I’m kinda curious, I know in Taiwan if you’re conscripted, you can reenlist (I had considered it, since they pay very well and you got very good benefits, not to mention free NHI and you don’t pay taxes).
I know some of you are either dual citizens and have to do military, or is thinking of becoming Taiwanese citizen and do your military service.
Has any of you ever considered reenlisting? It seems Taiwan military isn’t nearly as tough as say the US military, and absent a Chinese invasion, there’s ZERO chance of being deployed and all that… I mean my dad did 20 years in the Taiwan military and he never got deployed or was in danger of life or anything.
Not to mention you can contribute to Taiwan’s freedom.
Dual citizens can’t voluntarily join or “reenlist” in the military but are required to do the compulsory service. (They cannot have government jobs.)
The pay and benefits are not bad but apparently not enough people are attracted to it so now the compulsory service is a year instead of 4 months.
I know it’s an option for Taiwanese who is serving in the military service, it’s an easy way to get into the military properly.
Air Force was never an option for me. For one, the branch you serve in is mostly determined by lottery and air force is something you covet. Vast majority is going to draw the army straw, with some guy drawing the marine corp straw (yes you do get conscripted into the marines).
When I was in there sometimes you’ll get selected to join the military police.
While you’re in the military, you reenlist you’ll likely stay at whatever unit you serve in until they reassign you. That is unless you got some rare skill that they need elsewhere.
Most people in the military don’t get to choose their MOS or whatever, it’s based on the needs of the military. I think I’d be a great armorer but it was never on the table for me. At the time I was new to Taiwan and my Chinese ability was crap, and the aspergers didn’t help.
As far as the TW government is concerned, I have no skill and I might as well be a high school drop out, because I have no licenses and credentials earned in Taiwan.
If you enlist or reenlist, you’re likely going to be whatever MOS you already have, or if you want to have more advanced MOS then it’s based on the needs of the military.
You don’t get to choose where you serve in the US military either, in fact where you serve, your MOS or whether some branch will take you is based on your ASVAB and other training grades… it’s just how it is. It’s the military, you serve your country, not do whatever you want.
Guys. That person said dual citizens can’t. Obviously about having foreign citizenship. I obviously don’t know, but that’s what was written above. Clear as day. And given the threat, makes sense. If true
Taiwan military does seem pretty sweet. Harder than a desk job. But you aren’t sent over seas to die for oil. And you get great benefits. Worth it for many here that can withstand some basic physical pressure and don’t have to have massive test scoring abilities.
Would you actually even consider this? IIRC, you’ve posted quite a few times here about how you didn’t enjoy your time doing military service (which seems understandable).
You could also just look into getting such qualifications? (Although I think that’s been suggested in a dozen or so other threads.)
ASVAB will fit you into a category with a wide variety of MOS choices. For example if you are mechanically inclined you could choose truck mechanics, air conditioning, various aircraft maintenance such as hydraulics, airframes etc… but need a higher score for something advanced like avionics.
There are linguistic categories and cyber fields as another example also but just depends on your scores. If you get higher level fields then you may need to sign a 6 year contract for the advanced training.
My wife’s nephew joined about a year ago right out of high school. He absolutely loves it. He recently applied for the special forces. He was never driven in school. He was always a great athlete but lost interest in the school track team, but would beat all of them during normal school events. Now in the military, he voluntarily runs every day. He bought his mom a decent used car already and is planning on buying a house in the countryside of Hualien soon.
For some people, the military works out very well.
I met a few army guys when I was staying on Beigan and Nangan. One guy had been in for 20 years. He ran every day and was in great shape. The young guys make about 40k NT a month.
Idk what they were doing there, but the females seems to drive all the trucks around and are quite happy.
There are worse things young people could do I suppose. I see a young woman working in a breakfast shop with her older sister. Doesn’t seem like much of a choice there, but who knows?
As a conscript, your branch of service, and ultimate unit/MOS is decided by lottery. The lottery obviously also depend on your skill or licenses/certificates. Like if you got a CDL you would be working in logistics and drive trucks.
If you decide to reenlist during your conscription, then it’s likely you’d retain your rank/unit/MOS unless you got special skills allows you to apply to a different MOS.