The army on Monday introduced new initiatives at its military facilities that allow soldiers to use smartphones, browse the Internet in their free time and enjoy improved accommodation, in a bid to boost lower-than-expected enlistment figures.
During a media tour at a base in Pingtung County, the army showed off new soldiers’ quarters, which include air conditioning and desks for individual soldiers. In the past, soldiers had only beds and lockers.
The 333rd Brigade at the base in Pingtung is among 35 military units that have been chosen by the army to improve soldiers’ quality of life through the inclusion of certain creature comforts.
Photo: CNA
Staff Sergeant Lu Shu-hao (呂書豪) said the barracks had improved drastically on the quarters he had lived in previously.
“It’s like 500 times cooler than before,” he said.
Lu belongs to an experimental company made up entirely of enlisted soldiers in the army’s 333rd Brigade.
Photo: CNA
Meeting reporters on a base tour, Lu cited improvements in comfort, atmosphere and hygiene, which he said make the barracks “no longer look like a cheap hotel.”
To increase the appeal of being part of an all-volunteer force, a goal set for 2017, the military has taken steps to improve the living conditions of service members, in addition to paying higher salaries.
Taking shower facilities as an example, Lu said soldiers in his company can now use separate cubicles instead of the open bath commonly seen in army barracks. To be able to relax is very important after a day of drills and exercising, he added.
Other improvements include individual bunks, desks and closets, and perhaps more important for modern young people: The right to use smartphones.
In order to join the army, Lu gave up his US citizenship, saying it was the most important and the best decision he has made in his life so far.
Private Cheng Kai-yang also gave a thumbs-up for the improvements at the base, particularly new initiatives that include allowing military personnel to live off-base and eat outside on work days.
Being able to use smartphones at the base also allows them to stay connected with the rest of the world, Cheng said.
“I believe this will attract more young people to enlist,” he added.
According to the army, 80 percent of the military personnel at the selected 35 units have expressed satisfaction with the improved daily facilities and new measures.
The army began implementing the initiatives in October last year and over the past three months, 10 percent of the young men who are required to undergo four months of military training as part of the military’s plan to shift to an all-volunteer force agreed to enlist.
The army said it is planning to implement the new initiatives at more of its military units. In the 35 units, those who have volunteered to sign up for longer military service increased from 45.3 percent to 56.1 percent, according to the military.
The transition to an all-volunteer army was originally planned for next year, but the army pushed the date back due to lower-than-expected recruitment figures.
RISK FACTORS: ‘We hope people can cooperate and endure it ... it is possibly the very important last mile,’ Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung said Taiwan’s COVID-19 restrictions and mask regulations are to remain the same next month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The center reported 42,112 new local COVID-19 cases and 85 deaths, saying that the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has dropped to a new low this month. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said that the center is keeping COVID-19 restrictions and mask regulations the same due to the local virus situation, and an increase in the number of imported cases of the new Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 of SARS-CoV-2, among other risk factors. Easing
TRAVEL CONFERENCE: Representatives from the two countries exchanged views on how to increase tourist numbers, with one identifying individual travel as a trend Taiwan and South Korea aim to increase the number of tourists traveling between the two countries to 3 million, government and tourism industry representatives said at a conference in Hsinchu City yesterday. The annual event was attended by Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Yen-po (陳彥伯); Tourism Bureau Director-General Chang Shi-chung (張錫聰); Taiwan Visitors Association chairwoman Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭); South Korean Representative to Taiwan Chung Byung-won; Yoon Ji-sook, an official at the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; and Korea Association of Travel Agents chairman Oh Chang-hee. Global tourism is expected to soon rebound to between 55 and
DAMAGE CONTROL: The KMT in a statement called the Taiwan Strait ‘international waters,’ after Alexander Huang said China had the right to claim it as internal waters Lawmakers and experts yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) envoy to the US Alexander Huang (黃介正) of acting as China’s stooge, after he said that Beijing has the right to claim waters beyond its maritime territory as its exclusive economic zone and that the US has no legal basis to assert that the Taiwan Strait is an “international waterway.” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said in an online post that most of the world considers the Strait an international waterway, adding that this is important for safeguarding Taiwan. “We have seen US warships transiting through the Taiwan Strait.
The Taichung District Court yesterday sentenced to nine years in prison an unlicensed judo coach who caused the death of a seven-year-old student after slamming him onto the ground more than a dozen times. In its decision against the coach, a man surnamed Ho (何), the court cited his lack of remorse for using excessive force against an inadequately trained child and his failure to reconcile with the parents for his role in their son’s death. Speaking on behalf of the boy’s mother, Taichung City Councilor Jacky Chen (陳清龍) said the family would appeal to a higher court. Prosecutors said that Ho on
RSS