Inside Taiwan’s brutal navy frogman boot camp as island trains marines for war
- The elite Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol unit is the Taiwan navy’s answer to the US Navy Seals or Britain’s Special Boat Service
- Of the 31 who started the 10-week ARP training, only 15 finished, after gruelling exercises, sleep deprivation, extreme marches and long periods in the water
A chill wind whips across the Taiwan Strait as a small group of Taiwanese marines stands shivering on a remote dock in the early hours of the morning, their shorts and thin jackets drenched after a day spent mostly in the sea.
“Are you a sleeping beauty? Are you skipping out on class?” a trainer shouts at the wiry men, who have barely slept in days, as they do sit-ups and other exercises on the rough concrete floor, some fading in and out of consciousness from fatigue.
Blasts of cold water from a hosepipe brings them to their senses.
In the event of war with mainland China – which claims the island as its own and has stepped up its military and political pressure against Taiwan – ARP frogmen could find themselves spirited across the strait in small boats under cover of night to scout enemy locations and call in attacks.
Of the group of 31 who started the 10-week course, only 15 finished, with the closing week at the sprawling Zuoying navy base in southern Taiwan the last test, which Reuters was given rare access to witness.