Doctrine Political Work

Strong Military Forum | The Stricter the Training, the Less Likely Problems Will Occur

强军论坛丨越严格训练越不容易出问题

PLA Daily (解放军报) 9 June 2026

Summary

A PLA commentary co-authored by Zhang Jiahao and Wang Mingdong, published in the Strong Military Forum, argues that units must stop lowering training standards under the guise of safety and instead treat high-difficulty subjects—helicopter deck landings in high winds, high-altitude equipment stress tests, live-fire and live-demolition drills—as routine, citing Xi Jinping's directive that stricter training reduces battlefield risk. The article documents a persistent institutional problem: a subset of units is watering down assessments, avoiding hazardous subjects, and prioritizing incident-free records over combat readiness, a pattern the PLA has repeatedly tried to correct through political work rather than structural accountability reform. The explicit acknowledgment that commanders avoid hard training because 'if an accident occurs, no one can bear the responsibility' confirms that the incentive structure—not just attitude—is driving the gap between stated combat-realistic training policy and unit-level practice.

Translation

The Stricter the Training, the Less Likely Problems Will Occur

■ Zhang Jiahao, Wang Mingdong

Training helicopter deck landings in high winds and heavy seas, testing the extreme performance limits of equipment in high-altitude environments… On the exercise ground, multi-branch forces are proactively raising the bar and putting pressure on themselves, treating high-difficulty, high-risk subjects as routine training content, genuinely honing the weapons in their hands, strengthening professional skills, and forging the capabilities needed to win.

Chairman Xi has emphatically stated: "The stricter the training, the less likely problems will occur; the more passively one protects safety, the more unsafe one often becomes." This important guidance profoundly reveals the dialectical relationship between training and safety, and provides an important guide for forces conducting combat-realistic training (实战化训练). The facts prove that the more refined one's martial skills, the safer one is. Commanders at all levels, when organizing training, must increase training difficulty, raise training quality, and explore the extreme performance and combat application of weapons and equipment. They must absolutely not lower training requirements in the name of "safety."

"A blade not habitually gripped will surely cut the fingers; a boat not habitually handled will surely capsize." Military training is "combat without bloodshed" and a rehearsal for future war—risk and danger are unavoidable. Safety in training is never "preserved" by refusing to train in dangerous conditions or declining to drill troops in hazardous situations; it is "trained into" troops through scientific training, hard training, and safe training. When training in peacetime is conducted thoroughly and comprehensively, troops can respond with ease when unexpected situations arise. Conversely, if the mistaken notion of passively preserving safety takes hold—simplifying procedures and lowering standards for the sake of momentary calm—it may appear to avoid immediate risk, but once a sudden situation is encountered, troops will inevitably be at a loss, thrown into confusion, and may even trigger greater danger.

At present, as combat-realistic training advances in depth, difficult and hazardous subjects such as live-fire, live-demolition, and live-drop exercises have been reasonably well implemented, training intensity is increasing, and forces generally manage to seek improvement within "danger" and breakthroughs within "difficulty." However, a small number of units still harbor the thinking of refusing to train in dangerous conditions or declining to drill in hazardous situations—avoiding difficult and hazardous subjects in training, "watering down" assessments to reduce difficulty, and seeking only to "get through without incident." Yet what can be skirted in peacetime cannot be skirted when facing an adversary in war. The stricter the training, the less likely problems will occur when actual fighting begins; the more passively one preserves safety, the more unsafe one will be on a real battlefield. In future informatized warfare (信息化战争), the battlefield environment will be more complex, combat adversaries more formidable, and tactical transitions more frequent—troops may be driven to the brink at any moment. Evading risk on the training ground today may mean paying in blood tomorrow.

A blade is sharpened by grinding, steel is forged by hammering, and the ability to win battles is built entirely through training. Training requires both hard work and science. Diligent and arduous training guided by scientific training methods often yields twice the results with half the effort. When organizing training, forces must firmly establish the combat-oriented principle of "train for war, assess for war" (练为战、考为战), discard the passive thinking of "fearing hardship and fearing incidents," train hard in close alignment with combat missions, combat adversaries, and combat environments, and also apply scientific methods to strengthen full-process risk assessment and dynamic control throughout training—clarifying training standards, standardizing training procedures, following the laws of training, and making full use of technological means such as simulation training, virtual training, and war-gaming (兵棋推演)—so as to make "hands-on skills" more refined and "lethal techniques" stronger, ensuring that forces stand in an invincible position in future war.

