Starting from this year, the Ministry of National Defense will fully implement the 14-day training call, combining the reporting, formation and training of the company in the tactical area, and moving towards the goal of "mobilizing to complete war preparations". (File photo, taken by reporter Wang Yisong)
[Reporter Fang Weili/Tainan Report] The 2016 Annual Policy Plan and Supervisory Budget Report submitted to the Legislative Yuan today (3rd) by the Ministry of National Defense confirmed that the selection of national army reserve soldiers no longer restricts the selection of members based on their registered residence to speed up the restoration of combat effectiveness and meet the needs of troop mobilization. In addition, 14-day educational convocation has been fully implemented since 2015, combined with the reporting, formation and training of the tactical areas where the company is formed, moving towards the goal of "completion of war preparations upon mobilization".
The Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan will invite Defense Minister Gu Lixiong to report on the business overview tomorrow (4th) and prepare for questions. It will also review the public and secret parts of the central government's general budget for 2016 regarding the revenue and expenditures of the Ministry of National Defense (questions and answers only). The Ministry of National Defense has sent written materials such as business reports, 116 annual policy plans and budget reports of supervisors, and budget reports of affiliated units to the Legislative Yuan today.
In the past, the selection of reserve soldiers was based on the principles of "retreat first, use first" and "original soldiers return to their original positions", and was restricted by their place of residence. The outside world often questioned that the actual residence of some reserve soldiers was different from their place of residence, which affected mobilization efficiency and expertise allocation. The Ministry of National Defense stated in its budget report that it will no longer select personnel based on their place of residence, which is equivalent to officially loosening the scope of selection, allowing the army to organize reserve manpower based on mission and expertise needs.
In terms of the practical application of precise selection, the Ministry of National Defense's business report pointed out that this year's "Tongxin 36" large-scale manpower mobilization exercise involved more than 25,000 people, and the 137th Army Infantry Brigade and the Taipei City Reserve Brigade carried out full-brigade mobilization to verify the recovery of the reserve force's combat effectiveness; at the same time, it matched the civilian expertise of the reserve soldiers and applied for nomination to supplement the real-time power supply network warfare execution manpower, and used precise selection to strengthen the medical care capacity of grassroots units. After each mobilization unit reports and organizes in the tactical area and completes combat training, it will then work with the standing units to perform combat operations such as mobile deployment, enemy movement, anti-air (aircraft) landing, combat power replenishment, joint fire drills, and combat casualty rescue.
The Ministry of National Defense stated that in order to enhance the defense resilience of the whole society, it has integrated the opening of the central joint response center, national defense mobilization, critical infrastructure protection, air defense evacuation and evacuation, and the formation and use of civil defense teams into the Hanguang exercise and urban resilience exercise scenarios to deepen the cooperation mechanism between the central, local, national military and civilians. The related budgets for "mobilization and preparation", "logistics supply support" and "general power supply equipment" in 2016 are allocated NT$6.492152 billion.
