Special Issue Commemorating the 105th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China | Keeping the Grand Strategic Picture in Mind, Cultivating Talent for the Party

The Party Committee of the College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, uses a "Service to Combat Readiness and Fighting List" to drive the cultivation of talent for war——

Keeping the Grand Strategic Picture in Mind, Cultivating Talent for the Party

■ Gu Ying, PLA Daily Special Correspondent Zhang Zhaoxing

On the eve of "July 1st," the summer heat was stifling. Inside a laboratory at the College of Aerospace Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, the hum of air conditioning intertwined with the clatter of keyboards. Wang Yujie, deputy Party branch secretary of a certain teaching and research section, set down the unmanned aerial vehicle in his hands and fixed his gaze on the "Service to Combat Readiness and Fighting List" displayed on his computer screen, his brow furrowing slightly.

Many items on the list had already been claimed and taken up by various Party branches, but one newly added requirement still sat alone at the bottom. "It looks like the Party branch will have to organize personnel to 'report for duty' to grassroots units again," he pondered, thinking about how to organize Party member backbone cadres to conduct research visits to units in conjunction with the graduating cadets' comprehensive exercises.

"Chairman Xi has profoundly pointed out that military academies were born for war and built for war, and must organize teaching around actual combat and cultivate talent with an eye toward winning," said a leader of the college's Party committee. "Strengthening military struggle preparations requires talent preparation as the key. We must stand at the height of cultivating talent for the Party and consolidating the foundation of a strong military, and consider talent cultivation work within the grand backdrop and grand strategic picture (大棋局) of achieving the centenary goal of army building." To break through the situation in which different Party branches within the same college each fought their own battles, and to make Party organizations truly become strong positions for aggregating technical forces, they actively tackled the problem, forming a mechanism of "Party committee leading, branches spearheading, backbone cadres driving," and explored the introduction of the "Service to Combat Readiness and Fighting List"—each year, led by the college Party committee, various Party branches go deep into units to understand service needs and operational difficulties, and voluntarily fill in and claim items according to their own research directions.

To deliver a satisfactory answer sheet, sitting in the office is not an option. Conducting symposiums and research visits at grassroots units, serving in acting positions, and participating in joint exercises have become the norm for Party member backbone cadres.

Wang Yujie's fingertip slid across the list and stopped at a project entry from last year—a highlight left by that Party branch.

At the time, Wang Yujie led a team to conduct research at a unit under the Eastern Theater Command, and on the very first day of reporting in, held a "coordination meeting" with officers and soldiers.

When word spread that the team would demonstrate a self-developed intelligent unmanned aerial vehicle, the conference room filled to capacity. In the video, an operator piloted the UAV into the air and completed a series of aerial tasks. "Our small UAVs are hand-assembled (手搓) by soldiers—the controllability is far inferior." "Every time we organize operator selection and training, it takes a lot of time, and many people still can't learn it."…

The deeper the discussion, the clearer the requirements became——

Timeline: 1 year;

Cost: further reduced;

Requirements: highly intelligent, one-button operation.

Staring at these few lines, even team members who had worked for many years in the field of intelligent unmanned aerial vehicles felt the challenge was considerable.

"The organizational force (组织力量) is an enormous combined strength—united in purpose and invincible," a college Party committee leader said bluntly. "Whether the 'lead goose formation' (头雁队伍) is strong depends on whether Party member backbone cadres can shoulder the heavy trust placed in them by the organization."

The harder the task, the more capability one accumulates. Under the leadership of Party member cadres, and drawing on invaluable first-hand data, they iterated the plan more than a dozen times, conducted five in-depth research visits to units, and carried out hundreds of experiments and data analyses. In the end, they successfully developed an intelligent quadrotor UAV, completed verification testing, and delivered it to units for trial use.

Soon, letters of thanks from grassroots units arrived one after another. The Party branch held a summary meeting in the office—an initial victory.

"Being able to fulfill the responsibilities entrusted by the organization gives us tremendous drive. But the follow-on work is right on our heels." Wang Yujie's use of the word "heels" (撵) was not an exaggeration—the Party branch continued its in-depth research, designed multiple comprehensive exercise scenarios, made the UAV's operational application a new graduation design topic for cadets to continue optimizing and upgrading. "After cadets are tempered through this kind of training, they can hit the ground running when they arrive at their units!" For them, cultivating young talent is more urgent than anything else.

