The army is reclaiming command of Taiwan’s reserve brigades in a major reorganization of military structure, the Ministry of National Defense-run Youth Daily News reported yesterday.
The changes to the Armed Forces Reserve’s command structure are intended to streamline logistics and enable the rapid integration of activated reservist formations with active-duty military units, Sixth Army Corps Commander Lieutenant General Chen Wen-hsing (陳文星) said after inspecting the headquarters of reservist units affected by the reorganization.
Integration of the reserve brigades into theater commands would facilitate accelerated wartime mobilization of reservists, improve operational command and control, and help close the gap in training and equipment readiness levels between regular and reserve units, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
Those capabilities are key to the armed forces’ mission of defending the homeland in light of the capabilities of adversaries and operational requirements, he said.
Reserve brigades must train troops in the missions that are most relevant to the operational environment of the theater, arrange mission and terrain-appropriate quartering, and make full use of local resources, he said.
Reservist units must be intimately familiar with the terrain of their area of responsibility to facilitate the effective deployment of units on a tactical level to defend territory and support the regular army in combat operations, he said.
The army’s theater commands are to formally take control of Taiwan’s 20 reserve brigades from the authority of 18 local governments on Jan. 1 next year, a defense official said on condition of anonymity.
The reorganization of the reserve brigades is a direct response to criticism from US officials, lawmakers and analysts that reservists lacked adequate training and equipment, the source said.
The decision is the latest in a series of reversals in the nation’s policy regarding command over reserve forces, which has oscillated between the army and civilian authorities.
In 2023, the ministry established the All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency, giving it control over the reserve brigades, which previously were under the command of the army, only to reverse the decision within six months.
In February, the ministry returned the reserve brigades to the agency’s control, but yesterday’s announcement reversed that once more.
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
RSS