The army yesterday showcased its new shooting training program that seeks to simulate battlefield conditions to better prepare soldiers for real combat situations.
In a demonstration open to the media at an army base in Taoyuan, soldiers showed reporters how they fire precisely at targets while standing, prone or kneeling.
Previously, soldiers were only trained to shoot their pistols or rifles in a stationary prone position, the army said.
Photo: CNA
The change was made to simulate battleground conditions, with trainees changing shooting positions as they would need to in combat and fixing their guns if they are jammed, it said.
Trainees are required to run past two obstacles before taking a total of 36 shots from three positions at nine targets that are about 50m to 75m away within 1 minute, 45 seconds, it said.
To pass, soldiers must hit the targets with six of 12 shots while standing, four of 12 while prone and four of 12 while kneeling, the army said.
Army Major Chang Chia-hua (張家華) of the army’s Education, Training and Doctrine Development Command, which devised the new program, said the biggest difference in the new approach was its emphasis on soldiers’ fitness and endurance, and their need to stay still and control their breathing while shooting after being in motion.
The latest change is part of the military’s ongoing training reforms to boost combat readiness as tensions between Taiwan and China remain high.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS