"Squad Leader, today I'm going to test you…" On a weekend morning, inside a repair workshop, Private Xiao Shen from a certain naval unit's airfield transportation and repair squad stood before an aircraft tow tractor and, smiling, issued a challenge to First Sergeant Squad Leader Liu. Squad Leader Liu accepted in good spirits.
Before this, an indescribable awkwardness had long stood between this mentor and apprentice. On one occasion, an aircraft tow tractor suddenly lost power during training. Xiao Shen, who had studied vehicle-related engineering in college, cross-referenced the data from an intelligent diagnostic instrument and concluded the problem was a control software issue. Squad Leader Liu waved his hand with confidence: "This kind of power interruption—it's almost always poor circuit contact."
The two opened the hood to inspect and found the wiring intact. Xiao Shen quietly suggested, "How about we follow the diagnostic instrument's prompt and try restarting the program?" Sure enough, after doing so, the vehicle returned to normal. Squad Leader Liu stood in front of the vehicle in silence for a moment, then patted Xiao Shen on the shoulder: "Good work." The words were praise, but his expression involuntarily fell slightly.
After more than a decade of repair work, he had been shown up today by a conscript soldier, and he felt more than a little unsettled.
Xiao Shen also sensed the squad leader's mood and quietly stepped aside. The atmosphere in the vehicle became suddenly charged.
That evening, Squad Leader Liu reflected on the incident. He had served for many years, attended countless large and small training sessions, and had never been lax in his technical skills—yet today he had "crashed." It was fortunate that Xiao Shen had stepped in and resolved it in time. He should have been pleased. Thinking it through this way, the unease in his heart immediately dissolved.
First thing the next morning, Squad Leader Liu sought out Xiao Shen on his own initiative: "You performed well yesterday—your thinking was clear. I'm commending you for it. I clung to old experience and put on the airs of a veteran. Going forward, when we encounter technical problems, we all need to have that spirit of scientific rigor (科学较真的劲头). Don't hold back."
Later, Squad Leader Liu, in his capacity as a noncommissioned officer branch committee member (军士支委), brought this experience to the branch committee meeting. He said: "Although I am relatively familiar with the equipment, anyone can have blind spots. Under the traditional 'veterans leading newcomers' (老带新) model, new comrades often hold back out of deference to the veterans' face—even when they spot a problem, they find it hard to speak up directly. Over time, this not only affects work efficiency but can easily allow technical blind spots to develop into hidden hazards."
In response to this type of problem, the Party branch studied the matter carefully and, building on the 'veterans leading newcomers' model, piloted a supplementary training mechanism of 'mutual fault-setting and two-way exchange' (互设故障、双向交流)—during weekly on-post skills training time, new and veteran repair workers take turns setting problems for each other and cross-diagnosing them, forming a regularized routine of professional exchange. This is what gave rise to the scene at the opening of this article.
The problem Xiao Shen posed was a difficult fault in the hydraulic braking system of a new-model vehicle. Squad Leader Liu went through the lines and slave cylinders by old experience and found nothing wrong, his brow furrowing.
Xiao Shen gently reminded him: "Squad leader, the master cylinder design on this new vehicle type is different from the older equipment—when it's blocked, the symptoms are very subtle." Squad Leader Liu checked, and sure enough, that was the case.
Squad Leader Liu straightened up and nodded at Xiao Shen: "That was a high-caliber question—it stumped me." He then reflected: "I always used to think my technical foundation was solid. Now I understand: years of service don't equal strength of ability. Young people bring new perspectives and new methods. Only by learning from each other can we advance together."
Since the new mentorship approach was introduced, the airfield station's repair cycle has shortened and fault-clearance efficiency has improved markedly. Even more gratifying is the change in the workshop's atmosphere—barriers have diminished, discussion has increased, veterans no longer stand on ceremony, and new soldiers are no longer constrained. Faced with difficult equipment problems, everyone learns from one another, and the unit has pulled together as one.