PA-UK conducts joint operational stress management training
The Philippine Army and the British Royal Navy/Royal Marines conducted a Trauma Risk Management Training as part of the bilateral MOU of the two countries.
FORT BONIFACIO, Metro Manila – The Philippine Army and the British Royal Navy / Royal Marines conducted a Trauma Risk Management Training (TRiM) as part of the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of the two countries.
The MOU on co-operation between the government of the Republic of the Philippines and the government of the United Kingdom of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland provides joint training, exchange of trainees and instructors and information on training related matters.
The TRiM which was conducted from April 24, 2019 was culminated here at the headquarters on May 9, 2019. It is a series of training for the members of the Philippine Army launched in September 2018 that covered three phases namely, policy formulation phase, pilot training phase and train the trainer phase.
The Philippine Army extended an invitation to the UK Armed Forces to assist in training Army troops on Operational Stress Management after the Marawi Siege experience. The Army aims to capacitate its soldiers to apply peer delivered combat stress assessment to identify early those soldiers at risk of combat trauma to ensure they access appropriate professional help.
British Royal Navy and Royal Marines instructors and subject matter experts trained selected officers and enlisted personnel of the Philippine Army in order to assist them in the conduct of the TRiM.
In the UK Armed Forces, TRiM is a psychological support tool of the Operational Stress Management that deals with potential stressors the military face in the line of their duty. Among the stressors are high intensity operations, unpleasant roles such as body handling, involvement in previous trauma, the threat of injury or death, frequent deployments, constant bombardment and the death of colleagues.
The trainees came from the Light Reaction Regiment, First Scout Ranger Regiment, Special Forcers Regiment (Airborne), 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division, 6th Infantry “Diamond” Division, and the 11th Infantry “Alakdan” Division.
During the recently concluded Phase III of TRiM, a debriefing was conducted by the British Royal Marines to discuss the challenges the trainees faced as they applied what they learned in Phase II as well as areas of improvement the TRiM teams might make to deliver the best trauma risk management to Army troops.
“This cooperation between the Philippines and the United Kingdom aims to empower our soldiers to help fellow soldiers in need. This will benefit those who face personal challenges after a conflict so they may be able to return to their normal lives,” said Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ramon P. Zagala.
