Garrison Observation | Cadres on Grassroots Inspection Duty Must Set Aside Their "Official Airs" and Open Their Hearts

Cadres on Inspection Duty Became Soldiers' "Training Partners"

■ PLA Daily Special Correspondent Zhang Yongqing, Special Correspondent Huang Yun

Early summer in the mountain city, temperatures surging. A certain company of a certain detachment of the People's Armed Police Chongqing General Corps organized a 5-kilometer run. In the crowd of fast-moving runners, clerk Yang Zekun's steps felt as though they were weighted with lead, inching forward one step at a time.

Just as he was on the verge of giving up, a voice reached his ear: "Regulate your breathing — inhale for two steps, exhale for two steps. Keep the rhythm!"

Turning his head, Yang Zekun was stunned to find that the person running beside him was Miu Qiang, a headquarters cadre who had come down on inspection duty. Miu Qiang was wearing a physical training uniform, soaked through with sweat, yet his stride was steady and his rhythm unbroken as he ran alongside him.

This surprised Yang Zekun. In his experience, headquarters cadres who came down to the grassroots on inspection duty would typically begin identifying and correcting problems the moment they arrived. He had not expected Miu Qiang to change straight into a physical training uniform and run with everyone as soon as he reached the barracks.

In the past, Yang Zekun had been somewhat intimidated by headquarters work teams. He told the reporter: "As soon as we heard an inspection was coming, we'd have to start 'preparing' days in advance…"

The surprises that the "different-from-before" Miu Qiang brought him did not stop there. During a break in training, Miu Qiang sat beside Yang Zekun on the lawn, and the two chatted while drinking water. Yang Zekun, who was normally not one to talk much, poured out everything — his personal training bottlenecks and more. Miu Qiang did not interrupt a single word, only listened quietly. "I'll give you some suggestions on what you've told me before the inspection duty ends," Miu Qiang said, patting Yang Zekun on the shoulder when the conversation was over.

It was also during that conversation that Miu Qiang and Yang Zekun agreed to run together every day for the rest of the week.

After evening roll call, Miu Qiang picked up his pack and walked straight into the squad and platoon barracks, where he began tidying up his own bunk himself.

That night, Yang Zekun lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep. He had always thought that some headquarters cadres came down to the grassroots to pick faults. Now he found that they could understand you, that they wanted to help you — that they were comrades who could sleep right beside you.

During the inspection period, Miu Qiang discovered that some of the company's protective gear was damaged and immediately reported it to the headquarters on the spot to coordinate with the relevant department for replacement. Learning that the insulation of meals for personnel on duty was poor, he immediately arranged for the purchase of new-style insulated containers to ensure that soldiers coming off post could eat hot food. He also kept his promise to Yang Zekun, showing up every day on time in his physical training uniform to serve as a "pacer" and help Yang Zekun improve his performance.

"The cadre on inspection duty became my training partner," Yang Zekun told the reporter. Though their time together was brief, Miu Qiang's sincerity and his practical actions won the trust of his comrades. In a recent phased assessment, Yang Zekun's training scores showed marked improvement.

Set Aside "Official Airs," Open Your Heart

■ Zhu Shaosheng, PLA Daily Special Correspondent Zhang Yongqing, Special Correspondent Huang Yun

Officers and soldiers of a certain detachment of the People's Armed Police Chongqing General Corps discuss and exchange experiences. Photo by Li Dong.

During a reporting visit to a certain detachment of the People's Armed Police Chongqing General Corps, the reporter heard officers and soldiers use a metaphor to describe headquarters inspection visits in the past: work teams coming down to the grassroots were like someone holding up a camera, focusing the lens on notebooks, checklists, and other paper trails — while the faces of the officers and soldiers remained blurred.

In the course of deepening the ongoing political rectification training (政治整训), the detachment has worked hard to transform the work style of its headquarters organs — setting aside "official airs" (官架子), opening their hearts (心窝子), and proactively adjusting the "focal length" of inspection visits to bring into focus the issues that officers and soldiers actually care about, genuinely resolving difficulties in their work and daily lives.

