The military reforms announced by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Tuesday are aimed at freeing up active-duty troops to focus on combat preparedness missions and boosting the ability of reserve forces to back them up, a military expert said.
Han Gan-ming (韓岡明), a research fellow at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), said on Tuesday that the plan announced by Tsai clearly delineates the main tasks of Taiwan’s voluntary, compulsory, reserve and civil defense units.
Under the proposed reforms, Taiwan’s voluntary force, which constitutes the backbone of its armed forces, would be responsible for defending the country’s territory, airspace and surrounding waters.
Photo: CNA
Conscripts serving their mandatory one-year-service and reservists would be responsible for handling homeland defense, and guarding military posts and key infrastructure, while serving as a backup force, the plan states.
Civil defense units would be mainly responsible for playing a supportive role in the event of war and assisting with disaster relief efforts during times of peace.
Homeland defense is at present mainly the responsibility of reservists, said Han, a retired one-star general from the army who lead the Ministry of Defense’s All-out Defense Mobilization Office from 2016 to last year.
The problem with that is that reservists need longer to ensure they are combat ready before such a mission, as they would only be called up to serve in a unit in the event of war, Han said.
By extending compulsory military service to one year, conscripts would be more capable and able to adapt more quickly to homeland defense roles alongside reservists, he said.
This would also enable the voluntary forces, the backbone of the military, to focus entirely on defending Taiwan’s territory, he said.
The current four-month conscription period is too short to produce enough corporals, lieutenants and second lieutenants to meet the nation’s military needs, Han said.
They are critical elements of combat units and responsible for training reservists and conscripts, but other experts have also said that there might not be enough of them to handle important missions and additional training demands under the new system.
Han estimated that within three to five years of the launch of the new system in 2024, the armed forces would have more qualified corporals, lieutenants and second lieutenants who could take up key roles as reservists responsible for homeland defense missions.
Tsai also promised to increase the monthly salary of conscripts, from NT$6,510 to NT$20,320, plus NT$5,987 provided by the army to cover meals and insurance, to ensure they have enough to cover basic daily expenses.
The military is a mainly volunteer force, with conscripts serving a supporting role. The total number of troops is about 215,000. As of last year, there were 160,000 voluntary military personnel.
Chieh Chung (揭仲), an associate research fellow with the National Policy Foundation in Taipei, said that the extension of compulsory military service should give Taiwan’s armed forces an extra 60,000 to 70,000 troops starting in 2027.
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