Political Work

Plunge Into the Ranks to Hear the Truth, Wholeheartedly Solve Problems to Warm Soldiers' Hearts

扎进兵堆听真言倾情解难暖兵心

PLA Daily (解放军报) 11 June 2026

Summary

A Political Work Department leader at an unidentified brigade describes how political consolidation training (政治整训) is driving headquarters cadres to spend at least one week per month embedded at the company level, where they uncovered problems—broken equipment, inadequate facilities, excessive inspection burdens, and dependent-family hardships—that daytime briefings had concealed. The article documents the institutional friction 政治整训 is designed to address: a headquarters culture of 'paper-based rectification (纸上整改)' and 'surface-level formalism (表面文章)' that leaves grassroots units bearing problems silently rather than escalating them. The framing points to a persistent gap between political organ self-assessment and actual unit conditions, and the piece functions as a record of how the PLA is using 政治整训 to pressure mid-level political cadres to treat that gap as their personal accountability problem.

Translation

Plunge Into the Ranks to Hear the Truth, Wholeheartedly Solve Problems to Warm Soldiers' Hearts

■ Li Chao

As political consolidation training (政治整训) has continued to deepen, my feelings as a leader in the brigade's Political Work Department have grown ever more vivid: political consolidation training is not a slogan hung on a wall, nor a reflection written on paper—it is something that forces agency cadres to move their feet from the office to the grassroots, and to move their hearts from piles of documents back to the officers and soldiers.

On one occasion I went down to a company for research. During the day I listened to briefings and checked the logbooks, and felt the company had no real shortcomings. That evening, however, I stayed in the squad bays and chatted with the soldiers. A few young soldiers muttered quietly: "The company's nano-blackboard has been broken for a long time—probably still on its way back from the factory for repairs." "There's no clothes-drying shed outside the barracks at the field training site—when the wind picks up, clothes just blow away." "Headquarters inspections come too often; just preparing for inspections takes up a lot of our time." Hearing these words, my face burned. Problems I had not discovered during the daytime research, I heard in full once I stayed in the squad bays that evening. At that moment I finally understood: the farther you are from officers and soldiers, the farther the truth is from you; the closer you are to officers and soldiers, the closer the real situation is to you.

Comrade Liu Bocheng once said that the common people are not fated by destiny to follow us. Applied to grassroots officers and soldiers, this holds equally true. Officers and soldiers sharing our purpose is not something talked into existence at meetings—it is earned through doing things in earnest and treating people with genuine sincerity. At the very outset of deepening political consolidation training, I set a rule for myself: spend at least one week each month going down to the grassroots, burrow deeper into the squad bays, chat more with the soldiers, line up together in the canteen to get food, train together on the drill ground, and take seriously every offhand grumble an officer or soldier lets slip.

The deeper you plunge into the grassroots, the more you can feel the real blockages and difficulties. None of these problems are earth-shattering affairs, yet every one of them is connected to soldiers' hearts. At some small, dispersed, and remote posts, drinking water quality is unstable, and officers and soldiers are uneasy drinking it. Some grassroots backbone personnel use the same old training methods—soldiers train hard, scores don't improve, and injuries occur easily. Some officers' and soldiers' dependents, after joining them at the garrison, find it hard to get work and face complicated procedures for transferring their children's schooling, which diverts some of their attention. Headquarters issues many notices and conducts frequent inspections—today demanding a spreadsheet, tomorrow demanding materials—leaving grassroots officers and soldiers stretched too thin, their personal time squeezed out.

Officers and soldiers don't speak up about these things not because they have no complaints, but because they fear speaking up will be useless. The grassroots doesn't proactively raise difficulties not because there are none, but because they are accustomed to bearing them alone. In the past I always felt that headquarters handles big matters and manages the overall situation, and need not pay too much attention to these small things. Political consolidation training has completely changed my thinking: there are no small matters at the grassroots—every matter is connected to soldiers' hearts. The hardships of officers and soldiers are precisely the things we should be managing; the blockages at the grassroots are precisely the problems we should be solving. We are a political organ—what we do is work with people. If we cannot even fathom the officers' and soldiers' joys and hardships, or resolve their difficulties, what are we talking about when we speak of rallying hearts and minds (凝心聚力) and training troops and preparing for war (练兵备战)?

Discovering problems is only the first step; resolving them in earnest is the key. Continuously deepening political consolidation training means forcing headquarters to confront problems head-on, to be serious and tough, not to engage in "paper-based rectification (纸上整改)" or "surface-level formalism (表面文章)." Accordingly, we addressed the problems uncovered through research one by one, implementing solutions item by item.

