Allowing commissioned officers to voluntarily leave military service before the expiration of their mandatory terms is crucial to preventing suicide and mental illness, New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸) said yesterday, announcing a draft amendment that would require the Ministry of Defense establish a review mechanism.
“Volunteer enlisted soldiers have had the option of early release since an amendment to the Act of Military Service for Volunteer Enlisted Soldiers (志願士兵服役條例) was passed in 2009, but there is no such mechanism for commissioned officers, who are forced to fill out their minimum service terms,” Hung said.
While the Act of Military Service for Officers and Noncommissioned Officers of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍軍官士官服役條例) allows decommissioning for “other reasons” besides sickness and poor performance, the vague wording and lack of a specific application mechanism have led some commissioned officers to mental illness and suicide, she said, citing the petitions sent to her office.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
“Because the law is overly vague, there is no way for officers to apply,” she said, adding that no one has used the “other reasons” criteria to apply for decommissioning in the past 10 years, according to ministry statistics.
The proposed amendment would allow commissioned officers to apply for early decommissioning after three months of service, Hung said.
Applications would be subject to approval of a review committee, with the ministry authorized to draft criteria for approval and require compensation for those who leave before the expiration of their minimum terms.
“After conducting a pragmatic evaluation, we have discovered that the reason that no cases have been filed is that the personnel are not familiar with the provisions, they do not know how to execute related cases,” said Fu Cheng-jung (傅政榮), director of the Human Resources Division at the Ministry of National Defense’s Resources Management Department, adding that the “other reasons” provision provides sufficient legal foundation for the approval of early decommissioning.
The ministry earlier this month instructed its bureaus to publicize rules for decommissioning to increase awareness, while holding meetings to draft guidelines for their implementation, he said, adding that there is no timeline for the completion of the drafting process.
Allowing pilots, military doctors and certain technical personnel to leave in as early as three months would allow private companies to poach military talent, Fu added.
“Our flight division would become training grounds [for private companies], because they would be willing to cover compensation costs, as they might have to spend between NT$10 million and NT$20 million [US$311,788 and US$623,576] to train a pilot, while covering compensation costs for a military pilot might only come at between NT$5 million and NT$6 million,” he said.
Hung said that she proposed the amendment because the military had failed to take substantial action since she held a public hearing about the issue two months ago.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇), who also supports the proposed amendment, said the ministry’s concerns over private businesses poaching military talents are overblown, as the ministry would be empowered to draft its own review standards.
“Ninety percent of the people in service would not have such tempting outside offers,” he said, adding that poaching would be a concern for pilots, doctors and specialized technicians.
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