Army Sea Dragons receive badges of honor pinned to their chests
The latest recruits of the Army 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion had badges pinned to their chests after successfully completing a grueling training regimen dubbed “the iron-man road,” Saturday, February 23.
The Ministry of Defense Youth Daily reported that seven trainees endured the 15-week course to finally have the Sea Dragon badge pinned through the flesh of their chests by their commander in Kinmen County.
The specialist unit of the ROC Army was founded in 1949 with training and equipment provided by the USA, with the purpose of collecting intelligence from communist China, and carrying out stealth missions on coastal installations.
To date, the battalion has executed 130 missions on the historical record, but others remain classified information (or lost over time, according to local media nomenclature).
Recruits are skilled in combat, intelligence, nuclear and biochemical warfare, communications, sniper attack, mountain combat, parachuting, amphibious assault, scuba diving, underwater explosives, survival in the wild, and hand to hand combat.
According to Youth Daily, recruits have to depend on physical strength, endurance, and willpower to successfully become members of the elite unit.
Only two out of ten recruits make the final grade.
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