President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said the military should continue improving its organizational structure and enhancing troops’ practical combat training.
At a ceremony in Taipei marking the promotion of six armed forces officers, Lai expressed the hope that the military would “review the organizational structure of the main combat, defense and reserve forces” and, through regular exercises, test the troops’ ability to carry out joint operations.
The aim is to enhance the troops’ “combat resilience” through practical exercises, Lai said, adding that the “immediate response” drills conducted from Monday to Friday last week were part of such efforts.
Photo: CNA
The five-day drills were designed to test the military’s response should the Chinese People’s Liberation Army unexpectedly escalate military exercises or “gray zone” activities — coercive actions that fall short of an open conflict — near Taiwan into a real attack.
“In the face of the convergence of authoritarian forces” and “the growing gray-zone intrusions” from China, Taiwan’s armed forces must employ asymmetric warfare tactics while at the same time demonstrating their resolve to defend the country, Lai said.
He added that his administration remained committed to reforming the military and progressive troop modernization.
Army colonels Tung Shuai-ku (董帥谷), Tang Cheng (湯成), Chang Ching-tai (張景泰) and Lee Tsung-tai (李宗泰) and air force Colonel Chou Wen-hisang (周文祥) were all promoted to the rank of major general. Captain Huang Chao-hsing (黃超興) of the navy was promoted to rear admiral.
Separately, a senior military official yesterday said the number of young Taiwanese conscripts set to perform a full year of compulsory military service this year would increase by 41 percent from last year, when the move to a full year of service was initiated.
Major General Cheng Chia-chi (成家麒), who heads the human resources division at the Ministry of National Defense’s Department of Resource and Planning, said the military expects to enlist 9,839 conscripts in the full-year program, citing figures from the Ministry of the Interior.
That would be 41 percent higher than the 6,956 who enlisted in the program last year, 2,047 of whom had completed their compulsory service as of yesterday, Cheng said.
Last year, new conscripts underwent eight weeks of boot camp, but starting this year boot camp training is to include pistol, machine gun and portable missile system Stinger firing and drone operations, Cheng said.
After they are assigned to designated units, the conscripts would also undergo 13 weeks of base training, he said.
Starting in January last year, the Taiwanese military extended compulsory military service from four months to one year, with the aim of strengthening the country’s combat readiness in the face of threats from China.
Recruits born after Jan. 1, 2005, are now required to perform one year of military service, but new recruits can defer their service while attending college, something most young Taiwanese take advantage of.
That is why of the roughly 75,000 young men expected to be conscripted this year, the vast majority will still only have to perform four months of service, because they were born before 2005 and have just graduated from college.
The ministry does not expect the number of conscripts in the one-year program to surge until 2027 when it recruits college graduates born in or after 2005.
Of the nearly 7,000 who entered the full-year service program last year, 993 joined as volunteer soldiers, while 322 suspended their service due to health issues and nine were discharged early, Cheng said.
The ministry did not say why they were discharged early.
Since 1949, Taiwanese men have been required to do mandatory military service, starting with two to three years, which was gradually reduced to one year by 2008.
Under former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the government turned the nation’s military into a mainly volunteer force, and in 2013, compulsory military service was reduced to four months, a policy that remained until last year.
During the four months, conscripts undergo five weeks of boot camp, followed by 11 weeks of specialized training with field units.
The Taiwanese military is mainly a volunteer force of about 215,000 people, with conscripts serving in a supporting role.
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