By Lee Tae-hoon
Amid heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula, the country’s armed forces have announced a set of measures to bolster their combat capabilities against any possible provocation by North Korea in their New Year messages.
Army chief of staff Gen. Kim Sang-ki said in a speech Monday that he would root out bureaucracy and unnecessary administrative procedures this year to get troops to focus better on military training, and boosting their combat readiness.
“I declare that the year 2011 will mark an epoch for the rebirth of combat-oriented field operations units,” Gen. Kim said.
The army chief’s vow is in line with President Lee Myung-bak’s reiteration in his New Year address that he would step up the country’s defense reform to enhance combat readiness.
Gen. Kim added that he would dramatically reduce or streamline non-combat duties to boost productivity and swiftness in processing administrative matters, which in turn would help military units allocate more time to practical military training.
The Army plans to issue a number of certificates for crucial combat skills, such as shooting, map reading and enemy engagement techniques to qualified commissioned and non-commissioned officers from the latter half of the year,
The certificate system is expected to be used in the promotion and reassignment of officers.
The Navy also announced that it will intensify physical training in 2011 to help sailors better survive in extreme conditions, such as the sinking of a warship.
New recruits and officers are expected to be required to learn practical skills on how to stay afloat for more than 10 minutes in water in case of an emergency, rather than learning conventional swimming techniques.
Also, in a bid to reduce the number of drivers and use them as combat soldiers, officers will be asked to drive cars themselves as much as possible.
Meanwhile, the Air Force has unveiled a plan to provide around-the-clock airborne surveillance and an early warning in the case of an enemy infiltration.
The Air Force will increase the number of training flight hours per pilot from 150 in 2010 to 153 in 2011 and increase the number of F-15K fighter jets, which will replace the country’s aging fighter aircraft, to 60 by the end of 2012.
The F-15K is an advanced variant of the combat-proven F-15E and is equipped with the latest technological upgrades.