Climbing the military ladder from being a volunteer soldier to the rank of second lieutenant over the past five years, Lee Ya-yi (李雅儀) recently reached a new level of success in her military career after becoming one of the few female platoon leaders in the army corps.
She serves in the 612 Chaparral Battalion of the 8th Army Corp’s 43 Artillery Command.
Lee, a graduate of Tunghai University’s department of sociology, first served as a volunteer at hospitals before taking a leap of faith with the army.
According to the Chinese-language Youth Daily News, a Ministry of National Defense publication, Lee started off as a private in the 8th Army Corp’s 54 Engineering Group.
She climbed her way from the rank of corporal to staff sergeant in the 75 Signals Group, culminating in her admission to the female warrant officers class.
After seven months of military training at the Army Artillery and Missile School (AAMS), Lee was commissioned as a second lieutenant in April.
“Looking back at the past five years of my military life, it was a time full of hardship, as well as frustration. The idea of giving up had crossed my mind,” Lee said.
However, Lee said the thought of the hard life endured by her parents working as farmers and the heavy burden on their shoulders was the motivation that kept her moving forward.
Lee also completed professional gunner training for the annual Shenkung drill at the AAMS, the military said.
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