And as he presided over his first passing out of a recruit intake, Velasquez says he hopes they can benefit from more educational opportunities offered to them in military service. He explained:
Brigadier General Anthony Velasquez, Commander, BDF
"First of all, I would love for them to continue their education. We have better avenues for soldiers to continue their education. In fact, we have new policies where soldiers have to be educated in order for them to reach a certain rank, right? So they'll have to complete the infantry portion of their requirement, but they'll also have to be educated in order for them to reach the higher ranks."
"We're taking high school students, primary school students, and high school students, right? And if you come in as a high school student, you have an advantage because after a couple of years in the field, meaning you go to bush, you can actually become a specialist or what we call like clerks or signalers or even medics, right? And you can do that as your primary role. Those with Standard Six, they come in and they become infanteers along with the high schoolers, but they need to further their education and their avenues. They have avenues where they can further their education online to become, to finish high school. So when they have that qualification, then they can become specialists as well. Eventually when they become sergeants and staff sergeants, they will need to have associate's degrees. And eventually when they become a warrant officer, they'll need to have a bachelor's."
