Army turns counter-terrorist unit into regiment

Army chief Lieutenant General Noel Coballes. Photo courtesy of Army Public Affairs

MANILA, Philippines – The Army is upsizing its elite counter-terrorist unit into a regiment.

The Light Reaction Battalion, composed of three companies or about 500 soldiers, will get additional troops, Army chief Lieutenant General Noel Coballes said.

The anti-terror unit saw action during the Zamboanga crisis last September.

“We saw the unit’s effectiveness during the Zamboanga siege so we will further strengthen it. So from a battalion we will increase it to a regiment,” he told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday.

Coballes did not give a timeline but said they have already made initial moves in increasing the unit into a regiment.

The LRB was previously known as the Light Reaction Company that was formed in 2000. They are trained by US soldiers and it goes for at least six months.

A regiment is about a thousand soldiers or more. There are two other elite units in the Army — the Scout Ranger Regiment with nearly 3,000 soldiers and the Special Forces Regiment with almost 3,500 soldiers.

The LRB draws its forces from the Scout Rangers and Special Forces. It was also involved in rescue operations of kidnap victims by the Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao.

“We will add modern equipment and as well as doctrines in our courses in terms of addressing the incidents like in Zamboanga,” Coballes said.

He added that they would get “minimal” assistance from the United States in training the troops.

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