Print

Mail

wiki links

Defense ministry details its troop-reduction plans

The number of people in the armed forces will be trimmed to 340,000 by the end of 2006, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

The second phase of a troop restructuring plan will be implemented from 2004 through 2006, with 15,000 officers and regular soldiers being cut annually during the three-year period, ministry sources said.

Of the 45,000 servicemembers to be cut, three-fourths will come from the army. As a result, the number of army troops will be lowered to 160,000 from the current 190,000 by 2006. The number of people in the navy and air force will be reduced to about 50,000 each from 55,000.

Ministry sources said the military has conducted three computerized simulated war games to test the effectiveness of the restructuring plan.

According to the plan, the army will expand its airborne forces while paring its ground forces. The army's 39 combined brigades will be reduced to 30. The missile force will be put under the control of the army.

The top commanders of various combat operation fields have traditionally been selected from the army. The ministry originally planned to name naval or air force officers to head the Penghu and Hualien-Taitung combat operation fields under the second phase of its restructuring plan. But the plan was later scrapped because combat operations mainly focus on ground defense.

After the completion of the second-phase of the troop-reduction plan in 2006, the military will keep its personnel levels constant for the following three years. Starting in 2010, the military will launch a further restructuring project, with the goal of paring the number of servicemembers to 300,000 by the end of 2013.

Military sources said that although almost a year has passed since the enactment of two defense laws, which aim to integrate military command and administrative affairs, last March, the merger has not been as smooth as expected.

"The working procedures are still under review and revision," said a ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Under the new defense laws, the ministry is responsible for procurement planning while the General Staff Headquarters is in charge of combat training. But the ministry has reportedly touched on combat affairs from time to time.

The sources said Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) is planning to further trim the number of the ministry's staff and has ordered his aides to draft revisions to the two new defense laws in order to facilitate military operations.

As various branches of the armed forces remain divided over ways to strengthen the military, the sources said, the ministry has not yet finalized a combined services combat operation mechanism.

Nevertheless, the sources said the ministry had begun reforming combined services staff operations. As the first step, the sources said, naval rear admirals have been named to serve at the General Staff Headquarters' operations department. In the past, such posts were filled by army generals.
This story has been viewed 2234 times.