TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Soldiers from the Army Aviation and Special Forces Command recently completed a three-day, two-night rescue training in Nantou’s Wuling mountain pass.
The training included nighttime search and rescue, vertical obstacle climbing and rappelling, and stretcher transport on unstable slopes, Military News Agency reported. The exercise aimed to strengthen soldiers’ capabilities in mountain and cold-weather rescue missions.
Troops also simulated becoming trapped in different environments while conducting missions.
During the night search-and-rescue drill, soldiers took turns acting as casualties. The rescue team used only basic coordinate data and performed grid searches in near-zero visibility. After locating the injured, the team assessed the situation and secured the casualty to a stretcher using rope systems for rapid evacuation, per MNA.
The Army said the course bolsters soldiers’ coordination and adaptability in real-world rescue scenarios, helping ensure special forces units can operate effectively in Taiwan’s most extreme environments.
After Hualien’s Guangfu Township was severely affected by the overflow of the Mataian barrier lake in September, the Army Aviation and Special Forces Command dispatched a search-and-rescue team of 19 personnel from the command’s 5th Battalion, two drone operators, and two life detector operators from the 53rd Engineer Group to assist local governments with disaster relief and search-and-rescue operations.
