influence. With the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, many former Qing-naval officers agreed with the revolutionary ideal of Xinhai and joined the ROC Navy. However, with warlordism continuing to plague the territory of the Republic of China, the development of the Republican navy was somewhat slow. Furthermore, there were internal conflicts during its development. During the 2nd Sino-Japanese war, most of the ROC Navy was destroyed by the Imperial Japanese Navy. In 1946 the Republic of China Naval Academy was established in Shanghai; it was relocated to Taiwan in 1949. Marine Corps The ROC Marine Corps was formed from the former Navy Sentry Corps in December 1914, it used to have two divisions, 66th and 99th divisions, in size, when its doctrine focused on retaking mainland China. Since its transition to a defensive posture, the ROCMC has been downsized from about 38,000 active personnel to only 9,000. In 2004, the ROCMC redeployed a brigade near the Taipei area to defend against a possible PLA decapitation strike. The ROC Marine Corps' official motto is "永遠忠誠" (Forever Loyalty), the Chinese translation of "Semper Fidelis". Air Force In 1920 Sun Yat-sen established the Aviation Ministry in Canton (Guangdong Province). But due to the division of the Southern Warlords, it was later dismantled. In 1929, Chiang Kai-shek established the Aviation Class in the ROC Military Academy. It was relocated to Hangzhou in 1931. Following the outbreak of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, the ROC Air Force was responsible for shooting down many Japanese Air force fighters. After 1949 the ROC Air Force Academy was relocated to Taiwan island. Military Police The ROC Military Police was established in 1914 when Sun Yat-sen assumed the provisional presidency. It was established as a police guard and to maintain discipline within the army. In 1932 the nationalist government established the "Command Work of Military Police" (憲兵勤務令) and the Service Procedure for the Military Police (憲兵服務章程), which established the military police system. In 1936, the Military police Academy was founded in Nanjing. The school relocated to Taiwan after 1949. Personnel Conscription Because of the historical legacy having once controlled mainland China, the army has traditionally been the most important of the ROC's military forces, although this declined in the 1990s and early 2000s with the realization that the traditional army's role in defending against a PRC invasion is limited. As a result, recent force modernization programs have