The Operations Research Center, Philippine Army (ORC PA) published the Marawi and Beyond Book Series in March 2018, in partnership with Tarlac Heritage Foundation and Teramag Publishing. The original website of ORC PA when the unit was launched in December 2017 is archived here: https://orc.army.ph/index1.html.
The Operations Research Center, Philippine Army (ORCPA) conducts research, synchronizes, coordinates, and integrates the research efforts of different branches and units of the Philippine Army in order to serve as a catalyst for developing Army capabilities to enhance organizational adaptability, soldier survivability, and combat effectiveness that will enable ground forces to defeat current and emerging threats.
Mandate & Mission
The Operations Research Center, Philippine Army is responsible to the Commanding General, Philippine Army on all matters pertaining to strategic research, special studies, policy studies and lesson learned.
Strategic Focus: Adopt a well synchronized, responsive, and ground based Operations Research Management System with the following Core Approaches:
- Enhance Synchronization and Integration of All Research Efforts of Philippine Army
- Improve The Dissemination of All Research Products of Philippine Army
- Improve Storage System and Accessibility to All Research Products of Philippine Arm
- Improve Philippine Army Research Institutions
- Build Continuously Develop Research Personnel Competence
- Efficient Management Resources for Conducting Research
Philippine Army Activates Operations Research Center
Dec. 16, 2017
“This is the very essence of the Operations Research Center, Philippine Army: To accurately document the encountered challenges in Marawi and to provide reliable sources of insights, analysis and inspiration for future references.” —LT. COL. JO-AR A HERRERA (INF) PA, Director, ORC PA
The five-month-long battle in Marawi between the government forces and ISIS-Maute Group is considered one of the longest and most memorable battles in the recent history of the Philippine Army. It is a victory of the Philippine Army against the spread of violent extremism and the destruction of IS-inspired terrorist group. In this battle, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) discovered new techniques and innovations in engaging with the enemy, mainly because the AFP is not used to fight in urban terrains. The Army also realized that there is a need to update or revise some of the directives and policies written in current manuals since some may need to be more relevant due to the evolving concept of modern warfare.
Due to these concerns, and in accordance with the vision of the Philippine Army to become a world-class Army, the organization found it necessary to create a study group that is tasked to write about the whole Marawi Experience. As a result, the Operations Research Center was activated to answer this need.
Lieutenant Colonel Jo-Ar A. Herrera, ORC Director, describes the office as the “Data Manager” of the Philippine Army. The center’s mandate is to document significant data and information in Army operations by conducting research, managing data, and producing handbooks for the organization to keep up with changes in the manner of Army operations.
The first project of the center, under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Jo-Ar A. Herrera, is to document the Battle of Marawi Lessons. The goal is to develop several handbooks, each covering a specific warfighting function containing the best practices, challenges encountered, lessons learned, and recommendations of different organizations within the Philippine Army.
Since the activation of ORC on 16 November 2017, the team has already conducted several activities not only to enhance the skills of its researchers in research writing but also to help them come up with reliable and credible handbooks that would benefit the Philippine Army and its future operations.
(In photo: LTC JO-AR A HERRERA (INF) PA delivering his message during the activation of Operations Research Center and his assumption as ORC Director.)