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Army armor unit upgraded to division


By Joel Guinto
INQ7.net
Last updated 01:22pm (Mla time) 11/29/2006


TO FURTHER strengthen the military’s capability to combat the insurgency and terrorism, the Philippine Army has beefed up its armor unit from a brigade to a division, its commander said.

With this change, the former Light Armor Brigade, now the Light Armor Division (LAD), will be getting a "higher manpower and equipment allocation," Major General Isagani Cachuela said.

The LAD provides armored support such as tanks and armored personnel carriers (APCs) to Army infantry units. Cachuela said the LAD has around 500 tanks in its arsenal and 5,000 personnel.

"With the upgrading of the unit into a division, it would give us the ceiling for the acquisition of new armored assets in support of the government's counterinsurgency and anti-terrorism campaigns," Cachuela said.

"[The LAD was upgraded] mainly because it has grown in size. It has reached the size of a division," he added.

Army Chief Lieutenant General Romeo Tolentino, who approved the upgrade of the armor brigade last September 11, was the guest of honor during the LAD launch at Camp O' Donnel in Capas town, Tarlac province, said unit spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Vicente Tomas.

The former commander of the armor brigade, Major General Rodrigo Maclang, proposed the upgrading of the unit to division-size to then Army Chief General Efren Abu in 2004.

An Army infantry brigade is composed of three battalions, or roughly 1,500 troops.

http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnew...ticle_id=35426


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tanks = wheeled armored personal carriers, M-113s and AIFVs... and pork for a divisional staff....

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