New U.S. Military Challenge Coin for Taiwan
Hotel, Motel, No Tell!
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6 November 2023 (Monday)
New U.S. Challenge Coin for Taiwan
Hotel, Motel, No Tell!
By Wendell Minnick (Whiskey Mike) 顏文德
TAIPEI - There is no ignoring it now.
The U.S. military is back in force, whether on temporary duty (TDY) or stationed, since the closure of the U.S.-Taiwan Defense Command shuttered in 1979.
Estimates are over 1,000 personnel at any given time. That is literally an insane number of men on the ground crawling up the ass of the Ministry of National Defense (MND).
The U.S. military should be warned that long before they arrived the MND referred to AIT (American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. Embassy) as Assholes In Taiwan.
The MND might act like they are happy to see America’s finest fighting men, but they still resent decades of isolation and alienation by the U.S. government in an effort to placate China. They also remember abandonment when Carter closed the U.S.-Taiwan Defense Command in 1979 after Taiwan supported the U.S. military during the Vietnam War with airbases, including the CIA’s Air Asia and Western Enterprise facility.
Nevertheless, the American military is proud to be back. The result is the minting of a new Challenge Coin to reflect their White Knight moment. This is not by any means the first coin, but the second, issued in the mid-2000s. (See both versions below)
Granted they are not actually “based” in Taiwan per se, they are not in a barracks, but quartered at the Taipei Marriott and the Grand Mayfull in Dazhi, walking distance to a cluster of military headquarters: Ministry of National Defense, Naval Headquarters, and Air Force Headquarters.
Some are living in the Lai Lai Sheraton near the Taipei Main Train Station downtown and on 7 November I dropped by to speak to the desk clerks who confirmed there were “AIT” people staying in their hotel:
ABOVE: Photograph taken during a site visit on 7 November by Wendell Minnick
Those staying at the Lai Lai are most likely working with the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and/or the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) on improving the integration of civil-military humanitarian aid (HA) and disaster relief (DA).
Under the MoI:
National Airborne Service Corps (NASC) consists of a variety of helicopter platforms and responsible for air search and rescue, disaster relief, emergency medical services, reconnaissance, patrols, and transportation;
National Police Agency (NPA) oversees the following: Aviation Police Bureau, Civil Defense Office, Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), Hualien Harbor Police Department, Keelung Harbor Police Department, National Highway Police Bureau, Police Broadcasting Service, Police Communication Office, Police Equipment Maintenance Plant, Railway Police Bureau, Special Police 1st~7th Corps, and the Taiwan Police College.
National Fire Agency oversees national fire fighting efforts, including the Hualien Harbor Fire Brigade, Kaohsiung Harbor Fire Brigade, Keelung Harbor Fire Brigade, and Taichung Harbor Fire Brigade.
National Conscription Agency oversees military conscription administration and alternative service administration affairs [note: “alternative service” is a backdoor for entitled young men to avoid military service; service might include working in a factory that produces military equipment or working in a civilian hospital or whatever…it does remind one of the old tricks used in the 1960s to avoid Vietnam);
Central Police University for researching advanced policing studies and cultivating professional police talents;
Under the MoJ is the Investigative Bureau (MJIB):
Counter any internal disorder;
Countering any disorder caused by foreigners;
Counter any leak of national classified material;
Anti-Corruption of any civil service;
Narcotics control;
Prevent any organized criminal organization;
Major economic crime;
Administratively, MJIB is answerable to the Minister of Justice. As a result, all public prosecutors at all levels can request MJIB resources. Operationally, MJIB is subjected to the coordination and supervision of the National Security Bureau (NSB/sort of a mix of CIA and Homeland Security). The director of MJIB can be summoned by the President for consultations because of MJIB's seventh (7) and eighth (8) missions:
State's Internal Security Investigation;
Any delegated missions/assignments regarding national security and national interests.
Note to reader: While working for Jane’s Defense Weekly and Defense News, I was approached by the NSB occasionally in an awkward and disrespectful manner. However, due to 7 and 8 above, I have interacted with the MJIB in a positive way resulting in my assistance identifying criminal activities by foreigners living in Taiwan.
One of the MJIB agents who interviewed me for two hours at a coffee shop 20 years ago about my “activities” continues to attend my Christmas Party. She has always been, and continues to be, the most professional civilian law enforcement agent I have interacted in my 30 years in Taiwan.
Much of MoI’s and MoJ’s mission was outlined in a recent thesis produced by Thomas Spencer under a fellowship program as a Olmsted Scholar-Taiwan at the George and Carol Olmsted Foundation. Research conducted at the National Chengchi University (NCCU):
Though U.S. military personnel in Taiwan are probably well briefed before arriving, I would like to suggest these books:
560-page Taiwan Army Weapons and Equipment (2022)
170-page Taiwan Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (2020)
200-page Taiwan Space Vehicles: Documents (2018)
100-page List of Foreign Companies and Identities of Taiwan Local Agents (2019)
100-Page Taiwan Cyber Warfare (2018)
160-page Unicorn: Anatomy of a North Korean Front [in Taiwan]: Casinos, Immigration, Trade Sanctions and Violations (2019)
And if they want to read about the good old bad days when the US-Taiwan Defence Command was operational, there is the sleazy 1969 sex guide: Taipei After Dark: 50th Anniversary Edition.
CHALLENGE COIN:
In 2005, the Defense Attaché Office (DAO) at AIT minted a Challenge Coin to celebrate the transition from contract civilians serving as U.S. defense attachés and the return of active-duty military.
Designed by the then acting U.S. Navy Attaché (Deputy Chief - 2001-2005) Michael McCallus. The coin below was presented to me in 2006 by then U.S. Army Attaché (Deputy Chief and Senior Advisor & Army Affairs Officer) Brad Gerdes.
Gerdes had already made a name for himself across the Taiwan Strait when he was one of the first U.S. DAO officers arrested and expelled from China for “espionage” in 1995.
Just ten years later, Gerdes was getting revenge. Below is the old Challenge Coin for the U.S. military at AIT:
ABOVE: AIT’s 2005 Defense Attaché coin based on the China Service Medal for both U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corp – World War Two. See Sino-American Cooperative Organization (SACO).
ABOVE: US China Burma India CBI Theater Emblem with the Flying Tigers emblem from World War Two.
Below is the new Challenge Coin identifying the U.S. military branches and entities now in Taiwan:
Department of the Army
Department of the Air Force
Department of the Navy
U.S. Marine Corps
U.S. Coast Guard
U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
ABOVE: Taiwan’s Black Bear; Chinese Phrase - 知行合一 (Zhīxíng hé yī), English - Unity of knowledge and action.
The above is ancient Chinese, but it basically means “Martial” and in modern Traditional Chinese the character is written as: 武 - (Wǔ). It is unclear why it was written in ancient Chinese. In addition, the coin also has the Republic of China symbol of the sun. I assume the 12 stars represent the U.S., but the number of stars only seem to reflect the number of sun rays and do not represent anything beyond that.
ROC Emblem:
