External Sentries + Intelligent Monitoring: "Electronic Sentries" Become a Valuable Guard-Duty Aid

A certain regiment of the Beijing Garrison Command introduces a new "external sentry + intelligent monitoring" model — "Electronic Sentries" Become a Valuable Guard-Duty Aid

■ Wang Zhenhu, Qin Zhengwei

In mid-June, this correspondent visited a certain regiment of the Beijing Garrison Command. Walking through the garrison area, one detail stood out: at some sentry posts, no sentries were visible — in their place were infrared sensor probes and surveillance monitors. Ordnance technician Jiao Kanghui explained that this is one of the changes brought about by the regiment's active adoption of technological means to build a "smart garrison (智慧军营)."

The regiment's 3rd Company has long been responsible for sentry duty at the armory post. At a sit-in assistance and development forum, Company Commander Xiao raised a suggestion: "Various tasks have been piling up one after another recently, and the company is short-handed. Could we use technological means to ease the burden of guard duty and sentry standing?"

The moment he said this, it immediately drew considerable skepticism. Some felt that the armory is an important post and that sentries cannot simply be withdrawn; others pointed out that while current technological means are continuously being updated and improved, they still have shortcomings, and sentry monitoring remains more reliable; still others worried that such an approach might create security risks involving the loss or leakage of secrets.

"The armory is on the third floor. Outside the building, the duty officer post, and inside, the armory's double sentry overlap — separated by no more than a dozen meters, yet staffed with double the manpower." Facing the many objections, Company Commander Xiao walked everyone through the numbers: "The armory alone requires 6 soldiers rotating through daytime duty each day. Over the course of a month, that comes to nearly 200 person-instances. Why not put that manpower into training instead?"

These figures gave the officers and soldiers who had just raised objections pause for thought, and the attending leadership also took notes with a contemplative air.

After the meeting, the regiment's Party committee reviewed relevant regulations, conducted on-site visits to various posts throughout the garrison area to carry out research and assessment, and studied the feasibility of replacing manpower with technological means. Based on the research findings, the 3rd Company's armory was designated as a pilot site for "smart garrison" construction.

The regiment made clear that posts that are functionally critical or occupy special positions must still be staffed by sentries. However, locations such as storerooms, kitchens, and certain posts where manpower is redundant and overlapping may introduce intelligent security systems — including biometric access control, high-definition surveillance with no blind spots, dual-circuit power supply, and independent alarm channels — to assist or replace traditional manual monitoring.

In the nearly two months since the 3rd Company's armory became a pilot site, the post has withstood multiple emergency tests: during a thunderstorm, the armory's sensors detected an abnormal change in humidity, promptly activated the dehumidification program, and notified the duty room to strengthen protective measures; when a soldier accidentally triggered the access control system and facial recognition failed, the system automatically captured an image and triggered an alarm.

"In fact, many border defense units have long since introduced various information technology means to enhance management and control effectiveness. We too should update our thinking in a timely manner, break free from ingrained habits of thought (惯性思维), and actively embrace technological empowerment." The regiment's leadership noted that the pilot results have been significant: the safety coefficient has risen rather than fallen, while also reducing the burden on officers and soldiers and giving them more time and energy to participate in training and rest, with a marked improvement in performance. They therefore decided to use the armory's intelligent upgrade plan as a template and roll out "smart garrison" construction across the entire regiment.

Today, the regiment has implemented the new "external sentry + intelligent monitoring" model at multiple posts, and the results of "smart garrison" construction are visible everywhere:

In the cooking squad, an intelligent kitchen management system dynamically analyzes food ingredient consumption, while sensors in the preparation area monitor temperature and humidity changes in real time, providing decision-support recommendations for scientific storage. In the ammunition depot, an intelligent transport calculation assistance system can determine the required vehicle types and quantities for carrying ammunition within seconds. At the vehicle park, officers and soldiers retrieve vehicle keys through an intelligent parts management cabinet, with registration and statistical information transmitted directly to the duty room. On the training ground, an intelligent timing system precisely records officers' and soldiers' training results, freeing up the energy of unit cadre (带兵骨干) to study training organization methods and optimize training plans.

"The difficulty in advancing 'smart garrison' construction sometimes lies not in technological innovation, but in breaking the ingrained habit of thinking that 'investing manpower equals safety and reliability (投入人力等于安全稳妥).'" Reflecting on this experience, the regiment's leadership expressed deep feeling: "Repetitive labor that technological means can replace should no longer consume the energy of officers and soldiers. Freeing everyone from redundant affairs to train for combat and strengthen their capabilities — that is what it means to be responsible for combat effectiveness (战斗力)."