The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said that starting next year, the military would introduce new rules governing the call-up of reservists to improve the combat readiness of the nation’s reserve forces.
Under the new policy, call-ups would be for two weeks training rather than the current five to seven days, and could occur every year rather than once every two years, said Han Gan-ming (韓岡明), head of the ministry’s All-out Defense Mobilization Office.
The proposal would begin as a limited two-year trial from next year to 2023, before a full-scale launch in 2024, Han said.
Photo: Screen grab from Facebook
Starting this year, the military is also extending the period during which reservists can be called up from a maximum of four times in eight years to four times in 12 years after being discharged, to ensure the nation has a large enough reserve force.
Taiwan has 770,000 all-male reservists and the new changes are expected to affect 3,000 of them, Han said.
Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) last year said that the ministry was taking measures to ensure the nation’s military reserve force is a more reliable backup for regular forces in protecting the country amid increased Chinese military maneuvers around Taiwan.
The measures include increasing the potential frequency and duration of each call-up, providing better equipment and scaling up reservist training, Yen said.
At present, reservists are called up every two years for training at a military base near their residence to maintain basic combat skills.
Reservist training includes specialty retraining, firearms training, combat training, combined training, and disaster prevention and relief training, which are necessary for combat operations and disaster relief, the ministry said.
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