2016/09/22
Aviation and Special Forces Command Issues Press Release Statement Offering Clarification on the Media Report of “Military Authorities Disregarded Dementia Threat of Military Personnel”
Regarding the media report on the incident of “Military Authorities Disregarded Dementia Threat of Military Personnel”, the Aviation and Special Forces Command clarified today (22nd) that the report is inconsistent with the facts. After the officer, surnamed Chen, had suffered injuries, his military unit had provided full care for the officer and applied to the Armed Force Reserve Command, MND for appraisal of disability degree.
The Aviation and Special Forces Command expressed that, Corporal Chen had suffered injuries during a bridge building operation in an assault training exercise on November 13th last year (2015), and his military unit had immediately sent him to the Taoyuan Armed Forces General Hospital for medical treatment. On November 14th, he was transferred to the Tri-Service General Hospital for treatment. During hospitalization, the medical team offered him comprehensive medical care and the officials at different levels had visited him a total of 382 times, assigned vehicles to pick up the family members a total of 230 times and employed specialized nurses for 24 hour dedicated care. In addition, to ensure continued treatment and rehabilitation, his military unit had also provided assistance in the application for transfer as convalescent personnel at Taoyuan Armed Forces General Hospital and provided full assistance with the subsequent medical treatment. Furthermore, as Chen had graduated from the R.O.C. Army Academy, he is a standing non-commissioned officer, so under the provisions of the “Act of Commission for Commissioned Officers and Noncommissioned Officers of the Armed Forces” he may choose to stay on in the military or retire from military service depending on his willingness and rehabilitation condition. The family members’ claim that he was forced to retire from military was obviously due to a misunderstanding of the regulations, so the military unit will continue to communicate with them for clarification.
The Aviation and Special Forces Command indicated that the investigation into the case conducted by the Criminal Examination Center of the Military Police Command has been completed and is now forwarded to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office for subsequent investigation and the military unit will cooperate fully with the investigations. In addition, the Aviation and Special Forces Command had already meted out punishments of 1 reprimand demerit to 2 reprimand demerits to 6 military personnel including the Lieutenant Colonel battalion commander on December 3rd last year (2015) for lack of supervision which led to the accident. The military unit shall continue to investigate if there are any subsequent human negligence factors based on the findings of the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office.
The Aviation and Special Forces Command stressed that, in order to ensure the rights of Corporal Chen, the military unit and Aviation and Special Forces Command had submitted the application for disability degree appraisal to the Armed Force Reserve Command, MND on May 30th this year (2015) in accordance with procedures. Depending on the degree of his disability, Corporal Chen will be able to apply for insurance and pension.