Not requiring the nation’s female military reservists to attend training is not only a waste of resources, but runs contrary to gender equality, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report.
The government established the All-out Defense Mobilization Agency to improve the combat readiness of Taiwan’s reserve units, but has overlooked female reservists, said the report on the Ministry of National Defense’s financial statements for last year, which was released this month.
This year, the ministry began trialing a new model of educational mobilization under which military reservists must undergo two weeks of training and can be called up once a year.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
There are not enough army officers and non-commissioned officers in the reserve forces, so the military extended the period during which they can be called up from eight years to 12 years after being discharged from military service.
Female volunteers, as with their male counterparts, should according to the law be listed as reservists after being discharged from the army, the report said.
However, the current policy stipulates that female military officers and non-commissioned officers can choose not to be listed as reservists after being discharged, it said, adding that the practice contravenes the principle of equality.
Only a limited number of female officers had as of the end of last year volunteered to be listed: 487 army officers and 2,608 non-commissioned officers among 8,915 retired female military personnel, the report said.
Female military personnel receive professional training and gain practical experience during service, so should have more knowledge and skills than men who undergo mandatory military training, the report said, adding that not requiring them to attend educational mobilization makes the list “a mere formality.”
Chang Ling-ling (張玲玲), a colonel who was discharged last month and volunteered to be listed as a reservist, on Saturday said that she “had been nurtured by the armed forces during four years in military school and 30 years in the army,” so she was willing to contribute her experience and be listed.
Being mobilized in wartime without undergoing mobilization training “would be a great loss,” she said.
Regarding concerns about separating living spaces for female and male reservists, she said that it could be planned.
Military personnel are responsible, and women have been serving in the armed forces for years, she said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀), a member of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, on Saturday said that the ministry should consider including retired female officers in the educational mobilization program to bolster the nation’s reserve forces.
The ministry said it would assess the feasibility of including female reservists in the program based on the level of threat from enemies, the need for defensive operations and military training capacity.
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