PAFOCS Hosts the First Ever Tri-Meet

PAFOCS Hosts the First Ever Tri-Meet

(SOC ALBANO OC–2368 PA)

J

une 20 marks a significant first for the Officer Candidate School (OCS) of the Philippine Army, Navy, and Air Force in a very long time since the separation of the three branches of service in their pre - entry training course. It was on this day that the Philippine Air Force hosted the OCS Tri - Meet, a trial of strength, endurance, wit, and stamina for all OCS cadets from the three branches of service. It was a 3-day event broken down into five different categories namely: Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer, Amazing Race, and Fun Games.

The event was held at the Air Education Training Center, San Fernando Air Base, Lipa City, Batangas. The host for the said event was the Philippine Air Force OCS and the idea of conducting such event was conceived sometime during their visit at the Philippine Army Officer Candidate School at Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac as a means of strengthening the ties of all the cadets from the three Officer Candidate Schools and fostering camaraderie among them.

During the 3-day event they have managed to compress and play all the five games employing single elimination as the format for determining the champion for a particular event. During the first day, first games for Basketball, Volleyball, and Soccer took place right after the briefing and acclimation. On the second day the second leg of all the games was played in the morning and the Amazing Race was played in the afternoon. The Amazing Race is a relay race consisting of the following events: 5.5 km run followed by 100 m swim relay, map reading, obstacle course and finally a 3.2 km flight run. Each event has its different challenges and limitations like differing number of players and the inclusion of female participants. Each event tested the mettle of each Officer Candidate School and their teamwork. On the third day the fun games was played in the morning and the awarding ceremony was held during the afternoon.

According to Col Villanueva (GSC) PAF during the awarding ceremony, the Tri-Meet will be a regular annual event for the ruling class of each school to participate and have the same chance to meet their contemporaries from the different schools. According to Col Villanueva's speech, it could also signal something bigger like the synchronization of the graduation ceremony of every Officer Candidate School, with President Benigno S. Aquino III as the Guest of Honor, and to something even bigger like the merging of the three schools to re-establish the Armed Forces of the Philippines OCS. The overall champion of the games was the Philippine Navy, placing first in Basketball, Volleyball and the Amazing Race The Philippine Army placed second garnering wins in Soccer and Fun Games. Finally, last but not the least the Philippine Air Force was placed in third.

The games were not without the socials that was held on the second night. It showcased the different talents and specialties in performing arts of every cadet present and gave them time to unwind and get to know their comrades in arms better and have the chance to mingle and widen their network in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. According to an interview with the Philippine Air Force OCS cadet Probationary Second Lieutenant Rajiv B Capatoy PAF, “Definitely there is room for us to improve and work on and we will be ready upon the opening of the second OCS Tri - Meet next year and we will be back with a vengeance.”.B

SOC ALBANO is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Nursing

                   at Our Lady of Fatima College.