Also a regular "headliner" on the list for spearheading breakthroughs, a Party branch of another teaching and research section has also noticeably increased the frequency of its visits to grassroots units to seek out difficult problems, find solutions, conduct simulations, and carry out verification.

That teaching and research section teaches the core courses on mechanics and overall aircraft design, and many of the concepts are abstract and obscure. Over the years, they have pursued both scientific research and teaching simultaneously, deeply studying cases drawn from grassroots units and applying the solutions developed back to those units.

"The closer you get to the grassroots, the more vivid the knowledge in the books becomes," a cadet told the reporter. He said he was looking forward to the new textbook that the teaching and research section had been planning for many years and was about to release, because it contains a large number of the latest equipment application cases. Instructor Ge Jianquan noted that they still need to tackle a major research topic. "If this technology is overcome, the level of equipment intelligentization will reach a new level, and our classroom will gain another vivid simulation case," Ge Jianquan said, adding that this is the project the Party branch is currently focusing its efforts on.

"The college Party committee not only manages macro-level matters and policies, but also manages coordination and services." In a few weeks, a Party branch of yet another teaching and research section will hold its second special training course on damage repair of composite materials in equipment.

Last summer, the inaugural training class welcomed 42 aviation maintenance officers and soldiers from Air Force frontline units. Theory study, virtual simulation, hands-on repair practice… they took a solid 6 days, 48 class hours of instruction.

In fact, the idea of running a professional maintenance training course had been brewing within the Party branch for a long time. In earlier years, in addition to their teaching and research duties, they often transformed into "repairmen," repairing combat aircraft for Air Force units. Sometimes, when a unit called for help, everyone would immediately pack up materials and tools and go "on-site" to make repairs. "When a combat aircraft breaks down, many of a unit's training tasks are affected. But relying on just the few of us—even if we grew three heads and six arms, we couldn't keep up." Party branch secretary Wu Nan said that the support and recognition of the college Party committee gave them the resolve to bring the training classroom to frontline units and purposefully cultivate more professional talent for the grassroots.

In the college's staff office, the reporter saw the "Service to Combat Readiness and Fighting List" still being updated—53 requirement entries, each one pointing to a pain point and difficulty in the units; 53 stories of hard-fought breakthroughs, each one saturated with the painstaking effort of cultivating talent for war, proving that every Party member backbone cadre behind this list carries deep within them the courage to cross the "deep water zone" (深水区), the wisdom to pass through the "overtaking zone" (超车区), and the audacity to venture into the "no-man's land" (无人区).

Layout design: Fang Han, Yang Lei

New-Type Military Talent Rallying Under the Party Flag

■ Zhang Shunliang

A multitude of talented people makes great undertakings possible; when talent flourishes, the nation's fortunes rise.

On the occasion of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the National Conference on Party Building Work convened and made work arrangements for studying and implementing Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building. "Persisting in building a high-quality cadre force capable of shouldering the responsibility of national rejuvenation" is one of the "Fourteen Persists" (十四个坚持) of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, fully highlighting the weight of the talent enterprise and talent work in the overall work of the Party and the state, and pointing the way forward for us to implement the strategy of strengthening the military through talent and strive to open up a new landscape for talent work in the new era.

A nation prospers through talent; a military grows strong through talent. Talent in relation to war is like the keel of a warship or the reins of a horse—it is "the most arduous war preparation." Victory before battle is decided is decided by talent. Seizing the initiative for victory in war and winning the initiative in strategic competition—the most fundamental and critical factor is talent, and the most urgent and needed factor is also talent. It can be said that whoever possesses the advantage in talent holds the strategic advantage in military confrontation, and holds the lifeline that determines the outcome of war.

