The Saga of Cadet Soldier: Combat PT

"Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid"

-Invictus, William Ernest Henley

It's been 26 months since I joined the Cadet Officer Candidacy Course, or COCC for short. 26  months of trials, tortures, and tribulations. This is my story.

Chapter 3: Combat PT

More months have passed. It was then a chilly October.

Besides Comrade Enzo Samonte, Jason Martinez, and Michael Brillantes, we also were able to recruit two more. They were Melandro Lopez and Deriq Mercado David.

Melandro, or Mio, was my recruit. He was a chubby person who was often ridiculed by his confusing heritage. He's a He's an American born from Filipino parents, yet he looks Chinese. He's also in the same school organization that I am in: The Nihonggo Dantai (Japanese Club) or Nihon-dan for short. The personification of multiculturalism, he would describe himself. He had a hard time doing physical training, because of the iron rod on his spine, placed there surgically because he had scolliosis. He was also the heaviest among us. He joined because, like Jason and me, he has bored.

Deriq was Mio's close friend, so he probably decided to tag along. He would later have the hardest time among us because he was, honestly, slowest among us. He had a hard time when it came to speech and physical training. His speech would be the ridicule of all officers in the months to come. He had a hard time talking in Filipino, and his English was like he came "from the province," as Sir Thomas would say. Doing physical training was hard for him, too because he had thick build, which he couldn't lift after a period of time. Nonetheless, I had great respect for him as a friend because he was the most, well, friendly outside COCC.

These new recruits had a merry first day compared to mine. For their first day, they had to do a set number of push ups. Sir Thomas was in charge, so he occasionally asked them how many they've done already. I was absent that day, so forgive me if I get the facts wrong. When they've been asked to do a count-off of their push ups, both said "dalawan' libo (two thousand)," which got everyone laughing because first of all, that's impossible for ANY of us, and second of all, they were speaking in an awkward manner (double the awkwardness for Deriq, because of his speaking debilities). Next, they were told to shout to the cafeteria something embarassing. I'm sorry I forgot, but it might be "Nagjajakol ako (I jack off)!" It just so happened that Commandant Santos was in the vicinity, and soon, Sir Thomas was reprimanded.

Time passed, and Sir Rendor announced our promotion chance to 2nd class. We had to pass Combat Physical Training, or Combat PT for short.

For that day, he told us to bring our own food and drink, yakult, a Liter of fresh milk, and liempo. We had to wear our fatigues and bring all our bearing. He then told us to recite the code of Secrecy.

"What I hear
What I see
What I feel
When I leave
I leave it here"
 

Before he let us fall out, he told us never to mention this to anybody. I didn't understand why at first. Turns out we aren't allowed to do these things without permission. I still didn't understand then.

The day comes. Before reporting in the "CAT Shack," as the venue was called, we made all preparations under the locally famous mango tree, situated about 150 meters from the meeting place. We tried to keep everything a secret from anyone. That's why we dressed up only when it was dark, and moved as stealthily as possible to the border of the Ateneo grounds, where the Shack was located.

An hour passed. It was already dark. All of us took the time to upate our tickler notebooks, which also served as our journals (It's required to do this), in case he checks it.

Then a figure appeared just a meter away from me. It was Sir Rendor, and although I knew who he was, I just kept staring at him out of surprise.

"'tsun" he said. We formed and stood at attention. Before doing anything harsh to us, he told us to lie down belly-down, take out our rosaries and pray. I wasn't much about religion, so I just meditated to attain inner balance.

The next hour was just pure PT. During the course of the night, I kept asking myself when the "combat" of Combat PT would start. Turns out, there was hardly any. Just PT.

To test our loyalty, he made us seperate into different groups. I remember Jason and two others had to go to a distant place. Sir Rendor came back to tell us that they quit. In my mind, I didn't know if this was a test or if it's for real. It didn't matter. Samonte and I were just speechless.

They came back after around thirty minutes. I was relieved, even though I expected their return. Still more PT. push ups, mountain lunges, mase-mase, and jumping jacks were the dominant part of our PT that night. But the worst was yet to come.

And then it came. Rather, THEY came.

Former officers from recently graduated Ateneo High batches arrived. They were Retired Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Berdan, Retired Cadet Captain Aureus, and Retired Cadet Major Tseung, and they were taking no prisoners.

Extreme is a word that came to my mind today after thinking about their arrival back in Combat PT. They gave us mixed signals, telling us never to quit, then later asking us to just quit because "we're worthless." They pushed us to the limits of our already weakened bodies. My morale was slowly diminishing. I broke into tears. After another hour of torture, the officers huddled. We were given a brief moment to breathe. The former officers then left, leaving Sir Rendor again solely in charge.

He told us to lie down in a line and roll over one another from the starting from the last element, who had to roll over all of us until he reaches the flight sarge, which was me, and told us to say "I love you, comrade," as we rolled over each person. As he rolled over me and finally fell to the ground, the next element rolled over us, and so on. Sir Rendor then went about 50 meters away and told us to baby crawl our way to him. The grass was wet with dew, so out of desperation, I sucked water from them as I swiftly crawled my way, using the ground's moisture as an advantage to slide my limbs without having to lift them.

As we reached him, he told us once again to lie down on our backs. He then poured Yakult over us, told us to stand up and recognize ourselves, and finally, after five hours of Hell, we were promoted.

We were ordered to then fall out. He then left the premises.

We retreated back to the CAT Shack, where all our stuff had been brought. We didn't use most of the things we were recquired to bring, and my liempo was being devoured by ants.

There was just silence, except for a few swear words and the heavy breath of my comrades.

Just then, a security guard was patrolling the grounds. We immdiately lied down to cover ourselves . However, our attempt to hide was unsuccessful. We were caught. To make matters worse, the irritating ants climbed on us and bit us all over. Yes, ALL over. Not thinking straight, I poured Gatorade on Mio's back in an attempt to remove the insects. Bad idea.

I was scared, and my body and mind had endured more than enough troubles for one day. Thankfully, the guard was lenient and all we were told to do is leave the premises immediately.

Every part of my body was numb. As I went home, my attempts to unbutton my fatigues and untie my shoe laces were unsucessful. Ants were still all over me. My eyes were bloodshot, and sweat covered my water-resistant fatigues. I could barely walk.

The next day was the start of our Semestral Break. We had one week to rest. Throughout the week, my body went from numb to half-numb. I could type with more than two fingers again! I could button and unbutton myself once more. I could use the controller of my Playstation 2 or flip through channels with ease.

In time, my body was healthy again. Then recognized as Cadet Trainee 2nd Class, I was proud of myself, and proud of my comrades. Seriously. Not everyday can I be so proud as to declare it publicly. This feeling of accomplishment I would carry on until today... It was worth the pain and torture of just one night. Very well worth it.