In a live webcast on the Executive Yuan's "Open Mic" YouTube channel today, Executive Yuan Spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun and Minister of National Defense Kao Kuang-chi discussed the transformation of the ROC Armed Forces into an all-volunteer military.
This policy is in line with the worldwide trend of transforming military enlistment systems, Kao said. Service and training time will be longer, thus enhancing combat capabilities. Discharges and repeated training will be minimized, saving overall military resources.
Currently, draftees born in or after 1994 are required to complete only four months of training, allowing them to enter the workforce or continue their studies sooner. Thus, the system is conducive to reducing overall social costs, Kao explained.
With Executive Yuan support and relevant ministries' assistance, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has implemented various complementary measures regarding remuneration, dignity of servicemen, and servicemen's future careers. The MND expects to complete the military recruitment system's transformation in a steady manner.
Combat force is not a matter of numbers but of quality, Minister Kao pointed out. In light of the changing patterns of war, the military must professionalize and recruit high-quality manpower to fully utilize modern weaponry.
In order to recruit and retain outstanding military personnel, the Executive Yuan approved the provision of supplementary pay to volunteer officers and soldiers, beginning in 2014. It also approved supplementary pay increases for combat troops as well as for servicemen willing to extend their service terms, effective April 2015. These measures not only help replenish combat forces but also encourage outstanding youths to continue to serve in the military.
As for servicemen's future careers, the MND has solicited the Ministry of Examination to amend the examination regulations for military personnel wishing to take up civil service. Lieutenant colonels and officers below that rank who have served more than 10 years will be able to take up special exams prior to being decommissioned, increasing their career choices.
The MND has also established coordination platforms with the Veterans Affairs Council (VAC) and the Ministry of Labor for career consultations, matching services, and pre-discharge job training to assist officers and soldiers leaving the military for employment in the private sector.
In order to make the legal basis for the all-volunteer system more comprehensive, the MND has drafted a provisional statute to establish a systemic welfare safety net for servicemen and their dependents. The Ministry of the Interior has made revisions to the Statute of Favors for Military Servicemen and Their Dependents to further take care of servicemen in various aspects of their life. The VAC has also formulated different levels and categories of care for servicemen who have served more than four but less than 10 years in the Armed Forces, covering schooling, employment, health care and elderly care.
Having taken reference from advanced countries that successfully transformed their recruitment systems by increasing volunteers and reducing conscription year by year, the ROC has followed a similar process, Minister Kao noted.
As a result of such efforts, in 2014 the MND recruited more than 15,000 volunteers, exceeding its target by more than 4,000. This year the retention rate of servicemen reached 63.8 percent, an increase of 10.4 percent as compared with the average retention rate of the past two years.
As for netizens' concerns about recruitment of frontline combat troops, Kao pointed out that combat forces are the military's backbone and undergo relatively more stringent training and greater hardship. This is why the MND provides supplementary pay for combat forces. The ministry will also work to enhance servicemen's sense of honor and loyalty.
The live webcast was held from 7 p.m. to 8:10 p.m. Netizens can view the program on the Executive Yuan's "Open Mic" YouTube channel.
For more information, please watch the Chinese-language webcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsO-WjftEyg.