They may be seen almost any day doing physical exercises on the scorching beach sands of tropical southern Taiwan, without drinking a drop of water for many hours. Their tasks call for strength but also judgement, quickwit and, sometimes, humor. They are the ROC Marine elite corps of frogmen.

Their exploits are legend. Some of them reportedly have swum miles and slipped into Communist occupied areas. As evidence, they brought back stubs of movie theatre admission tickets. In one instance they gave themselves away. They ordered "yangchun noodles" at a roadside food stall. The Chinese Communists had changed the name to "people's noodles." They were immediately recognized as coming from Taiwan, but the proprietor did not report them.

On the training base, there is a statue called "older brother." "Older brother" slipped into an enemy area and was captured. He refused to respond to questions despite crushing torture. In the end, his captors cut holes in his skin and poured mercury into his body. He was thrown into the sea with his limbs tied. He struggled back, but as he neared the shore, the mercurial poison killed him. His body was found by a fisherman.

Their average age is below 25. In the whole corps, fewer than 10 are above 40. They are officially called the Amphibious Searching Unit of the ROC Marine Corps. Their motto is: "Let the high mountains bow and the deep seas give way before us."

In war, they serve as a spearhead of the armed forces. They must slip into enemy occupied territory before a major attack. Their task is to destroy the barriers facing a landing force, pinpoint enemy pillboxes and map airports and sandbars. Graduates of military academies are also eligible for frogman training if they so choose. After serving as frogmen for two years, they return to their units as specially qualified officers. All recruits undergo four months of strict training designed, in part, to cultivate a superior response capability by strengthening joints and muscles.

One exercise calls for forward movement from the horizontal, with the belly facing the sky. The frogman will pass only if he can move rapidly with an 85-kilogram weight placed on his belly. Swimming, of course, is the most basic skill. Frogmen must swim three hours a day, winter and summer. They learn to dive without the help of an oxygen tank. They are also trained to share an oxygen tank with several others while remaining submerged for hours.

On the sea, they are taught to maneuver rubber boats while combating the enemy and detonating targets. On the land, they are trained in long-distance jogging, demolitions, searching, surveillance, hand-to-hand fighting and guerilla warfare. In the mountains, they learn to scale cliffs and cross ravines.

The last week of training is the final test. The trainers prefer to call it an "overcoming-difficulty-week," the trainees--"devil's week." It begins at the zero hour of a Sunday and ends at the same time the following Saturday. Half an hour before it all starts, officers assemble the men and splash them with cold water in mock initiation for the gruelling tasks ahead. They begin with a two-hour march. At 2 a.m., they quicken the pace, beginning a six-hour, 30-kilometer run. They are allowed to rest for one hour after every six hours. They are given only four hours of free time a day. During the six-hour exercise, they must scramble through a sewer, jump into a cesspit, swim 10,000 meters, dive a distance of 40 feet and struggle for survival in the water with limbs tied up.

Of the several hundred trainees in each training cycle, only 60 are graduated. Veteran frogmen believe a sense of humor is as important in facing the physical and mental challenges of the training as the recruits' physical strength and agility. The survivors of the training cycle join a very select fraternity.

[Picture Caption]

1. Burned black by the sun, frogmen trainees learn to maneuver rubber boats. 2-5. Constant physical training assures maintenance of strong and agile bodies.

1. This exercise helps form and harden stomach muscles. 2. A quick somersault could mean escape from a captor. 3 & 4. The rubber boat is a prime operational tool; frogmen must develop precision in its use.

Each muscle may hold a key to life or death; here, back muscles get a workout.

Constant physical training assures maintenance of strong and agile bodies.

Constant physical training assures maintenance of strong and agile bodies.

Constant physical training assures maintenance of strong and agile bodies.

Constant physical training assures maintenance of strong and agile bodies.

This exercise helps form and harden stomach muscles.

A quick somersault could mean escape from a captor.

The rubber boat is a prime operational tool; frogmen must develop precision in its use.

The rubber boat is a prime operational tool; frogmen must develop precision in its use.

Each muscle may hold a key to life or death; here, back muscles get a workout.