Upcoming Chang Tai military drills to adopt non-stop 24-hour format

Taipei, Oct. 5 (CNA) Taiwan's Army said Friday that its brigade-level exercises later this month will adopt a non-stop 24-hour training format to test the troops in various scenarios, including nighttime combat.

Lieutenant General Li Tien-lung (李天龍), commander-in-chief of the 6th Army Corps, said that the drills will focus on decentralized command, the forces' capability to manage the flow of intelligence and logistics, and combat-oriented training.

Li made the remarks Friday during a preparatory meeting on the rules for the "Chang Tai No. 19" drills, which will be held Oct. 28 to Nov. 1 under the command of the 6th Army Corps, according to a report Saturday in the Youth Daily News, a government publication.

During the exercises, two army brigades will simulate a conflict, a military source told CNA Saturday on condition of anonymity, naming the Armored 586 Brigade of the 10th Army Corps, which is responsible for defense in central Taiwan, and the 8th Army Corps' 333 Mechanized Infantry Brigade that is based in southern Taiwan.

On Friday, Li said that the exercises will take the form of a non-stop drill over the five-day period, to test and train the troops in a wider range of scenarios, which will also cover nighttime combat.

The 24-hour training format was first adopted in late July during the Han Kuang military exercises, the country's major annual military drills, although the five-day exercises had to be cut short due to Typhoon Gaemi.

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told CNA on Saturday that such exercises at the brigade level can help train not only the fighting troops but also the brigade commanders and chiefs-of-staff to make decisions from a command center.

During the upcoming exercises, the brigade's mobilization of its battalions trains the troops in different battlefield scenarios, Su said.

He also said that reservists might be called up to take part in the exercises for the first time, as part of their required 14-day training, based on the goal of enhancing national defense set out during first meeting of the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee that was convened by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Sept. 26.