The "Appearance" of a Blank Problem List —

Replace the "Magnifying Glass" for Finding Problems with the "Scalpel" for Resolving Contradictions

The air in the conference room seemed to freeze when the detachment leadership produced that sheet of A4 paper.

Some time ago, at a reporting meeting on inspection and support work organized by the detachment, when the problem list submitted by the work team led by Director Ding of the Logistics Department appeared, everyone was stunned — the page was clean and completely blank.

No dense enumeration of problems, no line-by-line rectification notes. The appearance of this blank list caught everyone off guard.

"After more than ten days of grassroots inspection duty, how could not a single problem have been found?" In everyone's ingrained understanding, the "thickness" of a problem list equaled the "value" of the inspection work. The fuller the list and the more problems found, the more it proved that the inspection had been thorough and the work done properly. The reverse meant a superficial, perfunctory effort.

Handing in a "blank sheet" was tantamount to "dereliction of duty." Facing the skepticism, Director Ding spoke calmly and without defensiveness during his report: "It's not that there were no problems — it's that the problems were all resolved on the spot."

On the first day the work team entered a certain company, one problem was precisely identified: several soldiers had missed classes, and the company had never organized make-up sessions.

In the past, this would certainly have been recorded as a problem, photographed as evidence, entered into the ledger, and a rectification plan drawn up. It would then be taken back, compiled into a report, and a notice issued directing the grassroots unit to complete rectification within a set time, with follow-up verification afterward.

This time was different. The work team carefully looked into the full background of the matter. It turned out that during this period the company had been occupied with intensive training and numerous duty assignments; the soldiers in question had just returned from a training course and had immediately been assigned to an emergency duty task, leaving the company genuinely without time to schedule make-up sessions.

"Just organize the make-up sessions according to plan — there's no need to put another mark on the record," Director Ding said, and immediately guided the company to organize the make-up session that same day. He also sat down with the company cadres to discuss how to optimize the format — for example, using fragmented time for small discussions and micro-sharing sessions. As long as the educational content is accurately conveyed, this is also an effective way to break through the contradiction between work and study (工学矛盾).

There were quite a few problems of this kind during the inspection period. Director Ding noticed that some of the content in the company's display boards did not match the accompanying text. He called over the company cadres on the spot, located the original drafts, and made corrections. Before the inspection duty ended, the display boards had already been updated.

As a result, after more than ten days of grassroots inspection duty, the members of the work team felt there was nothing worth writing on a problem list, and so they submitted a blank one. At the reporting meeting, the detachment leadership, far from criticizing them after hearing the report, commended them instead.

"Repeatedly seizing on visible minor problems while leaving major intractable problems as unresolved entries on a ledger — this was once a portrait of how some headquarters cadres conducted grassroots inspections, and it also trapped units in the vicious cycle of 'prioritizing inspection readiness over real work, prioritizing paper trails over actual results,'" the detachment leadership told the reporter. In the course of deepening political rectification training, they conducted special research to dig out the bad work styles of headquarters cadres when going down to the grassroots.

They found that some headquarters cadres equated "finding problems" with "working deeply," and treated the "problem list" as a "scorecard of achievements." Some had their eyes fixed on "how many problems they could bring back," rather than "what problems they could help the grassroots solve." Over time, finding problems became the goal, while solving problems became a mere formality.

With these issues laid on the table, the detachment leadership once again produced that blank "problem list" and organized everyone to discuss it. Gradually, views converged: "Simply judging quality by the number of problems found, or ranking performance by the length of the list, is a manifestation of utilitarian thinking (功利心) and a distorted view of achievements (政绩观偏差). We must be truth-seeking and pragmatic, work hard on real things, and thoroughly eliminate the chronic ills and accumulated malpractices in our work style."

To that end, they revised and improved the implementation measures for supporting grassroots units, explicitly putting forward "Three No's": do not preset a problem list, do not give grassroots units advance notice, and do not use the number of problems found as a basis for assessment. Once this was in place, when headquarters cadres went down to the grassroots, their first thought was how to help resolve difficulties — problems that could be solved on the spot would not be met with "let's wait and see," and matters that could be coordinated would not be left for the grassroots to "work around."

