At the Cabinet meeting today, Premier Mao Chi-kuo stated that the shift to an all-volunteer military is a major national defense policy and enjoined relevant ministries and agencies to collaborate closely with the Ministry of National Defense (MND) in all its planned recruitment and retention incentives and measures in order to ensure the policy's success.
The premier made these remarks after an MND briefing on the efficacy and progress of the all-volunteer military system.
Implementing the system is currently a major task of the ministry, the MND pointed out. It hopes to complete the transition to an all-volunteer force by the end of 2016 through the implementation of various complementary measures, such as:
‧Enacting the provisional statute for promoting the all-volunteer military system to institute a system of safeguards for active and retired military personnel.
‧Amending the Statute of Favors for Military Servicemen and Their Dependents to take care of military personnel on multiple levels.
‧Revising the ROC Veterans Assistance Act to incorporate military personnel who retired after having served for more than four years but less than 10 years.
‧Instituting supplementary pay for combat troops on active duty and compensation payment for soldiers remaining in camp to encourage service in combat duty and arduous units.
Mao asked the MND, Ministry of the Interior and Veterans Affairs Commission to proactively advance MND proposals on the provisional statute for promoting the system, the Statute of Favors for Military Servicemen and Their Dependents, and the ROC Veterans Assistance Act.
As for the MND's proposal to institute supplementary pay for combat troops on active duty and compensation payment for soldiers remaining in camp, Mao tasked the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration to assist in dealing with the issue.
The premier added that he expects relevant ministries and agencies to collaborate closely so that the all-volunteer system, when equipped with comprehensive complementary measures, will help attract young people to join the military, thus achieving the objectives of sustainable recruitment and retention.
With the assistance of various ministries, the MND has been able to carry out complementary measures such as raising the wages for entry-level military personnel, enhancing publicity campaigns for recruitment, conducting training and advancements, improving living amenities and augmenting employment assistance, thus helping the MND to compete for talents.
As a result, in 2014 the MND was able to recruit 19,355 military personnel—including officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers—exceeding the year's goal of 16,069 by 3,286, or 20.5 percent. Of this number, 15,024 were soldiers, surpassing the year's target of 10,557 by 4,467, or 42.3 percent. Recruitment success is thus growing steadily.