Government Looks To Build Reserve Military Force

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
Monday, 02 August 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: AP
The broadening of the military comes at a time of increasing countrywide nationalism that has been spurred by on ongoing border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.

“The Ministry of Defense will train the reservists on fighting tactics and defense tactics as a base.”

The Council of Ministers passed a decree Friday that would begin to create a reserve force, despite previous government policy to reduce military spending.

Friday's decree would draw a reservist force from early resignations, soldiers who have completed their enlistments or even “experts” who have ben involved in military tasks.

The broadening of the military comes at a time of increasing countrywide nationalism that has been spurred by on ongoing border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand. The decree also follows a 2006 law that provides for military conscription.

“The Ministry of Defense will train the reservists on fighting tactics and defense tactics as a base,” Thum Sotheat, a three-star general and a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, told VOA Khmer.

The training could also include specialties, such as engineering, construction or medical work, he said.