"True achievement has never meant writing a dense list of problems on paper — it means genuinely supporting and building up the grassroots," said Director Wei of the detachment's Political Work Department, with evident feeling. "Resolving grassroots difficulties on the spot is worth more than a thousand words in a rectification report. We must replace the 'magnifying glass' for finding problems with the 'scalpel' for resolving contradictions, and go deep into the grassroots to truly resolve difficulties — real difficulties."

When thinking changes, work style is renewed. Company Commander Wu of a certain company explained that not long ago, when headquarters cadres came to the company for an inspection visit, several issues — a minor malfunction with training equipment, gaps in study materials, and shortcomings in how key personnel organized training — were all identified, coordinated, and resolved on the spot by the work team. "From fault-finding to problem-solving, from taking problems away to resolving problems — this is the 'change' in headquarters work style that we have genuinely felt," said Commander Wu.

A "Role Swap" at the Guard Post —

Not Just Physical Proximity, but Drawing Closer to the Inner World of Officers and Soldiers

As summer arrived, temperatures in the mountain city climbed rapidly, and the outdoor sentry booths became giant steamers. Sergeant Liu Xingkai, who was on duty, had not yet realized he was about to face a spot check.

Liu Xingkai stood at his post, sweat running from his temples into his collar and soaking his gear. At that moment, Staff Officer Jin of the detachment's Operations and Training Section arrived to conduct a spot check at this patrol point and noticed that Liu Xingkai's posture was unsteady. Liu Xingkai's heart leapt into his throat. A wave of anxiety washed over him — by "established practice," what would follow was video documentation, problem registration, and an inevitable notification of criticism for both him and his company.

This time, however, Staff Officer Jin did not reach for a notebook or a camera. Instead, he walked straight up to the sentry booth and said: "Here, give me your gear — come down and rest for a bit." With that, he put on the gear and took Liu Xingkai's place at the sweltering post.

Behind Staff Officer Jin's action lay a "persistent and difficult" problem identified during earlier research — "inadequate cooling equipment for outdoor duty posts in summer." Staff Officer Jin told the reporter that the number of duty points affected by this problem was not large, and the headquarters had never assessed which specific equipment should be purchased in relation to the specific points, so it had remained on the ledger, perpetually stuck in the "research and demonstration" phase.

So he seized on the hot weather to go to the post and experience it firsthand. That day, Staff Officer Jin visited every outdoor patrol point, and came away with a clear picture of how to resolve the cooling problem that had long troubled officers and soldiers.

Back at headquarters, he immediately reached out to multiple functional sections to jointly work out a solution. In less than two days, a procurement plan for heat-prevention and cooling equipment for outdoor patrol personnel was placed before the leadership's office meeting. Shortly afterward, the newly procured equipment arrived together with usage guidelines, a cooling manual, and heat-prevention medicines.

"The cooling problem at our sentry booths that had been troubling us — it was solved this fast," said Liu Xingkai, pointing to the newly installed mobile cooling fans beside the patrol point, unable to conceal his smile.

"The 'role swap' at the guard post is not just physical proximity — it is drawing closer to the inner world of officers and soldiers," the detachment leadership told the reporter. To address the problem of "grassroots issues reported year after year, headquarters services delayed time after time," they have continued to deepen political rectification training, vigorously promoting "experiential" and "embedded inspection" methods of investigation and research. They have broken the "registration — notification — rectification — verification" workflow, directly moving the "office desk" to the frontline grassroots and setting up the "service window" beside officers and soldiers, achieving dynamic clearance of problems and on-the-spot resolution of contradictions.

"The effectiveness of headquarters work is reflected in the timeliness and real impact of services to the grassroots — thinking what officers and soldiers think, and urgently addressing what officers and soldiers urgently need," the detachment leadership said. They have established and improved online support platforms such as the "Grassroots Direct Line" (基层直通车). After each functional section receives problems and difficulties from the grassroots, it replies the same day; minor problems are resolved within three days; thorny difficult problems are given a solution within five days. Grassroots officers and soldiers provide real-time ratings, which are incorporated into the assessment and evaluation of headquarters departments and individuals.

