Republic of China Military Academy cadet Hu Chia-chi (胡家琪), who is studying at the US Military Academy West Point, took part in the selection process for the West Point Summer Leadership Experience and was chosen from many applicants to serve as a cadet company commander, making her the first female cadet from Taiwan to serve in this position, according to media reports earlier this month.
She is the third female Taiwanese military academy student to study at West Point and has performed very well in intercollegiate pistol shooting.
As the US Army’s top academy, West Point has always been a dream destination for military cadets from all over the world. Its training is so strict that cadets who are only good at English, but fail the physical fitness tests or cannot adapt to the culture will be eliminated.
In the past few years, two Taiwanese army cadets — one male and one female — who were sent to West Point failed to complete their studies.
In recent years it has become common for women to join Taiwan’s armed forces. Hu’s two elder sisters are also in the military.
Female volunteers perform as well as males, no matter whether they are serving in the Ministry of National Defense’s strategic units or in basic military units. At present, except for the navy’s Submarine Squadron, which is not yet open to females, all other combat units and combat support units of the army, navy and air force have female officers and troops.
The nation’s armed forces have trained many female squad and platoon leaders, company commanders and even female frogmen with specialist skills, artillery troops, snipers and pilots who fly Mirage 2000 fighters.
Ministry of National Defense data show that women now account for 15.6 percent of officers and privates, which is 3 percentage points higher than three years ago.
The proportion of females among those who protect the nation has reached the level of Western nations such as the US and France.
On the basis of budgeted army personnel of 188,000 troops, and a 90 percent ratio of serving to budgeted troops, it can be deduced that the number of serving female troops has reached 26,000.
In terms of rank, women account for 14.7 percent of commissioned officers, 16.7 percent of non-commissioned officers and 14.5 percent of privates. Women make up 4.9 percent of officers with the rank of colonel and above, including two female major generals, who are both at the political warfare branch.
Taiwan has 295 serving generals, only two of whom are female. As well as being too few in number, they only have the rank of major general.
US Air Force Four-Star General Lori Robinson in May 2016 was appointed commander of the US Northern Command, making her the first female commander of a US unified combat command.
If the Ministry of National Defense can work out how to improve the promotion system, training, duty assignment and physical environment for female officers and troops, Taiwanese women would be able to take up important military leadership positions and there would be many female commanders in the operations branch with the rank of major general or lieutenant general.
That is something that all Taiwanese should be happy to see.
Yao Chung-yuan is former deputy director of the Ministry of National Defense’s department of strategic planning and an adjunct university professor.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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