TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Retired US Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery said the US has 500 military personnel providing training in Taiwan, and that the number should be raised to 1,000.

On May 15, the US House Select Committee on China held a hearing titled “Deterrence Amid Rising Tensions: Preventing CCP Aggression on Taiwan.” At the hearing, Montgomery disclosed the existence of a joint training team in Taiwan, specifying, “That's a US team there that's about 500 people now.” 

Montgomery added, “It needs to be a thousand.” He reasoned, “If we are going to give them billions of dollars in assistance and sell them tens of billions of dollars worth of US gear, it makes sense that we would be over there training and working.”

Montgomery pointed out that the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act directs the Department of Defense to train Taiwan's forces. Pointing to a delayed rollout, Montgomery remarked, “I would say gently they have been slow.”

He said the US can help Taiwan prepare to defend itself against a Chinese invasion. However, he said, "It's going to take US engagement and involvement in this to get them to the point where they really have a true counter-intervention force."

When asked to explain why Taiwan should raise its defense budget to 5% of its GDP, Montgomery gave three reasons. First, he said it would be enough funding to accomplish siege-proofing. 

Second, he said with this level of funding, “It will buy them not just the systems they need, but readiness.” He noted that Taiwan's government will reach the 3% mark this year, spending several billion US dollars on readiness. 

Third, he said that historically, the maximum military spending level democracies generally can support is 5%. He observed that even Israel's spending was below that level before the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, and the US spends 3.4% of its GDP on defense. 

He said countries that spend 5% of their GDP on defense include the three Baltic states, Poland, Israel, and "Taiwan, when they get there.” Countering arguments that Taiwan should spend 10% of its GDP on defense, Montgomery said that would be the equivalent of US$40 billion (NT$1.2 trillion) in weapons purchases per year, but the US struggles to produce US$3.5 billion in arms sales per year. 

Chen Wen-chia (陳文甲), a senior advisor at the Taipei-based Institute for National Policy Research, told CNA that Montgomery's proposal to expand the force to 1,000 reflects Washington’s urgent expectation for Taiwan to strengthen its defense capabilities amid the growing military threat from China. It also signals an intention to enhance deterrence and combat effectiveness through substantive military training cooperation.

Chen pointed out that while a contingent of 500 personnel may be limited in scale, it indicates a shift in US-Taiwan military cooperation from symbolic to functional and substantive. It also reflects Washington's gradual move from strategic ambiguity toward a more "strategic clarity" approach.

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told the news agency that the 500 US personnel likely refers to those involved in training missions in Taiwan. He explained that the troops are likely irregular, non-permanently stationed training advisors temporarily assigned to assist with training for specific branches or units of the armed forces.

Su explained that these US trainers rotate in and out, with the number hovering around 500, and said there is room to increase that figure. According to publicly available US congressional data, 41 active-duty US military personnel are stationed in Taiwan, all assigned administrative roles.

Regarding expanding the number of US personnel in Taiwan in the future, Su said it could follow the US Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) model when Taiwan and the US maintained diplomatic relations. At its peak, the MAAG oversaw Army, Navy, Air Force, and logistics personnel, totaling around 2,300 members.