The reporter clicked on the webpage and saw that since last year, the detachment has used the platform to conduct online Q&A sessions and policy briefings, collectively addressing more than twenty questions on skills certification, materials distribution, housing provident fund loans, and other topics.

The "Follow-Up Questions" Raised by a Rectification Ledger —

The "Thickness of Paper Trails" Pursued to Excess May Be Nothing but the Foam of Formalism

In the past, when Section Chief Liu of a certain section of the detachment went down to the grassroots, his standard kit was "one notebook, one camera, one checklist" — a thick notebook, a camera for creating paper trails, and a carefully designed inspection checklist. The core mission was to "find problems, fill in the checklist, and drive rectification."

On one occasion, he found that a company had not carried out education according to plan, and the soldiers' study reflections were superficial. He issued a stern on-the-spot criticism and demanded that a satisfactory rectification ledger be submitted within a set time.

Later, he learned by chance that to produce that rectification ledger, the company's commanding officers had stayed up for two nights straight, and some soldiers had been forced to suspend training to rush-fill various forms and records. This gave him pause for reflection: "Our original intention was to support and build up the unit, but in the end, how much of that was actually achieved? The 'thickness of paper trails' pursued to excess may be nothing but the foam of formalism."

In the course of deepening political rectification training, the detachment leadership found that bad work styles in inspection visits still persisted: some headquarters cadres observed from behind glass and took notes from a distance, arrogant and imperious; some turned inspections into "fault-finding" and guidance into "dressing people down," issuing directives with every other word; some only knew how to make demands and pick faults, and did not know how to listen to honest opinions or resolve real difficulties…

In response, the detachment organized discussions and analysis to correct these problems at the level of thinking and understanding, and established a two-way evaluation mechanism: grassroots officers and soldiers conduct satisfaction assessments of headquarters services, with assessment results linked to cadre evaluations; the headquarters regularly compiles common problems and incorporates them into the annual plan for doing practical things for the grassroots.

"The first thing that needs to be corrected is the fundamental attitude toward officers and soldiers." This was the view Section Chief Liu expressed during a study exchange. Last month, he went back to that same company for a "follow-up look." This time, he did not go to the office to go through the ledgers. Instead, he brought a small stool, sat down in the squad and platoon barracks, and chatted informally with the soldiers in a circle. He gradually got to the bottom of the real reasons behind those "irregularities": the young soldiers were intellectually active and had strong individual personalities; the approach of reading straight from lesson plans left them unengaged, and naturally they could not write study reflections with any genuine feeling.

Having found the "root of the illness," Section Chief Liu did not write up a "penalty notice" — he wrote a "prescription." Targeting the monotony of educational formats, he humbly listened to suggestions from officers and soldiers and successively introduced activities in the company such as "Praise a Comrade Around You" and "Today I'm on Camera," letting soldiers take the stage as the main actors and transforming dry lecturing into genuine story-sharing.

"Before, when we saw headquarters cadres, we'd watch every word we said, afraid of saying something wrong. Now, they put their whole heart into resolving difficulties and doing practical things — they're like older brothers right beside us," said Sergeant Chen Bo with feeling.

Section Chief Liu attributed the positive feedback he received to that small stool. "Sitting on the same bench as the soldiers, our gaze shifts from looking down to looking straight across — and our view of problems and our approach to solutions becomes much more focused," he said.

From "Dreading Inspections" to "Looking Forward to Them"

■ Sergeant Nie Kai

In the course of deepening political rectification training, if I had to name the most obvious change, it's that the look in our eyes when we see headquarters cadres is different — before, when we heard that "the work team is coming," our hearts leapt into our throats; now we actually look forward to them coming.

In the past, when headquarters came down to the grassroots for inspections, they always had their eyes fixed on those notebooks. To prepare for inspections, the company would often have us stay after training to catch up on notes, fill in records, and sort through materials. We didn't dare say anything, but we were exhausted in body and mind.

But not long ago, we felt a change. During that work team inspection, a headquarters cadre came to the training equipment room I was responsible for. His opening words were not "bring out the registration book" — instead, he first asked me: "Is there anything difficult about using this equipment?"

