Source: Learning Corps , China Army Number Author: Jiefangjun Daily reporter Zhu Baiyan Wei Yumeng Correspondent Wu Bo Xu Ziqi
Stand at the head of the tide and teach for war
■ Jiefangjun Daily reporter Zhu Baiyan wei Yumeng
Correspondent Wu Bo Xu Ziqi
Two photographs, lying quietly in the desk drawer of Sergeant Gao Bo.
One is the scene of Gao Bo participating in the exercise with the troops 10 years ago; One is a group photo of Gao Bo with his instructors and comrades-in-arms at the Non-Commissioned Officer School of the Aerospace Engineering University of the Strategic Support Force 10 years later when he participated in the graduation comprehensive exercise.
In the past 10 years, Gao Bo has grown into a second-class sergeant major. When the two photographs are placed together, the footprints of Endeavor become particularly clear: "Since becoming a sergeant, I have studied in this school several times. Here, I expanded my abilities from a professional sergeant to a command and management sergeant. ”
The long wind blows and the tide surges. Under the new military talent training system, groups of non-commissioned officers like Gao Bo continue to emerge. As the cradle of their growth, the Non-Commissioned Officer School of the Aerospace Engineering University of the Strategic Support Force also ushered in a new starting point five years ago - the establishment of the Training Management Teaching and Research Department of the Basic Department and the organization of special training for non-commissioned officers.
Stand at the head of the tide and teach for war. On the new journey, a group of young teachers took on new missions and tasks and began a new departure.
starting point
"It's a whole new journey that brings us a whole new perspective"
Instructor Zhang Hangbing always remembers the fall of 2018. The leaves on the campus had just turned yellow, and he walked into the classroom with his notebook in hand and opened the first lesson of the first batch of special training courses for non-commissioned officers of the Strategic Support Force.
At that time, Zhang Hangbing did not even have a decent textbook at hand. It had only been 5 months since he learned that he was going to teach the first batch of non-commissioned cadets in command and management positions.
Under the tide of the construction of the contingent of soldiers and the reform of education in academies and universities, the training management teaching and research department of the Basic Department where Zhang Hangbing worked came into being. New terms, new positions, and new curricula have brought unprecedented challenges to teachers in the front line of teaching.
"It's a whole new journey that brings us a whole new perspective." Recalling the journey along the way, Zhang Hangbing sighed with emotion.
The "Interim Regulations on Non-Commissioned Officers" and related supporting regulations recently issued highlight the functions and roles that future non-commissioned officers should have and play in the preparation for war, technical support, organization and training, and education management. But at that time, for colleges and universities that only had the experience of training command and management officers, "what is a command and management sergeant?" What tasks will they have in the future? What directions do they need to develop? "These issues are still being explored.
For a time, everyone in the teaching and research department felt great pressure. In front of them was not a mountain to cross, but a flat land that needed to be raised.
"It is said that the future war is the 'war of squad leaders', and now we must win this battle of talent training." Zhang Hangbing still remembers the determined look of Zhao Jie, director of the teaching and research office, when he talked to everyone. Unknown territory, unfamiliar professions, tight schedules, lots of preparations... The Training Management Teaching and Research Department has almost undertaken all the main courses of the special training courses for non-commissioned officers in command and management.
It was 5 months of intense anxiety, and it was also a busy and fulfilling 5 months.
In late spring, they repeatedly looked through the relevant materials in the library; At the beginning of the summer, they ran to the front-line troops to visit and investigate the needs of the troops; In the middle of summer, they went to other military academies and universities to bring back the training experience of officers and men of other services to the campus... In the end, a scientific and feasible training program for non-commissioned officers in command and management was formed, and 6 new professional courses were written into the class schedule and pushed onto the podium.
That autumn, when he faced the eager eyes of the students of the special training class for the first time, Zhang Hangbing felt that his chest was full of strength.
After the end of the first training course, the instructors did not stop and spent 3 months to compile teaching handouts in 3 professional directions, filling the gap in the school's lack of teaching materials in the professional field of command and management of non-commissioned officers.
"I often tell students that the proudest thing in life is that you have completed a seemingly impossible job." Speaking of that tense and busy day, Zhao Jie felt that it was worth it, "The thing I am most proud of is that in the face of the tide of transformation, I can bravely meet it and contribute my own strength." ”
direction
"Our eyes have always been focused on the battlefield, always keeping a close eye on the development and changes of the troops."
On Zhao Jie's bookshelf, there is a row dedicated to storing the address book. In the ragged pamphlets, the contact information of each trainee she brought with her was recorded.
For the past five years, the instructors of the Training Management Department have insisted on keeping in touch with the graduating students. In their view, this is not only a continuation of the friendship between teachers and students, but also an important "port" for the docking of colleges and universities and grass-roots troops.
"What kind of non-commissioned personnel does the army need?" In the past 5 years, Zhao Jie and his comrades-in-arms have never stopped thinking about this issue.
