MANILA - The Philippine Army (PA) is committed to upgrading its Aviation Regiment to ensure that it is capable of supporting ground units in dealing with various security threats.

"The PA leadership will push down mission-essential equipment to Army units nationwide. Rest assured, the command is committed to upgrading the Aviation Regiment into a modern and capable unit that will assist our ground forces in dealing with a multitude of threats," Army commander Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said in a statement Wednesday night.

He made this commitment after Aviation Regiment commander Col. Andre Santos and two rotary-wing pilots of the unit paid him a courtesy call at the PA headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City on Tuesday morning.

The pilots are R-44 pilot-in-command, Capt. Pearl Esher Taladro, and co-pilot, 1st Lt. Tynnel Jonden Banas.

They made the visit during their first long-range flight aboard their R-44 Raven training helicopter, which took off from Fort Magsaysay in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija, and landed at the PA headquarters.

After their courtesy call, the officials and pilots flew from the Army headquarters to Fort Magsaysay for another training flight.

On Tuesday afternoon, Army aviators conducted a separate flight mission from Nueva Ecija to Taguig.

These flights are part of the continuing skills enhancement of PA rotary-wing aviators.

As this developed, Brawner also inspected the Army Aviation Regiment's two helicopters that flew in a round-trip proficiency flight mission from Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija to Fort Bonifacio on Wednesday.

Santos led the Army aviators in a long-range proficiency training flight using the Robinson R-44 Clipper II and the Bolkow BO-105M multi-purpose helicopters in a round-trip flight mission.

Brawner lauded the Aviation Regiment for its modernization efforts, particularly in training additional aviators, rotary-wing pilots, and multi-engine rating personnel.

He also commended the regiment's efforts in upgrading its array of standardized doctrine towards its aviators to further capacitate them in a fast-changing operational environment.

"As you push yourselves in giving your best on your training, I commend all men and women manning the Army Aviation Regiment. Despite the challenging time and situation, you commit to capacitating yourselves for the development and transformation of our modernized Army aviation. You have all the support of the Philippine Army leadership as you evolve into a modern and capable Army Aviation Regiment that is a source of national pride," Brawner said.(PNA)