BARRACKS AND STRATEGY

*By Lt. Gen. Jaime S. de los Santos, AFP (Ret)*

Golf is more than just a game; it embodies discipline and character development. Every swing, from tee-off to green, reveals how a player handles stress and pressure. Patience, persistence, and humility are key to achieving mastery. The parallels between leadership and golf are evident as principles of leadership can be found mirrored in the game. Over 50 years after graduating from PMA, the Corps of 68, including Classes 68, 69, 70, and 71, came together for a friendly golf game on June 9, 2023, at the Veterans Golf Course. The competition focused on the Cadet Companies (Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta), rather than individual classes, aiming to level the playing field. Companies were well represented by plebes, yearlings, cows, and firsties. It was an opportunity for veterans, heroes, generals, business executives, former cabinet members, and technocrats to gather and exemplify leadership, and develop the spirit of teamwork and cooperation. Just as the cadet barracks' hallway serves as a place for discipline and leadership development, the fairway in golf is where players practice and refine their skills. Both environments shape individuals, enhancing their physical strength and ability to handle pressure. Leadership and golf are both learned and earned the hard way. It is an exercise in values formation, where honesty, friendly competition and fair play are emphasized. One can never progress beyond the average level if these are taken for granted. Practice makes perfect. In every way, golf is a game for officers and gentlemen. Leadership extracts the best of an officer and gentleman. Exposure of a cadet in the hallway enhances his physical strength and stability under pressure. Many repetitions of army dozens, many hours of laundry bag exercises, dressing formations and indoor drills are memories of the past. Likewise, more exposure on the fairway with the proper golf swing can considerably lower your handicap. The hallway was the common battleground that every member of the Corps of 68 experienced and permanently etched in their memories. These experiences may have a great influence why they adopted golf as a game which they all love to play. It has therapeutic effects especially in your senior years. It is a multiplier in improving the quality of life. Golf has cardinal rules that determine proficiency, such as focus and follow-through. By focusing on the ball, you generate the concentration and energy that will increase the velocity of the ball as you complete your swing (by a follow-through) translated in terms of accuracy and distance. Similarly, leadership excellence requires a continuous follow-through, ensuring orders are understood, carried out, and supervised. Breaking that cycle will create gaps and lapses that may result in failure or even disaster. The Corps of 68 received exceptional leadership training and implemented mechanisms for succession, leaving a positive legacy. At every step on their way up, their positions were training grounds for succeeding generations of leaders to follow-through. They let go of commands at the appropriate time leaving a positive legacy and acknowledgement of a job well done. Trust, confidence, and loyalty formed the foundation of relationships between upperclassmen and underclassmen. They understood that leadership must be passed on for continued success. Efforts for excellence, teach, enable, empower. Reach as high as you can, stretch your limits and fear no failure. PMA extracts the higher limits of your capabilities. Frustrations, blisters in the hands and fingers are common to golfers who do not exercise follow-through. Golf is not only a game but also a social activity fostering camaraderie and fellowship. It facilitates the establishment and cultivation of networks and alliances based on shared interests and business relationships. Leadership, too, relies on a solid foundation of shared organizational objectives. Leadership and golf are both investment alternatives that will generate dividends at some future time. Both requires capital outlay. Golf is probably the most expensive of all sports. Coaching from a professional is advisable to inculcate the basics and protocols as a player progresses in his training. The dividends that are earned are in the form of mastery of the game and the social influence that is acquired through networks and associations that spills over through business and corporate opportunities. The Corps of 68 is a living example of an investment in leadership. Government expenditure in their training is justified and are exceedingly essential. The distinguished and outstanding services they have rendered to the nation are worthy dividends. The experiences in the hallway and fairway are encompassed by excerpts from the Cadet Prayer: " Teach us to make our play of every game, whether in mere sports or in life's mightier struggles, one where our desire to win is second only to our love of the game itself, where we triumph as considerate victors or lose with grace and a determined will to win." FORE! *(Lt. Gen. Jaime S. de los Santos served with distinction as a military professional, 42nd Commanding Gen. Philippine Army, 1st Force Commander, UN Multi-National Peacekeeping Force in East Timor, former member, UP Board of Regents and Professorial Lecturer II (part-time), UP-Diliman.)*