Training for WAR
so that we may live in PEACE

"I wanted to go home within the first hour I got here," says fifth-year ROTC trainee Teeratat Sopakitiboon. Words, he adds, cannot explain how tough the training is. "Your mind subconsciously absorbs it until it becomes a part of an unforgettable memory."

Field training at Khao Chon Kai ends the year-long theoretical and practical training at each of 35 reserve training centres around the country. Many ROTC students, in fact, record their Khao Chon Kai experience in a diary.

"It's 42 degrees outside. It's so darn hot. Our troop members, seven of them, fell unconscious right before our eyes," writes a fourth-year trainee of his 10-kilometre walk over rough terrain.

"Crawling under the barbwires, [I] got sand all over my body," writes another second-year trainee. "It itches every where," was another entry.

Lieut Gen Montri Sungkasap, Commander of Royal Thai Army Reserve Command

"At 5pm, we had to cook our own food. We were given six small pots for cooking rice and two for the tom yum soup, some pork and chicken meat, and firewood," writes another. ``Our cooking came out okay, although the soup tasted a bit bland and some rice grains tasted half-cooked.'' Despite harsh conditions and tough terrains, most ROTC students return with a sense of camaraderie, tolerance of others, and pride in the army and in themselves. These qualities, according to Lieut Gen Montri Sungkasap, Commander of the Royal Thai Army Reserve Command, represent part of the ROTC training mission.

``Our second mission is to train new generations of youths to have discipline and national pride, to practice self-sacrifice, and to be good and responsible citizens,'' he says. ``The main mission, of course, is to train ROTC students to become lower-level commanders for the reserve army. But this mission is not as important as the second one, because we never know when a major war will break out.''

Anatomy of training

Each year, the Army Reserve Command (Arcom) receives up to 30,000 new trainees in its 35 training centres throughout the country. Between 2004 and 2005, an additional 70,000 students were accepted under a special joint mission with the Ministry of Education, which aimed to reduce drugs abuse among students by having them engage in creative activities. At present, Arcom oversees about 306,000 ROTC students.

In May and June each year, Arcom accepts applications and conducts physical fitness tests on the incoming class.

During July and December, trainees train at the 35 training centres. From January to March, the year-long trainings end with field training at Khao Chon Kai Military Camp.

On a broader scale, ROTCs play a crucial role in every country's military structure and, thus, national security. During peacetime, countries cannot afford to supply the armed forces with too many officers in service, due to the extensive amount of budget involved in both salary and employment benefits.

As a result, each country calculates the required war size of its army and then hires a corresponding number of in-service officers, Lieut Gen Montri explains. Thailand, for example, hires about 70 percent of its wartime soldiers; the other 30 percent is supplied by the reserve unit, if necessary.

``Without proper training, these reserve units will not be able to fight in a war,'' he says.

Recent past

In Thailand, the practice of training citizens to support the military can be traced back to World War I. King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) introduced the concept of scouts and boy scouts to the country in 1911. From this beginning, the training of scouts progressed into youth soldiers in 1935, which adopted the training models from the United States' ROTC and Britain's Officer Training Corps.

In 1948, the Ministry of Defense established the Territorial Defense Department (TDD) to oversee the training of present ROTC students. In 2001, the Army Reserve Command took over the training operation from the TDD, as well as the controlling, drafting, retraining, and recruiting functions from the now-defunct Royal Thai Army Reserve.

Following the 1960 Reserve Officer Training Corps Act, today's ROTC training starts from year one, at the age of 16, to year five, at age 20. Male students who have completed the first three years of ROTC training will be exempted from the required military duty when they turn 18, according to the Military Service Act of 1954. This exemption has, in fact, become the reason why most male students choose to join the ROTC.

``At 16, very few students in my school choose not to join the ROTC,'' says fifth-year ROTC student Pongharin Piempongsant. ``I joined because I didn't want to become a conscript,'' he adds. As he progressed through year three, Pongharin found a fascination in the training and decided to continue until he finishes all five years and receives a rank of Second Lieutenant-designate.

Determined women

In the 1980s, the Army Reserve Command, an operational unit under the Ministry of Defense, opened its doors to females. Unlike their male counterpart, female ROTC's enjoy no right of exemption from the military because they are not required by law to draft in the first place. These female students, as a result, are more determined in training and follow orders more seriously, according to Master Sergeant First Class Sakda Sapsarn, a trainer for 33 years at the Reserve Affairs Training Centre in Bangkok.

``We started to accept women into the training because they have expressed a desire to train, as equally as men,'' says Lieut Gen Montri. ``They love the army, the uniforms, and want to become healthy and disciplined citizens,'' he adds, citing a recent survey conducted by his agency, which reveals that 76 percent of female students join ROTC training because they would like to work in the army.

Pimjai Aimsombud (left) and Phawika Kaewmat, fifth-year ROTC students

Phawika Kaewmat and Pimjai Aimsombud, both fifth-year ROTCs, first joined the training because they fell in love with the uniform and were drawn to the physical challenges. ``I was so proud when I held a gun the first time,'' says Phawika. ``Other people don't get to touch these weapons, but we do. We've held guns that our ancestors used to touch,'' Pimjai adds.

The first three years of training, says Pimjai, involves more outdoor training than the final two years. ``I felt very discouraged during the first year because the training was always tiring. I was constantly exposed to the sun. My skin was a lot darker in those days,'' she explains.

New trainees must routinely learn the basics of becoming a good squad leader, which involves following troop commands, basic war strategy, special war technique, and weaponry.

``Think about it, an everyday movement, such as running, has many components! Halt, step, step, halt, like this repeatedly all day,'' Pimjai says, reminiscing her past as a first-year student. ``In field training, 10 of us crawled face-down on dirt and then we stormed a target with machine guns. It felt so good. That was the best part of it,'' Phawika adds.

In the third year, ROTC students learn additional skills to become group leaders, before moving up to a squad leader in the fourth year and platoon leader in the fifth year. Most students who continue on to year four and five find that the ROTC training helps them to become more disciplined and punctual. As they complete year five, most also agree that their leadership skills have also increased tremendously.

``The training has made me mentally stronger. It has taught me to endure all kinds of pressure that other people put on me. In a way, I think this is the charm of the training, and it will serve me well when I get out into the real world,'' Teeratat says. ``Friendship is what I will remember forever,'' Pimjai adds.

Beginning next January, Teeratat, Pongharin, Phawika, and Pimjai, along with their classmates, will end their ROTC training at Khao Chon Kai, where they will undertake the final chapter of their ROTC experience. This time, the memory of Khao Chon Kai will be a little different. Each of them will walk away with a sense of pride, both in themselves and the army.

And with this, Arcom has fulfilled its mission.