Taipei-The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Thursday its capacity was sufficient to train conscripts once mandatory military service in Taiwan is extended to one year in 2024.
Speaking during a ministry press briefing, Deputy Chief of General Staff on Training Lieutenant General Chang Chun-chih (???) said the armed forces’ 3,753 training grounds across the country would be able to meet the expected influx of conscripts.
In terms of personnel responsible for training conscripts, the armed forces also have enough manpower both at the boot camps and at different training centers and commands around the country to meet the needs despite the military service extension, Chang added.
Another MND official in charge of building dorms for military personnel said the ministry was currently renovating old dorms for use by the Navy and Air Force.
Once completed, they will be able to accommodate the needs of 280,000 servicepersons in total, according to Lee Feng-yen (???), a member of the MND’s Armaments Bureau’s Construction and Real Estate Division, at Thursday’s press event.
Lee, however, did not say when the renovation projects are expected to be completed.
The two military officials made the comments in response to concerns raised by local defense experts in the wake of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (???) announcement on Dec. 27 that mandatory military service would be extended to one year starting in 2024.
According to Chieh Chung (??), an associate research fellow with the National Policy Foundation in Taipei, the extension of the compulsory military service period should give Taiwan’s armed forces an extra 60,000 to 70,000 servicemen starting in 2027.
However, experts like Chieh have also warned that implementing the program could be challenging given Taiwan’s lack of officers, resources and facilities needed to train conscripts.
According to Chieh, in terms of training capacity, Taiwan’s military has only three large-scale training and drill grounds: the Army’s Northern Joint Testing Center in Hsinchu County, Southern Joint Testing Center in Tainan City and Joint Operations Training Base Command in Pingtung County, all of which have reached their maximum capacity.
He added that the military already faced a lack of corporals, lieutenants, and second lieutenants in combat units, who are mainly responsible for training conscripts.
“Where is the MND going to find all these qualified corporals and lieutenants responsible for training within a year?” Chieh asked during a recent interview with CNA.
In response, Chang said Thursday that the three large-scale training and drill grounds are meant to train the main combat units’ armored brigades and mechanized infantry troops instead of mandatory service conscripts that will be serving more as a supportive role during wartime.
He said that conscripts undergoing one-year service training will be mostly conducting required shooting exercises at existing boot camps and their assigned units, assuring the public that the military has enough capacity to meet the expected increase in needs.
According to the military structural overhaul announced by Tsai on Dec. 27, Taiwan’s voluntary force, which constitutes the backbone of its armed forces, will be responsible for defending the country’s territory, airspace and surrounding waters.
Conscripts serving their mandatory one-year service and reservists, meanwhile, will be responsible for handling homeland defense and guarding military posts and key infrastructure while serving as backup forces for the armed forces, according to the plan.
Civil defense units will be mainly responsible for playing a support role during wartime and helping with disaster relief efforts in peacetime.
Taiwan’s military is currently a mainly volunteer force, with conscripts serving in a supporting role, with the total number of troops at around 215,000.
As of 2021, there were a total of 160,000 voluntary military personnel.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel