Military aiming to adopt all-volunteer system

The conscripts serve at local schools, fire departments, high-tech companies and other non-military government agencies in the fields of sports, diplomacy, tourism, medicine, culture and environmental protection.

Liao argued that such alternative services prevent the waste of human resources or time.

For example, he said, allowing alternative service conscripts to serve at local technology companies can both meet the companies’ needs for technology services and manpower, and help the conscripts keep their skills up to date.

Legislator Ting Shou-chung and Tsai Huang-liang, while supporting the all-volunteer system, said it would be unnecessary to maintain short-term military training for those who do not volunteer.

Tsai said three to four months of military training would be too long, while Ting argued that the trainees would not be able to learn much from such short training.

Legislator Chai Trong-rong said that the MND should first solve existing problems concerning volunteer servicemen before adopting an all-volunteer force.

Chai said many people find it difficult to adjust to military life after volunteering to become soldiers or officers.

But as no mechanism exists to allow them to quit before their contracts expire, there have been cases where volunteers intentionally misbehaved in attempts to receive a dismissal, he said.

Observers have also pointed out that the timeframe as it is set now in the plan may prompt many students currently in school to purposely delay graduating until 2013 to avoid being drafted. College students may choose to go to graduate schools. Students going to the ninth grade this fall are the ones that would become the last conscripts before the new system is implemented.

The ninth graders may simply repeat one more year at high school to dodge the conscription, the observers said.

But some college students said the volunteer military services would be a good choice of employment during economic downturn.

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