More than 150 military personnel could be made to resign from the military this year after being caught drunk driving while off base, a Ministry of National Defense report to the legislature showed.
Officers and soldiers who voluntarily enlist in the military would eventually be dismissed or discharged if they cause a traffic accident while driving with a blood alcohol concentration exceeding 0.25mg or if they refuse to take an alcohol test, the defense ministry’s regulations state.
If a member of the armed forces’ blood alcohol concentration did not reach 0.25mg and they did not cause any trouble, a major demerit would be recorded, ministry regulations state.
Photo: Hsu Kuo-chen, Taipei Times
Ministry statistics showed that 212 people were discharged from the military in 2019 for drunk driving, followed by 208 in 2020; 153 in 2021 and 143 last year. A recent ministry report submitted to the legislature showed there have been 158 drunk driving incidents among officers and soldiers this year, with 141 of them being voluntarily enlisted officers and soldiers and 17 being military training personnel with a four-month service period.
Further analysis of the military ranks of the drunk drivers this year shows that 11 were commissioned officers, 65 were non-commissioned officers, 65 were voluntarily enlisted service members and 17 were service members undergoing training; 139 were combat officers and service members, and 19 were officers and service members attached to government agencies.
To strictly enforce military discipline, the defense ministry said a liaison mechanism has been established with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to proactively check police drunk driving data every month to prevent service personnel concealing drunk driving, adding that it is considering adjusting penalties for military personnel who drive under the influence of alcohol, take drugs or sexually harass individuals.
Retired major general Yu Tsung-chi (余宗基), who served as the dean of the National Defense University’s Fu Hsing Kang College, said the military’s anti-drunk driving campaign is quite comprehensive.
“However, the military is a part of society, and the problems that occur in society will also occur in the military. As the military’s combat training gets heavier in recent years, it is inevitable that some officers and soldiers would drink alcohol to relieve stress, which leads to drunk driving,” he said.
“The military has done all it could to prevent drunk driving, and it is impossible to keep an eye on the officers and soldiers while they are on vacation. The number of drunk driving incidents this year has not increased significantly compared with the past, but we can see surge in drunk driving cases and review the situation accordingly,” he said.
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