Whitewashing the military
The nation’s military academies are busy training new recruits, but not only has the overall number of recruits dropped this year, the military is facing an increasing shortage. This is cause for concern.
Despite this, the Ministry of National Defense’s spokesperson on Wednesday said in a post on Facebook that enrollment numbers were higher than in the previous two years. Is this right?
According to the post, there were a total of 1,206 recruits this year, 186 more than last year — including an increase of 48 recruits over last year at the military academy — which shows that enrollment numbers have gone up thanks to the ministry offering new welfare measures and using more diversified recruitment channels.
However, a look at the data shows that enrollment at the academy only reached 60 percent of its target last year, or 197 of 330.
To make up for the shortage, the academy this year set planned to enrol 518 new recruits, but only received 245, less than 50 percent and more than 10 percentage points less than last year.
In addition, the test scores of the new recruits dropped this year, so what is there to be so happy about?
The ministry said there has been a shortage of low-level officers in recent years and the problem is particularly serious at the military academy, with only a little more than half of the required number of recruits.
Looking at the reasons for the waning willingness to join the military, there is the low birthrate and pension reform, but there are also frequent irregularities and scandals in the army, as well as criticism in the media and on the Internet.
The military is suffering from an image problem and this is making it difficult to attract young people.
The hypocrisy in the military is a constant target of criticism. At a troop inspection in Yilan County last year, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), noting that some facilities had been painted specifically for the occasion, pointedly said that “paint will not improve the military.”
The Tsai administration has initiated defense reform because it wants to change the existing culture in the military — and it wants officers and soldiers to remember that.
With one short sentence, the commander of the nation’s armed forces highlighted an old problem within the military.
One can only speculate what she would think if she read the Facebook post by the ministry’s spokesperson.
Wen Shun-te
Taichung
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