Marine three-star General Chen Pan-chih (
Chen is the first marine to take over the navy commander-in-chief's office, as well as the first native Taiwanese marine general. But his appointment to the post has come under heavy criticism from other high-ranking naval officers, since he has never directed a naval fleet in battle.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Chen does, however, have a bachelor's degree in engineering from the Navy Academy.
Prior to Chen's being assigned his new post by President Chen Shui-bian (
Chinese-language newspapers reported that Chen Shui-bian was initially planning to promote Chen Pan-chih to become the National Security Bureau's director-general but Chen Pan-chih was not interested in the post. The president then decided to give him the navy's top job.
The main reason Chen Pan-chih beat Fei and Chang for the promotion was that he had been a strong supporter of Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) over the NT$610.8 billion (US$19.15 billion) special weapons procurement budget, the purpose of which is to buy three Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missile batteries, 12 P-3C maritime patrol aircraft and eight diesel-powered submarines from the US.
In addition, Chen Pan-chih likes to be a strong role model within the service. As marine commander, a two-star general position, he personally led his fellow marines to devastated areas in Taichung to help victims after the 921 earthquake in 1999.
He not only commended his troops but personally participated in rescue and relief work.
Nevertheless, while Chen Pan-chih has been called a "truly loyal soldier" he has been criticized for a lack of professional knowledge of naval affairs, since he has never served in the navy.
"He is a very senior marine officer for sure," said retired admiral Nelson Ku (
In response to public questioning of his qualifications to be navy commander-in-chief, Chen Pan-chih was quite confident about his abilities and said that he would not let people down.
"I was a well-trained and certified navy officer. I believe that I will be able to `click' in a month or so," he said. "Try me."
Chen Pan-chih was born in Tai-chung in 1942. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in Engineering and then joined the marines.
Of his reason for joining the marines he says: "I visited both navy facilities and marines' facilities. I discovered that the grass in marines' facilities was well-maintained while the grass in the navy facilities was not. As a result, I decided to join the marines," he said.
"Also, I hate being sea sick," he said, "although after I joined the marines, I still had to accomplish many amphibious assignments with sailors on naval vessels so I gradually overcome my sea sickness problems."
When Chen Pan-chih tried to retire in 2001, his retirement application was declined by the Presidential Office. In 2002, Chen Shui-bian decided to give him another star, making him the first Taiwanese native three-star general since Chen Shui-bian took office.
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