The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it is investigating allegations that an army colonel at a military base in the south made his subordinates physically ill with unreasonable demands and by meting out long hours of strenuous exercise.
Eighth Army Corps political warfare section chief Yang Wei-wu (楊威武) told reporters yesterday that after preliminary investigation, the incident did not seem too extreme.
He said that in the aftermath of the incident, two soldiers had come down with stomach aches and diarrhea, while others had complained of minor body strains, and more details would be forthcoming.
The alleged incident involved a colonel surnamed Chu (朱), who was a top advisor in the general staff section of the 333rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which is based in Wanjin Village (萬金) in Pingtung County’s Wanluan Township (萬巒).
Complaints were made against Chu after he punished several squads at the brigade base on Sept. 1 by forcing them to undertake strenuous exercise at about 7pm, after their evening meal, that lasted until about midnight.
It was reported that those punished included a number of ranked officers, ranging from lieutenant colonels to second lieutenants.
According to the complaints, Chu was “bullying” the officers and soldiers because he felt he had “lost face” during an outdoor drill session the day before, when some field maps got wet during an afternoon thunderstorm.
The complaints also said that earlier this week, Chu instructed his squads to convene outside after lunch.
The squads stood in the hot sun for two hours, but Chu apparently never showed up. According to other officers, Chu took an afternoon nap in his room during that time.
Other army officers in the brigade said they had witnessed the events. They said they felt Chu was being harsh with his troops and that it might lead to insubordination problems in the future.
In other news this week, the ministry released a statement after media reports said the military was wasting funds by allocating NT$60 million (US$1.84 million) for canned food this year.
The statement said the money spent was necessary.
It said that canned food supplies are necessary for troop units stationed on the outlying islands, high mountains and naval ships out at sea, where fresh food items are not readily available.
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