One Case Reveals the Prevailing Winds; One Incident Rectifies the Soldiers' Hearts

This NCO Selection and Promotion Cycle Sees the People's Armed Police Chongqing General Detachment Mobile Support Unit Continuously Strengthen Conduct and Discipline Building—

Capability and Quality Are the Best "Road"

■ Shi Lu, Tang Ke, Hou Junjie; illustrated by Li Kunyu

In early summer, a vocational skills assessment examination for the infantry specialty was held on schedule. Inside the examination hall of the People's Armed Police Chongqing General Detachment Mobile Support Unit, order was maintained throughout; only the soft scratching of pens on paper could be heard. In this contest of professional competence and duty performance, Corporal Xiao Zhou of the police duty company sat upright at his examination desk—reading the questions, thinking, and answering in one unbroken flow.

When the examination ended, he called his father at the first opportunity: "Dad, I performed normally this time and showed my true level. Whatever the result, I have a clear conscience." On the other end of the line, his father repeatedly said good, and urged Xiao Zhou again and again to serve with peace of mind and work with his feet on the ground.

This seemingly ordinary scene conceals a story of discipline and family conduct.

Several months earlier, the unit's spring NCO selection and promotion work had commenced on schedule. With limited slots and fierce competition, Xiao Zhou—then a Private First Class—prepared seriously for each assessment while bearing no small amount of pressure.

His father, far away in their hometown, learned of his son's preparation and was filled with worry, wanting to help but not knowing how.

After much deliberation, he called his son. "Promotion depends on connections; advancement depends on working the right people." Over the phone, he advised Xiao Zhou that while preparing seriously for the assessments, he should also find ways to "grease the wheels" and "pave the road" for his selection and promotion. Xiao Zhou, who understood military discipline and regulations well, patiently explained on multiple occasions: "Selection and promotion follow the system and are based on actual performance, not personal favors. Capability and quality are the best 'road.'"

His father remained uneasy. Seeing that persuasion had failed, he transferred a sum of money directly into Xiao Zhou's bank account, specifically for use in cultivating personal relationships.

On one side was his family's earnest expectations; on the other was the disciplinary red line that must not be crossed. Xiao Zhou hesitated for a time.

At this critical moment, he thought of his own identity as a grassroots conduct-and-discipline monitor. "Day to day, I am responsible for monitoring others. Now that I face this situation myself, I absolutely cannot be the slightest bit ambiguous." After weighing the matter carefully, he proactively reported the situation to the company Party branch.

Upon learning the details, the company Party branch recognized that some service members' family members still harbored misconceptions, and that sensitive grassroots issues still carried potential risks of rule violations and disciplinary infractions that had to be identified and resolved in a timely manner.

Soon after, the political instructor proactively contacted Xiao Zhou's father and explained to him, item by item, the NCO selection and promotion procedures and scoring criteria, and made clear the relevant disciplinary requirements. At first, Xiao Zhou's father remained skeptical. Through the patient, meticulous, and reason-and-emotion-grounded repeated communication of the company's cadres, he came to understand that the unit's selection and promotion process was fully open and transparent and subject to oversight at every level, that everyone was judged on actual performance rather than personal connections, and he thereby completely dispelled his biases and doubts.

Subsequently, the company's cadres and backbone personnel focused on Xiao Zhou's individual development, adhering to the principle of strict management combined with genuine care, providing him with targeted mentoring and identifying and filling gaps in his knowledge and skills. Xiao Zhou also shed his ideological burden, returned the money to his father, set aside distracting thoughts, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to examination preparation.

After a period of hard training, Xiao Zhou's scores across all areas improved markedly.

During the assessment, he gave his full effort and strove to excel, ultimately achieving outstanding results. In the democratic evaluation phase, relying on his consistently diligent and hardworking conduct and his strong reputation among the troops, he received unanimous recognition from his comrades.

In the end, Xiao Zhou successfully advanced to Corporal with a composite ranking near the top, delivering a satisfying answer sheet for his efforts, and using concrete results to dispel his family's concerns.

One case reveals the prevailing winds; one incident rectifies the soldiers' hearts. Xiao Zhou's experience also sparked lively discussion among his fellow soldiers. "NCO selection and promotion should be exactly like this—let results do the talking, so that those who advance feel justified and those who are not selected are convinced." Private First Class Xiao Liu faces selection and promotion next year; the fair and transparent system gives him greater confidence.

Relying on "shortcuts" has long since ceased to work, and moreover leaves an unstable foundation; relying on hard work makes the process arduous, but will certainly lead to steady and lasting progress. The unit's Party committee also recognized that some service members' family members are unfamiliar with military regulations, lack understanding of the military's mechanisms for selecting and developing personnel, and still hold certain worldly and one-sided views, which is detrimental to service members' development and advancement. Accordingly, they have continued to deepen family conduct education, carrying out activities such as "Face-to-Face with Family Members" and "A Letter to Service Members' Families," routinely disseminating various regulations and policies, and guiding service members' family members to serve as good "integrity partners" (廉内助) and build a "firewall" for family conduct.

