An army tank fell into a creek while returning from a military exercise on Tuesday last week, killing four soldiers. The frequency of military accidents highlights a lack of discipline, which is both depressing and incomprehensible.
Looking into what caused the accident, it was probably the result of four shortcomings.
The first is a lack of thorough training prior to service. Commanding officers at all levels gather the troops for safety training prior to exercises, informing both enlisted personnel and officers about safety and protective measures, and other issues that they must pay attention to at every stage before, during and after the exercise. This is intended to prevent potential risks that might reduce combat capability.
That such a serious accident could occur while returning from an exercise led not only to material losses, but worse, the loss of life. This is directly related to insufficient training, which means that the personnel were lacking in vigilance and were unable to act decisively in the face of danger.
The second shortcoming is poor equipment maintenance. The tank was 22 years old, and while usable, inadequate maintenance rather than age was probably the most crucial factor behind the brake and the steering failure.
Pre-exercise inspection and maintenance was lax, too little attention was given to equipment functionality during the exercise while post-exercise inspections were overlooked.
The accident is a big blow to the military’s image and it makes it difficult to give the families of the deceased and the public a satisfactory explanation. It is imperative that the military inspects equipment and it in good condition to maintain safety.
Third, insufficient attention was given to risk evaluation. The military should provide a complete set of risk evaluation measures and standard operating procedures that units at all levels can implement during exercises and daily routines to prevent accidents, and minimize human and material losses.
The accident is clearly related to insufficient, imperfect and infrequent risk evaluation and preparatory work. When this resulted in the failure of the tank’s operation, it is difficult to understand why the driver, the commanding officer and other personnel did not react in time to stop the tank from falling into the creek or to escape themselves. The military must engage in a complete review and improve any shortcomings.
Finally, the response measures were confused and slow. The driver noticed before the accident that the brakes and the steering had failed. At that point, the driver and the commanding officer should have immediately taken emergency measures to save lives.
As the driver said afterward: “I was going to stop by running into the tank in front of me, but because the steering did not work, I hesitated, which resulted in disaster.”
The commanding officer did not respond decisively either and the tank toppled over.
Parts of the rescue effort were also slow and insufficient. Why did it take one hour to get the tank out of the creek and the four men out of the tank, as has been reported by the media? That was too late.
The military must use this accident to improve its emergency response measures and its ability to handle unexpected incidents to maintain combat capability and safety.
Hopefully, the military has a sense of shame, can recognize its shortcomings, and will speed up reform, make an effort during military exercises and revive its image to maintain the nation’s security and the public’s safety.
Li Hua-chiu is a national defense strategies researcher with the Society for Strategic Studies in Taiwan.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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