In order to make the curriculum more accurate to meet the needs of the troops, the instructors went deep into various military camps to visit and investigate; They distributed a course questionnaire to each trainee to understand the current situation of the troops and their learning experience; Establish a communication feedback mechanism to maintain long-term contact with graduates who have taken up command and management positions...
"Our eyes have always been focused on the battlefield, always keeping a close eye on the development and changes of the troops." Zhao Jie told reporters, "Where the battlefield is, the position of the sergeant is where it is, and the direction of training in colleges and universities should be directed." ”
In June this year, a "linkage comprehensive exercise" with cadets as commanders and full self-planning was launched in the field. As the leader of the guard service detachment, cadet Yang Zhongwen led the members of the detachment to maneuver remotely, deal with special situations and dangerous situations, complete the prescribed courses, and hand over a high-quality answer sheet.
"The drill allowed us to no longer stay at the level of practicing professions and skills, and cultivated more battlefield awareness and battlefield thinking." Yang Zhongwen said excitedly.
In systematic operations, the commanding sergeant, as the "nerve ending" on the "chain of war", is the end commander of the tactical operation and the ultimate executor of the tactical intention. In a sense, they have become the winning node for winning future wars.
In order to let the trainees think about the problem from the perspective of the commander, so that they can look one step further and think deeper, the teaching and research department carefully designs each "linkage comprehensive exercise" in combination with the actual combat needs.
"When more and more non-commissioned officers begin to take on the role of group training management, what we need to do is to speed up the pace and get out of a good and fast training path." Instructor Li Meng said that he and his comrades continued to explore.
This summer, the instructors of the Training Management Department did not rest. They are studying how to move the drill from procedural to confrontational. Perhaps, when the training class graduates in the second half of the year, the figure of the simulated blue army can be seen on the school's drill field.
impetus
"The growth of students is an extension of our values"
Exposure to the sun, heat, mosquitoes... At the field training ground in the middle of summer, a group of trainees are surveying the course of the operation. Zhao Jie followed them all the way up the hill and over the mountain, and the sweat quickly soaked through the camouflage suit. Just the day before, she had just returned from the hospital, and the doctor had told her to pay attention to rest.
Speaking of Zhao Jie, director of the teaching and research department, the instructors and students will invariably talk about one word: dedication.
In 2020, Zhao Jie was diagnosed with a major illness. On days when her condition was not yet stable, she insisted on going to the hospital for treatment in the morning and returning to school in the afternoon. Before the graduation drill, she led the trainees to revise a planning plan 15 times, just so that the drill could be closer to the actual battle.
In the past 23 years of teaching, Zhao Jie has undergone many identity changes and job changes. Constantly running hard, Zhao Jie's greatest motivation comes from the growth of the students.
At the beginning of 2019, just one month after the first batch of special training course trainees returned to the grassroots level, Zhao Jie received a call from the trainee Ren Li, "The unit asked me to participate in the formulation of the field drill plan, I didn't expect that the experience of the previous comprehensive drill would come in handy so quickly!" Hearing Ren Li's excited words, Zhao Jie looked relieved.
Non-commissioned officers are the "backbone" of combat strength building and an important component part of military talents in the new era. Over the years, the instructors have heard more and more students grow and change on the phone.
In the desert of northern Xinjiang, Mu Guowei, the leader of the non-commissioned officer detachment, led the detachment to participate in the reconnaissance competition, from a professional and technical non-commissioned officer to a command and management non-commissioned officer, and it was not only the identity that changed; On the Loess Plateau, Wang Zhiqiang, the backbone of the group training, organized live ammunition assessment on the shooting range, from the executor to the organizer, it was not only the post that was upgraded; Deep in the hinterland of the mountains, the second-level sergeant major Gao Bo is conducting a non-commissioned evaluation of engineering equipment professional technology, from apprentice to master, it is not only professional technology that leaps up...
"The growth of students is an extension of our values." What the instructors of the training management department have been doing is to let more trainees accelerate their transformation and become new high-quality military talents who can adapt to the future battlefield. "Whenever we think of them shining in the barracks, we are deeply proud and proud." Zhao Jie said.
In the summer of 2022, the familiar melody once again sounded at the graduation party of the special training class for non-commissioned officers. Zhao Jie sang the song "For Whom" affectionately.
"Singing with enthusiasm and no regrets about youth..." This is the voice of all the faculty members of the teaching and research department. In order to strengthen the army with talents and win the war in the future, the long wind has not stopped, and they will continue to break the waves.
In May 2022, the Army Armored Corps Academy organized a comprehensive graduation exercise for graduate cadets at the Zhurihe Training Base. On the basis of conventional foot-to-tank coordination, the cadets used artillery, helicopters, and other supporting forces to conduct confrontation exercises with the officers and men of the "Blue Army Brigade."
We should focus on teaching in actual combat and focus on winning the battle to cultivate talents. In recent years, the construction of our military academies and universities has accelerated the transformation of the future battlefield, the docking between academies and universities and the troops has become more accurate, and the connection between classrooms and battlefields has become closer.
(Produced by Learning Corps and Chinese Military)