The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said that its capacity was sufficient to train conscripts once mandatory military service in Taiwan is extended to one year next year.
The armed forces’ 3,753 training grounds across the country would support the expected influx of conscripts, Deputy Chief of General Staff on Training Lieutenant General Chang Chun-chih (張俊志) said at a ministry news conference.
In terms of people responsible for training conscripts, the armed forces have enough personnel at boot camps, training centers and command centers around the country to meet the needs despite the military service extension, Chang added.
Photo: CNA
Another MND official in charge of building dormitories for military personnel said the ministry was renovating old accommodation units for use by the navy and air force.
Once completed, they would support the needs of 280,000 servicepeople, said Lee Feng-yen (李豐彥), a member of the MND’s Armaments Bureau’s Construction and Real Estate Division, without elaborating on when the renovation projects are expected to be completed.
The comments were in response to concerns raised by defense experts after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Dec. 27 announced that mandatory military service would be extended to one year starting next year.
Extending the compulsory military service period should give Taiwan’s armed forces an extra 60,000 to 70,000 servicepeople starting in 2027, National Policy Foundation associate research fellow Chieh Chung (揭仲) said.
However, experts have also warned that implementing the program could be challenging due to the nation’s lack of officers, as well as the extra resources and facilities needed to train conscripts.
In terms of training capacity, Taiwan’s military has only three large-scale training and drill grounds: the Army’s Northern Joint Testing Center in Hsinchu County, the Southern Joint Testing Center in Tainan and the Joint Operations Training Base Command in Pingtung County, Chieh said, adding that they have all reached maximum capacity.
The military already faces a lack of corporals, lieutenants and second lieutenants in combat units, who are mainly responsible for training conscripts, he said.
“Where is the MND going to find all these qualified corporals and lieutenants responsible for training within a year?” Chieh asked during a recent media interview.
However, Chang said that the three large-scale training and drill grounds are meant to be used to train the main combat units’ armored brigades and mechanized infantry troops, rather than mandatory service conscripts who are expected to serve a support role in the event of a war.
Conscripts undergoing one-year service training would mainly participate in shooting exercises at existing boot camps, Chang said, adding that the military has enough capacity to meet the expected increase in needs.
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, the revised military structure announced last month said.
However, conscripts serving mandatory one-year service and reservists would be responsible for handling homeland defense, guarding military posts and key infrastructure, while serving as backup forces for the armed forces, the plan said.
Civil defense units would be responsible for playing a support role during wartime, and helping with disaster relief efforts in peacetime.
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