The Ministry of National Defense has relaxed height and tattoo restrictions to boost recruitment, a senior military official told a regular ministry news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Colonel Huang Ming-chun (黃銘君) of the ministry’s deputy chief of general staff office in charge of personnel said that the military is scrapping the maximum height of 2m for men and women.
In addition, the minimum height requirement for men has been reduced to 1.5m from 1.52m, making it the same as that for women, Huang said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Rules on tattoos for the National Security Bureau, Army Amphibious Reconnaissance units, the Military Police, military marching bands and the Political Warfare Bureau have also been relaxed, he said.
All tattoos are now permitted, provided they are not visible on the face, neck or palms, and do not contain offensive language, images or references to organized crime, he said.
The ministry is also allowing former volunteer soldiers who previously voluntarily left the armed forces for personal reasons to reapply to join the military as long as they have been out of the voluntary service for a year or more, he said.
The changes are being made to boost recruitment and retain talent, Huang said.
Volunteer soldier numbers had dropped to 152,885 as of June last year from 164,884 in 2021, the ministry said in a report to lawmakers, attributing the relatively low recruitment and retention rates to the low birthrate.
The ministry said that it would increase incentives, including offering better pay and benefits, to reverse the trend.
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
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