In 1974, Kao was involved in a helicopter crash in Taoyuan County (now Taoyuan City) with his colleagues, including Yu Hao-chang, the then-Commanding General of Army Command Headquarters.
A month after Typhoon Morakot brought the worst flooding and mudslides to Taiwan in 50 years, Kao was appointed as the leading deputy executive officer of the Morakot Post-Disaster Reconstruction Council of the Executive Yuan [REF].