When talent is strong, the cause is strong; when talent flourishes, the military flourishes. Surveying the shifting winds of the world and surveying the waves of the military revolution, Chairman Xi, with far-sighted vision, hit the nail on the head: "To achieve the goal of a strong military, we must have a large number of high-quality, responsibility-bearing backbone cadres for building and governing the military." The supreme commander's concerns and attention have guided our military's talent work to face the future, cultivate talent for war, and advance in an integrated manner. Grasping top-level design, accelerating implementation of the strategy of strengthening the military through talent; grasping the leading driver, building a high-quality new-type military talent cohort; grasping resource integration, improving the "trinity" (三位一体) talent cultivation system; grasping mechanism guarantees, building a high ground for attracting, gathering, and employing talent… In the new era with its new outlook, the path of strengthening the military through talent grows ever broader, the road for officers and soldiers to develop their abilities grows ever wider, and a mighty force for building and strengthening the military is being assembled.

Talent arrayed in formation, momentum surging; the military grows strong, ten thousand horses galloping. Today, from the command tent to the combat frontline, from the laboratory to the training ground, batch after batch of high-quality, professional joint operations command talent, new-type combat force talent, high-level science and technology innovation talent, and high-caliber strategic management talent are striding toward us. Skillfully wielding the great nation's heavy weapons and channeling the torrent of steel; forged in the fire of major exercises and training to intimidate strong adversaries; managing crises on the front lines of struggle and defending national sovereignty… People feel keenly, from the repeated takeoffs of combat aircraft, the repeated erection of missiles, the repeated roar of armor, and the repeated thunder of artillery, that a new-type military talent formation capable of fighting and winning across the entire military is rising.

"For truly extraordinary achievements, one must await truly extraordinary people." At present, our military is advancing in accordance with the new "three-step" strategic arrangement for national defense and military modernization, continuing to fight the hard battle to achieve the centenary goal of army building. To build and strengthen the military, "the more talent the better, the greater the ability the better." We must strengthen the sense of urgency that we cannot afford to wait and the sense of crisis that we cannot afford to slow down, deeply implement the new-era strategy of strengthening the military through talent, accelerate the building of a new-type military talent force, accelerate the advancement of military personnel modernization, and effectively transform the talent advantage into a victory advantage.

Party organizations at all levels of a brigade under the 76th Group Army pave the way and build platforms for officers and soldiers to develop their abilities——

"Military Camp Makers" (军营创客) Pursuing Their Dreams on the Road to a Strong Military

■ PLA Daily Special Correspondent Zang Qianwen

Can a simple component less than one meter in both length and width lever a heavy transport vehicle weighing dozens of tons? During a recent railway loading operation, Wei Fangkui, a Party member backbone cadre and Staff Sergeant Third Class of a brigade under the 76th Group Army, operated his self-developed "vehicle positioner" (车辆移位器), enabling a heavy transport vehicle to be precisely positioned in under 50 seconds—saving considerably more time than before.

As the train slowly started moving, Wei Fangkui's heart pounded like an alarm clock—the innovative equipment he had developed was officially being put into application and producing results in a cross-regional transport mission.

"Our small inventions, small creations, and small innovations didn't get stuck at the research and development stage and could be promoted and applied on the frontline—this is thanks to the innovation application mechanism introduced by the brigade Party committee." Wei Fangkui recalled that not long after he was assigned to the special driving squad, the brigade Party committee introduced a comprehensive set of talent-nurturing support measures, encouraging Party member backbone cadres to take the lead, treating their combat positions as fertile ground for incubating clever ideas, and boldly innovating with a focus on actual combat needs and training bottlenecks. In no time, multiple "maker" (创客) studios headed by Party member backbone cadres were born, and a large number of officers and soldiers good at innovation and willing to delve deep began to distinguish themselves.

The wave of research-for-war innovation led by the Party committee shone like a beam of light, illuminating Wei Fangkui's "maker" dream.

During one railway loading operation, an old positioner suddenly jammed and failed. Everyone took turns at emergency repairs, and it took quite a while before operations resumed. As a member of the Party vanguard, Wei Fangkui felt a strong sense of mission well up within him: this kind of problem had occurred before—the existing equipment had to be transformed to improve loading efficiency.

Wei Fangkui did not understand three-dimensional design or mechanical principles, so he could only start by making models out of cardboard, learning mechanics while using the models to demonstrate the concept. It seemed theoretically feasible, but how to put it into practice stumped him.

