Friday, June 08, 2012

Military holds major tri-service exercise in southern Taiwan

AH-1W helicopters fire on targets in Pingtung yesterday
This was only the second time in four years that the media were invited to attend the Lien Yung exercise
  
The armed forces yesterday held a major live-fire drill in Pingtung County, weeks after the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration was accused of being soft on national defense for not using live ammunition during the Han Kuang series of exercises in April.

The Lien Yung exercise, which Ma attended, was held at the Tri-Service Joint Training Base at Paolishan (保力山) in Henchun (恆春), Pingtung County, the nation’s only base for live-fire exercises of this magnitude. In all, 935 members from the army, air force and navy took part in the drill, which involved F-16A/B aircraft, AH-1W attack helicopters, OH-58D reconnaissance helicopters, CM-11 battle tanks, M109 howitzers and Javelin anti-tank missiles, as well as a variety of grenade launchers and rifles, all aimed at targets on the flank of the mountain. 

My article, published today in the Taipei Times after grueling travel in hot and humid Pingtung, continues here.
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1 comment:

  1. Mike Fagan10:24 PM

    The weather must have made a refreshing change from the miserable drizzle you get up in Taipei...

    I passed through Paolyshan early in the morning a couple of weeks ago to photograph Mudan reservoir; the Army was holding mortar-firing classes for the recruits at their training base there.

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