Time to Repeat History: Field Again Filipino Regiments for the U.S. Military

1st Filipino Infantry Naturalization for 1000 soldiers | Photo via Wikimedia Commons

Part V of the “United States-Philippines Relations” Series

During World War II, the forerunners of Overseas-Filipino workers (OFWs) in California and Hawaii volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army. Eventually, their numbers were sufficient to form two regiments. Their military service is being posted and discussed in a Facebook Group called the 1st Filipino Regiment, U.S. Army, 1942-1946 at this link.

To readers that did not undergo even the basic ROTC training in college, at full strength, an infantry regiment typically comprises two field battalions of about 800 soldiers each. Or, using another military phrase, a regiment is composed of 8-to-10 companies.

The Philippines has been America’s closest military ally in the Southeast Asia part of the Pacific Ocean for more than 100 years. And counting. Thus, this journalist also organized a Facebook Group called Fil-Am Military-History Exhibit @ L.A. Nat’l Cemetery On Memorial Days at this link.

Why the need for both online groups? Because not too-many Filipinos and Overseas Filipinos, including Americans of Filipino descent, know that some Filipino soldiers were sent to Europe as members of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I. Because the American commander in Europe was Gen. John “Black Jack” Pershing, the military commander on the island of Mindanao during the Filipino-American War in the early 1900s. The educated guess is that General Pershing took some of his most loyal and ablest Filipino soldiers to Europe. Some of them were further trained in the United States — before being shipped to the European theater of conflict.

And that Filipino soldiers — as led by the two Filipino regiments that the U.S. Army trained in California — served under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the top American commander in the Philippines in the 1930s. He became the Allied Forces commander during WWII on the Pacific Front. General MacArthur kept many Filipino soldiers during the occupation of Japan and the subsequent Korean War, which he also commanded until President Harry Truman fired him.

A Philippine Expeditionary Force (PEFTok) was sent to Korea during the Korean War. One of its officers was a young lieutenant, Fidel V. Ramos, who just graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (New York). Eventually, Mr. Ramos rose and was elected the Philippine president in 1998.

The Philippines sent a contingent also to Vietnam during the war there. It was known as the “PHILCAG,” the acronym for the “Philippine Civic Action Group,” composed of the medical corps, engineering battalion, and security forces. It was an open secret that the U.S. funded the PHILCAG, and some of its most-qualified personnel were brought to the United States and granted permanent residency. Eventually, many of them became American citizens.

Perhaps it is time to form at least two Filipino and Filipino-American regiments for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps again. Why? Whether the Filipino people like it or not, the Philippines will be involved in any conflict between Mainland China and the United States over Taiwan. The disputed island has a population of 24 million Taiwanese, Chinese settlers, and hundreds of thousands of overseas workers, a substantial percentage of whom are OFWs. Taiwan is just 120 miles from the northern part of Luzon, the biggest island in the Philippine archipelago. Taiwan and the Philippines serve as “unsinkable aircraft carriers” of an allied force headed by the U.S. military. That is if war indeed happens between the U.S. and Mainland China.

Last Wednesday, part IV of this column said that the Philippines could supply workers for American shipyards by training them in Oakland and the bigger city by the bay, San Francisco. Training can be completed in 12 months, minimum, to a maximum of two years. The training can be models for “earning while studying” courses.

Theoretically, young Filipino technicians can be brought in if few Americans like to work now in shipyards. It is public knowledge that the U.S. federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. This rate applies to covered non-exempt workers. The minimum wage for employees who receive tips is $2.13 per hour.

Consider that even Taiwan pays a minimum wage (in American greenbacks) of just $4.00 per hour — to most foreign workers and OFWs. In the Philippines, the minimum wage per hour in Metro Manila is roughly US$ 1.25; in rural areas, it is less than $0.85 per hour. It explains the exodus of Filipino workers to foreign job sites. For, as usual, money talks better.

And thus, many of the Filipino recruits for the shipyards can undergo boot camp training by the U.S. military. So, if war comes, they can be “instant soldiers” that the U.S. military can complement its forces and be deployed in Southeast Asia or anywhere in the world.

Suppose the American civilian and naval shipyards need two-million new workers. In that case, it will be relatively easy to recruit Filipinos to fill all the vacancies that Americans unfilled because the low federal minimum wage does not attract Americans. The foreign recruits can be taught more skills in Oakland’s schools like a revived Holy Names University (mainly if the “working students” chose to join the medical corps of the U.S. military) and other colleges in Northern California.

Because when the U.S. Navy was operating its base in Subic Bay in Zambales province, Philippines, it trained quickly and employed thousands of skilled Filipino employees and technicians. Aside from recruiting tens of thousands of young Filipino high-school or college graduates to join the U.S. military, especially the U.S. Navy.

The Filipino recruits, and workers quickly earned security clearances. Some of them became skilled enough to do welding in American submarines that were undergoing repairs while not dry-docked. Most Filipino shipyard workers and skilled employees were “invited” to work in the United States after the U.S. naval base in Subic Bay and Clark Air Force Base in Tarlac and Pampanga provinces closed in 1992. They all became American citizens. But by now, most are in their late 70s or older and retired. But it would be easy to recruit their descendants to apply for training and subsequent employment.

By this Sunday, instead of doing a follow-up of Oakland’s twin tragedies, this series will be continued — given the urgency of the developments in Taiwan. This column will suggest to President Biden a conceptual framework of a bipartisan approach to strengthen U.S.-PH Relations. Yes, the column will suggest a second “Biden Doctrine” after the first proposal of doing a “Biden Back-to-Basics (B2B) Doctrine.”

Yes, this second “Biden Doctrine” will become a pretty heated topic in the Philippines and even become a tempest of debates in the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., and many state capitals. Guaranteed.