The strength of the Party organization manifested at this moment—the battalion Party committee quickly followed up, helped coordinate a professional team to conduct rigorous and detailed feasibility verification of the initial concept, and reported upward. In the end, the brigade Party committee determined that this innovation plan aligned with actual combat needs and had the value of being put into practical operation.

Without waiting long, the relevant supporting facilities were coordinated and completed: the brigade Party committee specifically arranged a research and development area, equipped it with an old transport vehicle as the main test platform, and assembled a think tank proficient in three-dimensional design and mechanical principles… Wei Fangkui cannot forget his feelings at the moment the "vehicle positioner" test succeeded: "The Party organization paved the way and built the platform, and Party member backbone cadres poured their efforts into the breakthrough, turning one 'golden idea' after another into 'golden fruit.'"

"The mission of the Party organization is to take the lead in tackling hard problems and transform innovative ideas into real and tangible combat effectiveness," a brigade Party committee leader introduced. They also attempted to establish an innovation achievement evaluation mechanism, actively applying for patents for achievements that meet relevant conditions and policy requirements, giving everyone's hard work and results professional protection and legitimate ownership confirmation, and enhancing officers' and soldiers' sense of achievement.

Party member backbone cadre and Staff Sergeant Third Class Chen Jiajia still remembers that afternoon when the company commander pushed open his dormitory door and excitedly shouted: "Jiajia, your patent certificate has arrived—this is the first one in our entire brigade!"

Stroking the seal on the certificate, countless moments spent crouching in the repair shop and hunched over a desk under lamplight flooded Chen Jiajia's mind. Over the past five years, Chen Jiajia has obtained six national utility model patent authorizations, each of which has already been applied in support of the frontline. "If the organization hadn't reminded me that I could apply for a patent, I truly hadn't thought of it," he said.

Staff Sergeant Second Class Qin Yong developed a "bridge-laying auxiliary device" that significantly improved the speed and precision of motorboat operators during pontoon bridge construction; Corporal Tang Yuancong independently innovated a "direction line auxiliary ruler" that can quickly determine target points and standing points, empowering field map-reading and command support… Under the sustained encouragement of Party organizations and the exemplary motivation of Party member backbone cadres, using small inventions to create great results has become the conscious pursuit of officers and soldiers throughout the brigade.

Momentum Surging, Strides Resolute

At dawn's first light, at an airfield of an Army unit, combat aircraft stand in formation. Pilots march in formation onto the field, their strides resolute. They are about to pilot their aircraft to contest the skies and temper their iron wings, tracing one magnificent flight path after another. Photo by Li Xiaoxiao

As the sun sets in the west, at a field training site, dust flies and armored vehicles race. Officers and soldiers of a brigade under the 77th Group Army, having completed a series of training subjects, are maneuvering toward a designated area. Photo by He Lijun

Voices

Staff Officer of a Unit under the Western Theater Command, Gao Song:

At a Party standing committee meeting not long ago, I strongly agreed with a statement made by the Party branch secretary: "Joint operations command talent is the foundation of the theater command's primary warfighting mission and the key to winning battles." Over the past two years, implementing instructions from higher-level Party committees, we have extended the scope of joint operations command talent cultivation down to below the battalion level, refined the capability indicators for grassroots commanders to carry out joint operations tasks, and focused on building "plug-and-play" command modules for joint operations.

I am a beneficiary of this change—the Party organization has sent batch after batch of outstanding talent for advanced study and upward assignment, enabling me to move toward a broader platform. Today, for me, joint operations experiments, network simulation confrontations, and the like are already second nature.

Cadre of a Unit under the Cyberspace Force, Xiao Guorui:

On April 19, 2024, under the decision and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, the Cyberspace Force was formally established as a brand-new strategic branch of service.

As a member of this high-technology force and as a veteran Party member of 17 years, I have led my team in breakthroughs in the field of surveying and navigation—from personally building the first data collection platform, to breaking through the bottleneck of high-precision core technology in a certain type of system. Every step has been a trek through "no-man's land" (无人区). But innovation has never been a solitary journey—the Party organization has improved incentive measures, improved fault-tolerance mechanisms, and cultivated a rich atmosphere of respecting and caring for talent, giving me the confidence to achieve meritorious service.