Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) is to brief the Legislative Yuan today on the Ministry of National Defense’s plans to increase specialty pay for drone operators, cyberwarfare, air traffic control, and electronic reconnaissance personnel.
The opposition-controlled legislature in June passed a revision of the Pay Act of the Armed Forces (軍人待遇條例), mandating a uniform salary increase from the current NT$15,000 to NT$30,000 for all volunteer soldiers.
The Executive Yuan, raising concerns about the constitutionality of the bill, filed for a constitutional interpretation and a temporary injunction. As a result, it has not been included in the central government’s budget proposal for the coming fiscal year.
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In the latest report submitted by the ministry to the Legislative Yuan, the “uniform raise to NT$30,000” was not included in its planning. Instead it listed plans to increase payouts for combat roles, tactical air control personnel, and counterintelligence personnel.
The ministry said category one payouts would increase from NT$5,000 to NT$12,000, while category two payouts would increase from NT$3,000 to NT$7,000.
The ministry states that drone operators and fire support teams monitor the battlefield at all times and target high-value enemy targets for strikes, which makes their specialty a combat duty role, which means they should be eligible for additional category one and two payouts.
Both Army and Navy pilots, anti-aircraft units and communication units fit the criteria for combat units and would be eligible, it said.
The ministry said it is increasing wages for cyberwarfare units by NT$10,000 per month, and the number of servicemembers the raise applies to would increase from 15 percent to 30 percent of the unit.
The Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command, which works with radars to manage tactical control over information and communication fits the criteria of a tactical air control unit and is eligible, the military said.
Tactical air control units would see wage increases from NT$5,100 to NT$11,200, while wages would increase for electronic surveillance units from NT$4,100 to NT$13,600, it said.
The Military Security Brigade, the military counterintelligence unit, is integral to domestic security, and the ministry is increasing wages for counterintelligence personnel, to reflect the difficulty of their mission and to incentivize retention, the ministry report said.
The ministry said it is considering creating the rank of command sergeant major to encourage retention of non-commissioned officers.
The ministry said that as of October, voluntary military recruits have increased by 2,000 compared with last year, adding that the pay bump is drawing more volunteers.
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