The military has worked out the timetable for annual routine exercises to be held next year, with most of the regular drills to be launched earlier than usual, military sources told the Taipei Times yesterday.
The Hangkuang No. 17 exercise, for instance, is to take place in two parts between March and April in Taipei and Pingtung County, respectively.
The usual time for the annual Hangkuang-series exercise is between June and August. This year's Hangkuang No. 16 began in mid-August. The annual routine exercise is to be called earlier next year, mainly because a large-scale parade of troops is to be held in front of the Presidential Office on Double Ten national day on Oct. 10.
Because of the parade, all the year's major regular exercises are to be launched earlier than usual, to allow more time for the military to prepare for national day.
Thousands of military cadets and active-service troops are to be mobilized for the parade, which is to be the largest maneuver of its kind since 1991. That year, the military paraded in celebration of then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) being elected as the country's eighth president the previous year.
It is a custom for the military to stage large-scale troop reviews every five or 10 years. Next year happens to be 10 years since the last large-scale troop review in front of the Presidential Office.
Apart from the Hangkuang exercise, next year's annual Wangan air raid drill is to held three months earlier than this year -- in May. This year's Wangan No. 23 took place in August.
Preceding the Wangan No. 23 drill is the Hangkuang No. 17 exercise, which is to be launched in two parts in March and April.
The Hangkuang exercise is to begin in March with a computer-assisted battle simulation.
Maneuvers with real troops will take place in April. A joint-force training center in Pingtung County has been selected to be the site for the operation.
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