PMA trains 340 cadets as pioneering batch focused on AI, drones, and electronic warfare

 Baguio City, Philippines – A new era begins in the country’s premier military school with the integration of territorial defense and modern warfare into its curriculum, under which the pioneering batch composed of 340 fresh recruits will train. 

The Philippine Military Academy’s updated curriculum, which introduces cyber, artificial intelligence (AI), electronic, and drone warfare to its core subjects, was recently approved by the Department of National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. to respond to modern threats.

Also part of the change under the new curriculum is that all cadets, no matter their choice of branch of service, will train together. This is contrary to what has been practiced in the previous batches where those plebes aspiring to join the Philippine Air Force or Philippine Navy trained separately from those who aimed to join the Philippine Army.

The inaugural class of the enhanced Bachelor of Science in Management major in Security Studies curriculum started their formal training following their reception rites on Sunday, June 1, at Fort del Pilar in Baguio City.

Said batch, consisting of 274 male cadets and 66 female cadets to compose PMA Class of 2029, underwent competitive selection process. 

From a total of 37,295 applicants, 21,796 were qualified to take the entrance examination with only 1,701 passers. The figure was further narrowed down to 340 after a series of physical and medical screening process, the PMA in a report said.

During the annual reception rites, PMA Superintendent Vice Admiral Caesar Bernard Valencia told the recruits that they are entering the academy in a rapidly changing world and they will be inculcated with the level of competency and fortitude that are fine-tuned to the threats being faced in the 21st century.

 “Cyberattacks, cognitive warfare, asymmetric warfare, climate disasters, and a myriad of human insecurities—this is the landscape where you will have to operate as future military leaders,” he added.

The recruits are set to undergo four months of Basic Cadet and Military Training before proceeding to their academic education.