 14th training day, you would eventually graduate.

For me, it was simply passing. That's all that I need to do.

That's all that I think I could do.

* * *

After an explanation of the COCC, the cadet officer (who introduced himself as the COCC Course Director) went out. The other cadet officer called the class to attention, then saluted for the class. The Course Director left the room. The lower ranking cadet officer followed.

Again, the cadet officer candidates (as we now referred to ourselves), started mumbling and talking to each other. Are you staying? one would ask. I know another unit... another would say. We could do this as a class, another shouts.

BLAGAG!

The door blasted open as a third personality entered. All of us shouted "ZHUN!" The glass windows could have been broken if not for their flexible property (or some other thing).

I remember hostage rescue operations happening the same way, and I could have cringed at the thought of policemen running forward spraying bullets inside, but fear more of the cadet officers who have held us responsible for our actions allowed me to continue standing up.

The cadet officer looked around him. Noticing the chairs at the sides of the room, he asked the class to get them out of the room within 10 (what the...!?) counts. After saying "Double time," the class scrambled.

Of course, you cannot normally scramble 40 chairs out of a 2- or 3-foot wide door in 10 seconds. The cadet officer counted down until it becomes "zero," which was a violation of measure in ROTC. No countdown ever comes to Zero. It ends in One. Everything stops in One. Everything.

The cadet officer explained that - with twenty push-ups for all of us to do. And this one, he observed how each one did the push-up. It should be straightbody, going up and down. The butt should not protrude of the straight body.

And most challenging (or worst) of all, everyone has to do that PERFECT PUNISHMENT IN PERFECT SYNCHRONIZATION.

I realized now that the voice of this cadet officer is the one that commanded us to close our eyes earlier while we were in the hallway.

After 20 push-ups, we stood up. The cadet officer asked, "Who told you to stand up? Give me another 10."

Again, ten. Perfect push-ups in perfect synchronization. After the ten, we did not stand up.

"Zhun!" the cadet officer shouted.

We stood up in big noise - like we want to revolt. But democracy is protected by the military organization, not practiced by it.

"What will you say?" No one knows the answer, so a lot said, "Sir, we'll try to find out, Sir!" (When you do not know the answer, we were taught by the COCC Director to answer, "Sir, I will try to find out, Sir." And you do try to find out because you do not know you will be asked the same question later.).

"Good!" (The first encouraging word of the day - 45 minutes before the training day is dismissed.) the cadet officer said. "You say, 'Sir, I'll be more disciplined next time, Sir.'"

We all shouted, "Sir, we'll be more disciplined next time, Sir!"

"Now," the cadet officer continued, "you are a class. When you are given a task by your upper class, you do it as a class. You could do anything if you do it as a class." The cadet officer pointed out the lack of organization on how we handled the chair-transferring task. If we did it in an organized manner, the 10-count deadline could have been beaten. He gave us another chance. This time, we did it. No further push-ups.

The cadet officer introduced himself as the Corps G2, or the Intelligence Officer (one of us knew he was not).

This cadet officer emphasized now how important we were. He indicated, from an intelligence point of view, that fraternities want us because we are unique, we are above the rest, we are even better than the creme de la creme. No, we are so important that no one, not our classmates, not fraternities, not our professors, not even our parents could mess with us - only THEM. And then, at a purpose that is higher than anything we have been introduced before.

We are called to lead. To command. To be responsible.

The cadet officer also introduced to us the six magic words: This too shall come to pass.

* * *

At the end of the training day, I totalled 125 push-ups, in batches of 10, 20 or 25.

My legs hurt while we shift from unmoving Indian sit to unflinching attention.

My back hurts when we hear the snap as we have to straighten and bend our body 10 degrees backwards for each snap (10 degrees forward when a clap).

But for this training day, I learned the aspects of being a cadet officer and being in the military organization.

Synchronization. Class. Officer.

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Apology: I apologize that I wasn't able to update this blog for a while. The reason is that I have other websites which I am updating as well. From now on, however, I would update this blog regularly, once a week. Thank you for reading!