I ventured to say that the protective gear was incomplete in sizes and heavily worn, and that some new soldiers couldn't get a proper fit, which was affecting daily training. He waited until I finished, then had me bring out the damaged gear and noted down the sizes and model numbers one by one.

The company had reported this issue before, but it had never been resolved. I assumed this time would also be a "going through the motions" — but unexpectedly, a week later, he actually came back with a stack of new protective gear, accompanied by a staff member who helped us adjust the fit and explained how to maintain it.

Honestly, now that we don't have to be distracted preparing for inspections, everyone's attention has returned to the training ground. This kind of visible, tangible change warms the hearts of grassroots officers and soldiers, and our drive for training is stronger than ever.

This Edition's Editor in Dialogue with the Director of the Political Work Department of a Certain Detachment of the People's Armed Police Chongqing General Corps —

Going Down to the Grassroots for Inspections: First Resolve the Problem of Attitude

Chairman Xi has pointed out that Party committees and headquarters organs at all levels must strengthen the thinking of strengthening the foundation and consolidating the roots (强基固本), establish a clear orientation of placing great emphasis on the grassroots (大抓基层), persist in placing the center of gravity of work at the grassroots level, and strengthen and improve the work of guiding and supporting grassroots units.

The People's Armed Police Chongqing General Corps' certain detachment has continued to deepen political rectification training, transforming work style and pursuing real results, driving headquarters and grassroots units to achieve a transformation in thinking from "emphasizing paper trails" to "emphasizing real performance," a transformation in work style from "correcting on paper" to "handling on the spot," and a transformation in roles from "emphasizing supervision" to "growing together." Recently, this edition's editor held a connected exchange with the director of the detachment's Political Work Department.

Editor: In the past, there was a widespread inertia in headquarters work of "emphasizing ledgers and emphasizing paper trails" when going down to the grassroots. Why did the detachment put the "blank problem list" on the table, and how does the headquarters support and build up the grassroots?

Director: In the past, some units fell into the trap of "emphasizing paper trails over real results, emphasizing quantity over quality, emphasizing ledgers over implementation." Some cadres treated "finding problems" as the focus of their work and "closing the loop on paper" as their achievement, exhausting themselves "building ledgers, filling checklists, and leaving paper trails," while forgetting that the original purpose of their duties is to solve problems, build up the grassroots, and serve combat readiness. Putting the "blank problem list" on the table means shifting the center of gravity of work from "inspecting" to "correcting" — the purpose of identifying problems is to solve problems and resolve contradictions.

Editor: Compared with the previous "registration — notification — rectification — verification" process, the detachment insists on a working model of "identify on the spot, rectify on the spot." Where is the core breakthrough point?

Director: The greatest breakthrough lies in breaking down procedural barriers and clearing service bottlenecks. In the past, many officers and soldiers reflected that difficulties and problems at the grassroots were "easy to report but hard to land" — a large pile of problems would be registered but always remain unresolved. Transforming the way headquarters organs support and build up the grassroots means that for the urgent, difficult, worrying, and eagerly anticipated (急难愁盼) problems of officers and soldiers in duty, training, logistical support, and personal development — those that can be coordinated are not passed off, and those that can be resolved on the spot are not delayed. We genuinely help grassroots officers and soldiers overcome difficulties and resolve problems.

Editor: From the perspective of grassroots officers and soldiers, the biggest change in the headquarters is the transformation of work style. How do headquarters cadres view this transformation?

Director: The essential nature of the transformation in the role and identity of headquarters cadres is the reshaping of their view of achievements (政绩观). In the past, some headquarters cadres put on "official airs" (官架子) and used their position to pressure others; when going down to the grassroots, supervision and accountability were frequent while support and service were scarce, and over time they grew distant from officers and soldiers. The grassroots is the foundation of all the work and combat effectiveness of the armed forces. In the course of deepening political rectification training, the detachment's headquarters cadres have corrected their attitude toward the grassroots, set aside "official airs," opened their hearts (心窝子), put themselves in the shoes of officers and soldiers, and done everything within their power to relieve officers and soldiers of their worries and resolve their difficulties — achieving a mutual movement toward each other (双向奔赴) and a unity of purpose between headquarters and grassroots.