The Ministry of National Defense’s five-year defense plan presented to the Legislative Yuan showed a worrying decrease in the recruitment of voluntary forces, National Policy Foundation associate research fellow Chieh Chung (竭仲) said.
Chieh said the ministry’s budget proposal for next year would decrease the number of total positions in the all-voluntary force by 5,486 people, or about 11 battalions, compared with this year.
The total personnel count for next year would be its lowest, while this year’s numbers were already down 5,187, to 166,235, compared with last year, he said.
Photo: Taipei Times
The cut positions comprised mostly low-level non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and privates first class, he said, adding that the military might lose more than 9 percent of its NCOs and senior soldiers.
It was also worrying that the reductions were often from units preparing for combat duty, he said, citing proposed budget cuts for additional payouts to units on combat duty, down about 9 percent, or NT$368.47 million (US$11.49 million), from NT$4.11 billion this year
The unplanned-for decrease in positions could be due to a personnel shortage within the military’s all-volunteer force, which has been under duress due to increased drills and combat missions, Chieh said.
The military would receive at least 15 types of new equipment over the next three to five years, further taxing an already understaffed military, while the government aims to increase its size and prepare for possible war, he said.
The military has been bleeding personnel at the ground level over the past few years, a situation that would only be exacerbated in the coming years, he said.
In response, the ministry yesterday said that the total number of reduced positions was from all military units and was not a concentrated effort to undercut any single unit.
The ministry also denied that 11 battalions would be removed.
Declining birthrates and the military competing with the private sector to hire staff had affected the all-voluntary force program since 2022, it said, adding that the average personnel-to-division rate was about 78.6 percent, or about 21.4 percent understrength.
The ministry said it is implementing measures to increase personnel retention and recruitment efficacy to mitigate personnel loss.
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