The mother of one soldier actively participated in family conduct education during a family visit to the unit. After studying the standards of clean and honest conduct, she remarked with feeling: "The unit's rules are clear and its conduct is upright. We are very reassured to see our child grow and advance here!"

Advocating integrity in visible forms, nurturing it silently like rain. In recent years, the unit has continuously strengthened conduct and discipline building. For sensitive matters such as NCO selection and promotion, meritorious service and award evaluations, and Party membership and study opportunities, it has strictly implemented the system of open policies, open procedures, and open results, and resolutely eliminated interference from personal favors and behind-the-scenes manipulation. Not long ago, the unit organized a theoretical examination for Party member development. The entire question bank was made public throughout the process, assessment standards were refined, and oversight channels were improved. All officers and soldiers competed on the same stage under fair competition, striving for opportunities for advancement through capability and quality.

Service Members Uphold Integrity; Families Share in Integrity

■ Shi Lu

Unit conduct and discipline bears on military morale and the building of combat power. In recent years, with the continued deepening of political rectification training (政治整训), unit conduct and discipline has continuously improved. Officers and soldiers have felt keenly that sensitive matters of all kinds have become increasingly open and transparent, creating a fair and equitable environment for their growth and advancement. When Mobile Support Unit Corporal Xiao Zhou of the People's Armed Police Chongqing General Detachment faced the tension between disciplinary rules and his family's expectations during the selection and promotion process, what kind of ideological struggle did he undergo? What supported him in making the correct decision and ensuring that his path of growth and advancement remained clean and upright? Recently, this reporter conducted a face-to-face interview with Xiao Zhou to hear what was on his mind.

Question: When faced with your family's intention to spend money to smooth over relationships and "pave the road" for your retention in the unit, what were you thinking at the time?

Answer: As a son, I can understand my parents' desire for their child to succeed. They cared about me and worried that I might be at a disadvantage at a critical moment in my growth and advancement. But once I put on the uniform, I became a soldier. The education I have received day to day has made me deeply aware that compliance with rules and discipline is the most fundamental principle. At the same time, as a grassroots conduct-and-discipline monitor, I have come to understand even more clearly through the exercise of my duties where the unit's disciplinary bottom lines lie. If I had used the money my parents transferred to cultivate personal relationships, it might have seemed like I was creating opportunities for myself, but in reality I would have been crossing a disciplinary red line—an act of irresponsibility toward my own military career. So I made up my mind: I had to hold the line and earn my right to remain in the unit through my own efforts.

Question: Having gone through this experience, what deeper understanding and insights have you gained about unit conduct and discipline?

Answer: I feel that today the unit environment is clean and upright, and every officer and soldier has a stage for fair competition. On the road of growth and advancement, what counts is capability, what is compared is actual performance, and what matters is reputation. The old thinking of "working connections and relying on back channels" no longer works. Various regulations and systems have also established a clear orientation of standing on the basis of quality and advancing on the basis of actual performance. This has made me deeply feel that a soldier's greatest source of confidence is solid competence. Any crooked path or opportunistic shortcut has no footing. Only by holding firm to the bottom line of clean and honest conduct and diligently fulfilling one's duties can one establish a firm footing in the military and advance steadily.

Question: Some service members' family members still harbor the idea of using money and personal connections to smooth over relationships. As soldiers, what should we do?

Answer: Some family members have a limited understanding of military discipline, insufficient knowledge of policies, and low enthusiasm for participating in family conduct building, making them prone to developing mistaken views about personal favors and social relationships. To address these sticking points, our unit has conducted family conduct education on multiple occasions, inviting family members to visit integrity walls, attend integrity classes together, and write integrity pledges, guiding service members' family members to change their fixed perceptions and creating a strong atmosphere in which service members uphold integrity and families share in integrity. On a personal level, I also need to communicate more with my family, move them with feeling and persuade them with reason, help them strengthen their understanding, and gain their comprehension and support. Only in this way can we jointly create a good environment of compliance with rules and discipline and clean and honest conduct, and our confidence in holding the line and diligently fulfilling our duties will be all the stronger.

Question: After successfully being selected for promotion, what plans do you have for your personal development going forward?

Answer: This successful promotion is recognition from the organization and my comrades, and even more so a spur and an encouragement. As a newly promoted Corporal, I am clear that I still have many shortcomings and deficiencies. Going forward, I will focus on my professional weak points, sharpen my military skills, stand firm in my post and fulfill my duties diligently, repay the organization's cultivation with solid competence, and walk every step of my military career steadily and earnestly.