Where drinking water at small, dispersed, and remote posts was problematic, we proactively coordinated with local authorities, applied for funds to procure water purification equipment, and let officers and soldiers drink water with peace of mind. Where grassroots backbone personnel used monotonous training methods, we organized backbone training courses and taught scientific training organization methods (科学组训) hands-on, improving scores while preventing training injuries. Where headquarters inspections were excessive and paperwork burdensome, we took the lead in streamlining—reducing unnecessary inspections and forms, returning time to training and energy to the grassroots. Where officers' and soldiers' dependents faced difficulties with employment and children's school enrollment, we proactively approached local government and coordinated with relevant departments, handling matters in accordance with laws and regulations, and helping officers and soldiers put their minds at ease.

Seeing grassroots officers and soldiers no longer having to stay up late rushing to finish spreadsheets, able to focus on training; seeing more smiles on everyone's faces and greater enthusiasm for training—I feel a deep sense of reassurance. Prestige is never established by displaying one's rank; it is built through getting real things done, one by one. The trust of officers and soldiers is not won by shouting slogans; it is earned through action, time and again. Political work is concrete and substantive (实实在在)—and that substance lies in helping officers and soldiers resolve difficulties and reducing the burden on the grassroots.

Original Chinese

扎进兵堆听真言倾情解难暖兵心 ■李超随着政治整训持续深化，作为旅政治工作部领导，我的感受越来越真切：政治整训不是挂在墙上的标语，也不是写在纸上的心得，而是逼着机关干部把脚从办公室挪到基层，把心从文件堆里放回官兵身上。有一回下连队调研，我白天听汇报、查台账，觉得连队建设没啥短板。然而，晚上住进班排，跟战士们一起唠嗑，几个年轻战士小声念叨：“连队纳米黑板坏了好久，怕是还在返厂维修的路上”“驻训场宿舍外没晾衣棚，一刮风衣服就被吹跑”“机关检查太勤，光迎检就占了我们不少时间”……听着这些话，我感觉脸上火辣辣的。白天调研没发现的问题，晚上待在班排，全听到了。那一刻我才明白：离官兵远一点，真话就远一大截；离官兵近一些，实情就近一大步。刘伯承同志说过，老百姓不是命里注定要跟我们走的。这话放在基层官兵身上，一样在理。官兵跟我们一条心，不是靠开会讲出来的，而是靠实打实办事、掏真心待人换来的。深化政治整训伊始，我就给自己定了规矩：每月至少用一周时间下基层，多往班排钻，多跟战士聊，食堂里一起排队打饭，训练场上一起跟着练，官兵随口说的一句牢骚话，都要认真对待。越往基层扎，越能摸到真实的堵点难点。这些问题，都不是什么惊天大事，可件件连着兵心。有的小散远点位，饮用水水质不稳定，官兵喝着不放心；有的基层骨干，训练方法老一套，战士练得苦、成绩上不去，还容易受伤；有的官兵家属随军后，工作不好找、孩子转学手续复杂，分散了一些精力；机关通知多、检查密，今天要报表、明天要材料，基层官兵分身乏术，个人时间被挤占。这些事，官兵不说，不是没意见，是怕说了没用；基层不主动提，不是没困难，是习惯了自己扛。以前我总觉得，机关抓大事、管全局，对这些小事不用太在意。政治整训让我彻底改变了观念：基层无小事，事事连兵心。官兵的难处，就是我们该管的事；基层的堵点，就是我们该破的题。我们是政治机关，做的就是人的工作，连官兵的冷暖都摸不透、困难都解不了，还谈什么凝心聚力、练兵备战？发现问题只是第一步，实打实解决才是关键。持续深化政治整训，就是逼着机关直面问题、较真碰硬，不搞“纸上整改”，不做“表面文章”。于是，我们对调研摸到的问题，一件一件解决、一桩一桩落实。小散远点位饮水有问题，我们主动对接地方，申请经费采购净水设备，让官兵喝上放心水；基层骨干训练方法单一，我们组织骨干集训，把科学组训的方法手把手教到位，既提成绩又防训练伤；机关检查多、报表繁，我们带头精简，减少不必要的检查和报表，把时间还给训练、把精力还给基层；官兵家属就业、子女入学难，我们主动跑地方政府、对接相关部门，依法依规协调办理，帮官兵解除后顾之忧。看着基层官兵不用再熬夜赶报表、能专心抓训练，看着大家脸上的笑容多了、训练劲头足了，我心里特别踏实。威信从来不是靠身份摆出来的，而是靠一件件实事干出来的；官兵的信任，也不是靠口号喊出来的，而是靠一次次行动赢得的。政治工作实实在在，实就实在帮官兵解难、为基层减负上。