TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on Wednesday said that this year’s Han Kuang 41 military exercises will include the largest ever mobilization of reservists.
As part of the Tung Hsin 35 mobilization exercise held alongside Han Kuang, the Ministry of National Defense's All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency has issued call-up orders to reservists, per China Times. Koo said that approximately 22,000 reservists will be mobilized this time, the most in the drill's history.
The Han Kuang live-fire exercises will be held from July 9 to 18. Troops will conduct maneuvers, and orders will be issued randomly without prior notice to test responsiveness.
In the past, reserve mobilizations were mostly limited to company or battalion-level units, with only a few hundred personnel called up at most per unit. This year marks the first time an entire brigade, the Army’s 206th Infantry Brigade, will undergo mobilization for the exercise.
The entire mobilization process will be tested from the delivery of activation orders, reservist reporting, and arrival at tactical positions. All reservists will follow a new 14-day training period.
The Armed Forces Reserve Command has already organized reserve brigades in 18 counties and cities. In peacetime, these brigades conduct training, while in wartime, they are tasked with key missions such as urban area defense and protection of strategic assets.
However, they are not assigned to coastal defense duties. They are also responsible for ensuring the continued operation of critical infrastructure, working together with civil defense teams and security police to carry out protection tasks.
On May 6, Chou Chin-lung (周錦龍), deputy head of the MND's Inspector General's Office, said the 14,647 reservists involved in the Tung Hsin manpower mobilization exercise in 2024 were an increase of 2,032 compared to 2023, per CNA.
