Since the military reform in 2015, the PLA Army has gradually abolished divisions and regiments, which used to occupy an important position in the people's army, in a planned manner.
【PLA Synthetic Battalion】
Many people will be curious, if the army does not have a division and regimental establishment, how should the existing PLA battalion commanders and brigade commanders be promoted?
The absolute workhorse of the battle
To put it simply, in the past, the operational establishment of the army was group army-division-regiment, but after the military reform, the main establishment of the synthetic group army was changed to a composite brigade and a composite battalion.
【PLA Synthetic Battalion】
This is because the army has only abolished the establishment of troops, not the regimental and divisional levels in the army, that is to say, although the PLA no longer has such posts as division commanders and regiment commanders, division-level cadres and regiment-level cadres still exist.
In other words, the current battalion commanders and brigade commanders must follow the past promotion methods, and the main battalion is promoted to the deputy regiment and the brigade is promoted to the deputy division.
In fact, otherwise, a cadre at the battalion level is not necessarily a battalion commander. Moreover, there is another change after the military reform that the general public does not know, that is, the current composite battalions of the PLA and the battalions of the past are actually completely different things.
【Synthetic Battalion Cadre】
Although the name of the composite battalion is battalion, it actually belongs to the deputy regiment-level unit, which means that the so-called battalion commanders are all deputy regiment-level cadres, and the military rank is already lieutenant colonel, which is completely different from the battalion-level cadres in the past.
As for why the military level corresponding to the battalion-level position will be promoted, this has a huge relationship with the synthetic battalion itself.
In terms of combat effectiveness, the PLA's existing composite battalions are even stronger than the reinforced battalions and even regiment-level units of the past, and each composite battalion has comprehensive independent combat capability, and even has the establishment of a staff headquarters that was only available at the regimental level in the past.
【PLA Synthetic Battalion】
The existing chief of staff of the composite battalion generally corresponds to the military rank of the main battalion, which also constitutes the most important promotion system of the PLA Army at present.
If a cadre at the company level wants to continue to move up, he must first enter the staff headquarters of the higher-level composite battalion unit as a staff officer, that is, at the deputy battalion level, and further become the chief of staff, at the main battalion level, to complete the transition from the company level to the regiment level.
The PLA composite battalion is also the most important grass-roots combat unit at present, so it is beneficial to refine the promotion and position of personnel in this establishment, and military cadres can give better play to the combat effectiveness of the composite battalion only when they have more experience and training in the synthetic battalion and go to a better position in the future.
【Synthetic Battalion Cadre】
This is also based on the consideration of actual combat; if a commander does not understand what his main combat unit can do, how can he talk about leading troops to fight?
The inspection of senior leading cadres is stricter
The promotion of battalion commanders is a hurdle in the military career of PLA cadres, and the other is the promotion of brigade commanders, and it is more difficult for brigade commanders to continue to move up.
[Commander of the Synthetic Brigade]
After all, from a synthetic battalion to a synthetic brigade, the difficulty of management has risen exponentially, and a cadre who manages a synthetic battalion well may not be able to control a synthetic brigade, especially in peacetime, and the higher the rank, the more difficult it will be for cadres to be promoted.
In addition to the change in the difficulty of promotion, in fact, another change in our army is rarely mentioned, that is, the PLA has now realized a full-time person.
The so-called full-time personnel mean that there will not be a situation in which one person holds multiple positions, and it is very good to avoid military cadres from being too involved in fields that they are not specialized in, for example, it is strange that a cadre with a political work background can concurrently serve as a staff officer, and the troops can fight a good battle.
[The People's Liberation Army realizes full-time personnel]
The biggest difference between the modern professional army and the grass platform leading bodies of the past is that they emphasize specialization in everything, with staff officers concentrating on studying how to fight wars, political commissars studying how to carry out ideological work, and military commanders concentrating on thinking about how to lead troops.
No matter how outstanding a talent is, it is impossible to cover all aspects, and a dedicated person can also help military personnel to develop their strong points and avoid their weaknesses to the greatest extent, so as to avoid man-made disasters in combat and daily management.
This brand-new management model has also been given a new term: flat management, which effectively avoids the bloated command headquarters in the traditional army and further improves the administrative efficiency of the troops.
【PLA Synthetic Troops】
As a matter of fact, the modern army has developed to the level of the PLA, and the manpower required has been greatly reduced, and this is also the core reason why our army has been transformed into a battalion and a division into a brigade, and a high degree of informationized weaponry and equipment has already completed the work that required many military personnel to complete in the past.
The commanders and fighters of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) who have come to the fore after rigorous screening and testing will inevitably have stronger combat effectiveness than in the past.
As the only army unit in the world that has achieved informationization and synthetic construction, the PLA's experience in military reform has provided a reference for the world's armed forces and set a benchmark for the construction of a modern army.
[Advanced equipment of the People's Liberation Army]
Although the PLA's synthetic military reform has largely borrowed from the US military, judging from the current construction results,
To put it simply, China's synthetic military reform revolves around ground units, and the core purpose of combat system integration is to strengthen ground combat capabilities, which also has a lot to do with the development history of the PLA.
The synthetic units of the United States are completely different, the core of their combat system is actually the air force, and the ground forces only cooperate with the air force to fight, which is why the long-range firepower delivery means in the US military units are far less than those of the PLA.
【U.S. Air Force】
Because the army plays more of an occupation role than a mainstay of war.
It is difficult to evaluate which of these two construction ideas is superior, but there is no doubt that both are most in line with the respective tactical styles and operational concepts of the Chinese and US militaries, and as one of the most powerful armies in the world, the PLA will continue to lead the exploration and development of modern armies.
Sources:
[1] Zhang Yesui: In 2018, the proportion of national defense expenditure to GDP was about 1.3%.Beijing News [Citation date:2019-12-30]