Talk:Philippine Constabulary

No such thing as pre independence "Navy"
The entire article is pretty much a mess with repetitive "Commonwealth" this and that thrown in, but the "Filipino troops and sailors of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and Philippine Commonwealth Navy (the Off-Shore Patrol)" is pure bunk. The Off Shore Patrol was an Army unit (and "Commonwealth" attached to every use is also bunk—it was known as "Philippine Army" in general usage of the time). In Morton's The Fall Of The Philippines the first chapter deals with the organization and background of the island's defense structure before the war. To save people from following the link here is the public domain, applicable text:


 * The United States had assumed all obligations for national defense and maintained a garrison in the Islands for that purpose. This garrison numbered about 10,000 men, half of whom were Philippine Scouts, a U.S. Army unit in which the enlisted men, with some exceptions, were native Filipinos and most of the officers American. After 1913 the Philippine garrison was called the Philippine Department, a regular U.S. Army establishment commanded by an American general officer. The Philippine Constabulary, first organized in 1901, was the national police force, but by training and organization had a military character. Thus, except for their experience with the Constabulary, the Filipinos had had no military tradition upon which to build a national army. (page 9)


 * General MacArthur selected Majs. Dwight D. Eisenhower and James B. Ord as his principal assistants. With the aid of a special committee from the Army War College, they prepared a plan to provide the Philippine Commonwealth with a system of national security by 1946, the date the Islands would become independent. This plan called for a small regular army, a conscription system, a ten-year training program of two classes a year to build up a reserve force, a small air force, and a fleet of small motor torpedo boats to repel an enemy landing. The tactical organization of this army was to be based on divisions of approximately 7,500 men. Armament and equipment for the new army was to be of a type suitable to the economy and terrain in the Philippines. (pages 9—10)


 * The defense of the coast line-longer than that of the United States-posed an extremely difficult problem. The National Defense Act made no provision for a navy but established in the army an Off Shore Patrol. This organization was to consist of fast motor torpedo boats of a British design. Contracts for thirty-six of these vessels, to be completed by 1946, were placed with British shipbuilders under specifications that called for a boat 65 feet long, with a 13-foot beam, three 12-cylinder engines, and a speed of 41 knots. Armament would consist of two torpedo tubes, depth charges, and light antiaircraft guns. “A relatively small fleet of such vessels,” said General MacArthur, “ ... will have distinct effect in compelling any hostile force to approach cautiously and by small detachments.”


 * The National Defense Act also made provision for an air force, to be utilized primarily for coast defense. By 1946 the Commonwealth expected to have a fleet of approximately 100 fast bombers, supported by other tactical types. They would be used with the Off Shore Patrol to keep hostile craft away from the Philippine coast. (page 11)

There was no Navy. Editors are creating and throwing around terms completely countered by reliable sources. Palmeira (talk) 15:39, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Philippine Constabulary Band
This edit to a paragraph in the article concerning this topic caught my eye, and it struck me that the edited paragraph is completely unsupported here. Following the wikilink added by the edit, I found that there is substantial cite-supported material on this subtopic in the Philippine Constabulary Band section there. It seems to me that the bulk of this material is more relevant to this article to that one. Perhaps the addition material and cites from that article will bulk up coverage of this subtopic here sufficiently to recast it as a named subsection.

I suggest that both articles be reviewed with this in mind and appropriate edits be made to both articles. I will mention

Discussion? Wtmitchell (talk) (earlier Boracay Bill) 18:39, 25 December 2022 (UTC)