Philippine Scouts

The Philippine Scouts (Filipino: Maghahanap ng Pilipinas/Hukbong Maghahanap ng Pilipinas) was a military organization of the United States Army from 1901 until after the end of World War II. These troops were generally Filipinos and Filipino-Americans assigned to the United States Army Philippine Department, under the command of American commissioned officers (though a handful of Filipino Americans received commissions from the United States Military Academy). Philippine Scout units were given the suffix "(PS)", to distinguish them from other U.S. Army units.

The first Scout companies were organized by the U.S. in 1901 to combat the Philippine Revolutionary Army led at that time by General Emilio Aguinaldo. In 1919–1920, the PS companies were grouped into regiments as part of the United States Army and redesignated the 43d, 44th, 45th, and 57th Infantry Regiments, plus the 24th and 25th Field Artillery Regiments, the 26th Cavalry Regiment (PS) and the 91st and 92nd Coast Artillery Regiments. Service and support formations were also organized as engineer, medical, quartermaster and military police units. The infantry and field artillery regiments were grouped together with the U.S. 31st Infantry Regiment to form the U.S. Army's Philippine Division. At this point, the Scouts became the U.S. Army's front line troops in the Pacific.

The Philippine Department assigned the Scouts to subdue the Moro tribes on the island of Mindanao (see Moro rebellion), and to establish tranquility throughout the islands. In the 1930s, Philippine Scouts, along with the 31st Infantry Regiment, saw action at Jolo, Palawan.

Philippine Scout regiments became the first United States Army units to be in combat during World War II, until the surrender of USAFFE in May 1942. Even after that some individual soldiers and units refused to surrender and became beginning elements of the resistance to the Japanese occupation. Later paroled POWs would also join the resistance.

Native guides and a small number of former Spanish Army militia members from Macabebe that joined U.S. forces commanded by General Henry Lawton and, after authorization by General Elwell Otis, initially two, and later five companies of Macabebe Scouts were formed on September 10, 1899 under Lieutenant Matthew A. Batson. The Macabebes proved themselves reliable over the next two months, and Batson formed five companies of 128 men each; all veterans of service in the militia. In retaliation, Aguinaldo's forces under the command of Col. Agapito Bonzon burned the town of Macabebe and massacred 300 of its residents on June 26, 1898. Batson's Macabebe companies saw combat against Aguinaldo's forces beginning in October 1899, after which they were reorganized into "The Squadron of Philippine Cavalry, U.S. Volunteers" on June 1, 1900 and enlisted as irregulars. The Macabebes won lasting notability in the operation under General Frederick Funston to capture General Aguinaldo.

The Army Reorganization Act of 1901 authorized the formation of scout units of Philippine origin within the U.S. Army. On the Army's recommendation, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt authorized the formation of a unified native Scouts organization. The Army activated this Native Scouts force in October 1901 by integrating 50 local companies into a single force of 5,000 men. Over the next ten years, the Scouts won accolades from their American commanders which contributed to their survival as a unit.

On July 26, 1941, in preparation for the coming war, President Roosevelt called General Douglas MacArthur back to active duty and put him in charge of a new military organization: The United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). MacArthur took command of all military forces in the Philippines except the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Fleet. The Philippine Division, Philippine Department and all other Philippine Scout units were included in USAFFE, as was the U.S. Army's Far East Air Force (FEAF). At the time of USAFFE's formation, the unit consisted of 22,532 troops, of which 11,972 were Philippine Scouts.

Of the 22,532 troops, 10,473 were members of the Philippine Division, itself containing 2,552 Americans and 7,921 Filipinos. All of the division's enlisted men, with the exception of the 31st Infantry Regiment and some of the military police and headquarters troops, were Philippine Scouts.