High-intensity training that is genuine, difficult, strict, and realistic will inevitably bring risk. The reluctance and timidity of individual units to train troops in hazardous conditions stems from the concern that "if an accident occurs, no one can bear the responsibility." In response, leading organs must establish the correct orientation and properly resolve the relationship between training and safety, and between performance and accidents. In grasping training, one must neither blindly forge ahead in violation of objective laws, nor simplify training content or reduce difficulty and intensity on grounds of safety; one must neither arbitrarily raise risk levels or unilaterally suspend or cancel training in difficult and hazardous subjects, nor passively preserve safety at the cost of combat effectiveness. Only by daring and knowing how to seek victory within danger and find security within peril can the capability to win in real combat and real resistance be continuously elevated.

Original Chinese

越严格训练越不容易出问题 ■张佳豪汪明东风高浪急中训练直升机着舰、高海拔环境下检验装备极限性能……演兵场上，多军兵种部队主动加码、自我加压，将高难度、高风险课目作为常态化训练内容，切实练精手中武器、练强专业技能、练就制胜本领。习主席强调指出：“越严格训练越不容易出问题，越消极保安全往往越不安全。”这一重要讲话精神深刻揭示了训练与安全之间的辩证关系，为部队开展实战化训练提供了重要遵循。事实证明，武艺越精越安全。各级指挥员在组织训练时，必须提高训练难度，提升训练质量，探索武器装备极限性能和实战运用，千万不能以“安全”为名降低训练要求。 “刃不素持，必致血指；舟不素操，必致倾覆。”军事训练是“不流血的战斗”，是未来战争的预演，风险与危险在所难免。训练中的安全，从不是靠危不施训、险不练兵“保”出来的，而是靠科学训练、刻苦训练、安全训练“练”出来的。平时训练训得深入、练得透彻，遇到意外情况时就能应对自如。反之，若存在消极保安全的错误理念，为图一时安稳简化流程、降低标准，看似规避了眼前风险，一旦遭遇突发情况，必然会手足无措、自乱阵脚，甚至引发更大的危险。当前，随着实战化训练深入推进，实弹、实爆、实投等险难课目得到较好落实，训练强度越来越大，各部队训练时普遍能做到在“险”中求提高、在“难”中寻突破。但仍有少数单位存在危不施训、险不练兵的思想，险难课目避而不训，考核“放水”降难度，只求“平安无事”。然而，平时能绕过险难，战时绕不过对手。越严格训练，真打起来才越不容易出问题；越消极保安全，在真正的战场上就越不安全。未来信息化战争，战场环境更加复杂，作战对手更加强悍，战斗转换更加频繁，随时可能被逼到绝境。今天在训练场上规避风险，明天就可能付出血的代价。刀靠磨、钢靠锻，能打胜仗全靠练。训练既需要刻苦，也需要科学。在科学训练方法的指导下勤练苦练，往往能事半功倍。部队在组织训练时，既要牢固树立“练为战、考为战”的实战导向，摒弃“怕吃苦、怕出事”的消极思想，紧贴作战任务、作战对手、作战环境，下苦功夫练，也要以科学的方法，强化训练全程风险评估和动态管控，明确训练标准、规范训练流程、遵循训练规律，充分运用好模拟训练、仿真训练、兵棋推演等科技手段，将“手中活”练得更精、把“必杀技”练得更强，确保在未来战争中立于不败之地。真、难、严、实的高强度训练，不可避免会带来风险。个别单位不愿、不敢险中练兵，是存在“出了事故谁也负不起责任”的想法和顾虑。对此，领导机关应树立正确导向，解决好训练与安全、政绩与事故的关系。抓训练既不能违背规律盲目蛮干，也不能以安全为由简化训练内容、降低难度强度；既不能随意提高风险等级、擅自终止或取消险难课目训练，也不能以牺牲战斗力为代价消极保安全。只有敢于和善于险中求胜、危中求安，才能在真打实抗中实现打赢能力不断跃升。