What do you believe is more Effective in ISO?

A Comparative Analysis of the mighty INFANTRY Hummer and SAW, and the meek ENGINEERS Hammer and Saw.
By: authorize6

The Infantry’s Hummer, or military jargon for the M114 High Mobility, Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) is a 4WD all terrain monster powered by AM General Motors V8 engine capable of running at 90 m/h and still could maintain half of its speed even when running flat on all wheels. It is capable of carrying 8 soldiers in full combat gear with about 17 variants. From troop or weapons carrier, automatic weapons platform, command or scout car, or as armored escort up to communications or UAV control vans or simply an ambulance. The mere presence of troops riding the Hummer in the field is enough to send a tingling sensation to the spine of the enemy but rather jolts the fighting spirit and morale of warrior-soldiers. To the people, an innocent question pops in their mind - where is the War? Cost of the Hummer is $ 160,000 or P 7.2 Million (less its communications system and armaments), with replacement parts to be ordered abroad.

The Engineer’s Hammer is a piece of blunt forged-steel hand instrument with smoothly carved wooden handle and a very distinct tool of the Engineer-Soldiers. In the hands of a trained carpenter, it is capable of driving 15 nails per minute, while if held by an expert it could seriously perform variety of roles in building construction. The sound of hammer pounding might be irrelevant to the enemy or could not even generate attention to the warrior-soldiers, but it delivers sweet message to the people, manifesting government sincerity on their concern, particularly on countryside development. Cost $ 4.00 or P 180.00 for branded STANLEY® (or only P 60.00 for imitation or sidewalk models). No replacement part required. Wooden handle could be out-sourced in every project site.

The Infantry’s SAW or Squad Automatic Weapon is the new DAEWOO K3 5.56mm light machine gun that could fire at sustained rate of 900 rds/minute. It is light weight, single-man operation with 30-round magazine or 250-round belt-link fed that could be fired from a bipod, hip or as standard rifle. The gun was so deadly that enemy considers the holder as a top priority target, surpassing the category given before to officers only. The distinctive “Prakkkk-Prakkk-prakkk” sound of the SAW during encounters sends the Enemy scampering, while at the same time becomes music to the ears of the warrior-soldiers. For the populace, hearing that sound means one thing. . . duct for cover and pray, as lethal high velocity slugs makes no exception. Cost of SAW (in e-bay) is $ 9,000. Ammo is the same 5.56mm produce the Republic of the Philippines Arsenal (RPA) but metal-link comes imported, cost not yet available.

The Engineers Saw, is a high-tensile flexible toothed-blade, again with wooden handle. Capable of cutting along or across the wooden grain of lumber it is one of the most valuable tool of the engineer-soldier. The sound of the saw, creaking back and forth makes people smile, as if they are assured that vertical construction is on the way and development is in progress. Cost of the Saw (in local hardware) is $ 16.00 or about P 720.00.

The above comparison is actually out of the ordinary and seems funny, as apples cannot be compared to oranges. But in the Layman’s mind it is a simple way of showing that in ISO, the image of a soldier carved as a “Weapon of War” could be transformed into an icon of “Peace and Development” with mere simple tools rather than sophisticated and high-end equipment. Let this also be a matter to be considered by higher leadership that huge amount of military budget are dedicated to armaments or tactical equipment, but very little share for modest engineer tools. The cost gap of tactical military materials and engineer equipment seems very wide that needs to be narrowed a bit, so that the Engineers could march at the operational pace with their Infantry counterparts.

We ENGINEERS, admire for the greatness of the Hummer and SAW, but are nevertheless proud of the modest achievements and contribution of our own Hammer and Saw.