Military conscripts starting their mandatory service this year would be training with drones and Stinger missiles during their eight-week basic training course, building a solid foundation for further specialized training in the next stage, the Executive Yuan’s administrative report issued this week said.
The report came on the heels of a Ministry of National Defense (MND) statement on Jan. 24 assuring the public that the first batch of conscripts serving a year of mandatory service after the program’s resumption on Jan. 1 last year would be adequately trained in all weapons platforms of note.
The statement was issued in response to a report by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) that said the army had only arranged for conscripts to train with Kestrel missiles — not Stinger or Javelin missiles as there was insufficient equipment or the equipment had not been delivered to the training bases.
Photo: Military News Agency via AP
The recruits were not trained to operate drones, the report added.
The ministry said that according to the Adjusted Plans to Strengthen National Defense Forces, some compulsory service members had been introduced to newer weapons platforms, including drones, last year.
It said it had also addressed issues where insufficient platforms resulted in fewer conscripts receiving such training than forecast, with the ministry ordering 400 additional Stinger missiles and the inauguration this month of its Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Training Center.
Dual-mount Stinger simulators — capable of training 12 people at a time — have been completed at the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, allowing soldiers and compulsory servicemen to be more familiar with the platform, it said.
Completing the first batch of compulsory service since the project’s resumption would help the military replenish its talent pool of non-commissioned officers, the ministry said.
The ministry estimated that about 1,800 conscripts, or about 30 percent of the total, have signed on for full-time service in the military.
Compulsory servicemen who completed their training today would boost the ranks of the reserve forces and help the government realize its whole-of-society defense policy, it said.
Army Lieutenant General Lee Jung-hua (李榮華), commander of the Tenth Field Army, on Wednesday visited the Chengkungling (成功嶺) camp to inspect equipment prepared for the training regimen.
The new equipment are highly efficient precision weapons that would test trainers’ ability not only to manage the equipment, but also teach conscripts how to operate it, Lee said.
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