The Republic of China Army’s elite “Frogmen” unit on Kinmen Island (金門) demonstrated they are capable of undertaking dangerous missions and repelling enemy attacks, as the nation’s armed forces prepared defensive deployments for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.
In yesterday’s drills for inspection by Ministry of National Defense (MND) officials, the Army 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion (ARB 101) “Frogmen” unit strutted their stuff to display their martial arts and other close-combat skills, weapons training, explosives demolition and stealth amphibious landing skills.
The elite soldiers braved high waves in the cold coastal waters of Kinmen Island during their simulation of storming a beach via rubber boats and attacking shoreline fortifications.
Photo: WALLY SANTANA, AP
MND spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said the inspection was for officials to ensure the armed forces are vigilant over the security of the nation during the Lunar New Year holidays.
ARB 101 units are deployed along the front-line islands, with their main base at Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣) in Kinmen’s southeast, and other companies stationed at Matsu’s (馬祖) Nangan (南竿) and Dongying (東引) islets, as well as on Penghu’s Siyu Islet (西嶼).
At the ARB 101 base, the specially trained soldiers displayed their frogman suits for diving, breathing apparatus and other equipment, along with field camouflage and weapons such as T91 rifles and M107 scoped sniper rifles.
Lee Han-sheng (李瀚生), a seargent who heads a sniper company at the ARB 101 base, said he would patrol Kinmen and the nearby islets for the defense of the nation’s front line, which is close to China’s Xiamen City and Fujian Province coastline, to protect Taiwanese during the Lunar New Year holiday period.
A university graduate who enlisted as a professional soldier, Lee said training for amphibious combat was difficult, especially enduring the cold ocean temperatures during winter.
“Although we had frogman suits on, our extremities became numb after a while in the cold water,” Lee said.
“At times it was quite painful, as if our hands were being pricked by many needles. However, with more training, we got used to the conditions and our bodies toughened up,” he said.
“I chose the military” because it is an honor to serve my country, and I feel proud to protect my homeland and the citizens of our nation,” Lee said.
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