The army yesterday demonstrated its ability to handle chemical and biological attacks at the brigade level, developed in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US.
The demonstration took place at the 564th armored brigade in Kaohsiung, the strongest of the various brigades that comprise the 8th corps, which is stationed in the south of the country.
PHOTO: AFP
The 564th armored brigade was one of the first brigades to develop the ability to handle chemical and biological attacks on its own since the Sept. 11 attacks, the army said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
All of the brigades in the 8th corps have now acquired such capability, said 8th corps commander Lieutenant General Chen Chin-sheng (
The brigades have formed rapid-response teams and mastered the use of relevant equipment, including sophisticated chemical and biological weapons detectors and a group decontamination station.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The 564th armored brigade's two rapid-response teams include a one-minute response squad and a five-minute response platoon, which are on 24-hour stand-by for any emergency situation.
Meanwhile, in addition to demonstrating its new skills regarding chemical and biological attacks, the 564th brigade also showed off its combat strength in an exercise simulating a response to enemy troops landing in the Kaohsiung area via parachuting.
The brigade mobilized all of the weaponry in its inventory to fend off those representing the enemy in the drill. The weaponry included the domestically built M-48H tank and the M109A2 self-propelled howitzer.
The exercise was aimed at demonstrating the brigade's highly mechanized fire power, which is to become the main feature of all of the army's brigades in the future.
The brigade has also successfully applied computers and communication devices of commercial specifications to guide and coordinate its fire power.
Among the devices used is a military version of the personal digital assistant (PDA), used by reconnaissance troops to scout the front line. The PDAs can be used to send images to command posts.
The images that can be sent are very small, however, which limits the functions of the reconnaissance troops, an official with the 564th brigade said.
At the company level, laptop computers outfitted with military specifications are used for sending and receiving larger images of the battlefield, the official said.
The official declined to reveal, however, whether each company in the 564th brigade has such equipment. Well-armed brigades like the 564th are few in the army, with the rest combined arms brigades considered to be lacking in either weaponry or manpower.
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