Exercises Modernization

From "Combined Organization" to "Combined Strength": Mentor-Apprentice Pairing Binds Officers and Soldiers into One Cohesive Force

从“合编”走向“合力”，师徒结对子让官兵拧成一股绳

PLA Daily (解放军报) 15 July 2026

Summary

Following an organizational restructuring that merged two aviation maintenance squadrons from different parent units, an unspecified PLA Air Force aviation maintenance squadron launched a formal mentor-apprentice pairing program last quarter to address skill mismatches created when personnel trained on different aircraft types were consolidated into a single unit. The article documents a concrete integration problem that recurs across PLA restructuring cycles: merged units inherit incompatible technical skill sets, and personnel who were qualified maintainers on legacy equipment become liabilities on unfamiliar platforms. The mentor-apprentice mechanism the squadron adopted—formalized agreements, a progress board, quarterly recognition—extends a well-documented PLA political-work tool into a technical readiness function, and the crack-detection anecdote is included to frame the program as a combat effectiveness issue rather than a morale or cohesion exercise.

Translation

"Starting today, I am your 'new partner'!" Last quarter, an aviation maintenance squadron of an Air Force unit held a mentor-apprentice pairing ceremony. Sergeant Qiao Jingchuan and Senior Sergeant First Class Qiu Yunhao, originally from different squadrons, sat together and solemnly signed a "Mentor-Apprentice Agreement." This was one scene from the squadron's new initiative to promote "mentor-apprentice pairing and apprenticeship learning."

Last year, the unit underwent an organizational restructuring, and two aviation maintenance squadrons originally belonging to different units were merged into the current squadron, presenting officers and soldiers with new practical challenges. On one hand, the time spent with new comrades was still short, mutual understanding was limited, and coordination during missions was insufficiently close. On the other hand, because the different units had supported different aircraft types, some comrades who had been capable backbone personnel in their original units now found themselves at a loss when facing new equipment. Many officers and soldiers had a mismatch between their skills and the equipment requirements. How to move everyone from "combined organization (合编)" to "combined strength (合力)" and quickly bind them into one cohesive force became an urgent problem the squadron needed to solve.

"If you don't know something, study it. If you're not familiar, communicate more. We cannot allow these problems to affect combat effectiveness generation!" At the Party committee meeting, the squadron's Party branch leadership took a clear stance. After several rounds of brainstorming, the squadron decided to launch a "mentor-apprentice pairing and apprenticeship learning" program, encouraging officers and soldiers to cross the boundaries of their original units and break down aircraft-type barriers to form teams, serve as each other's mentors and apprentices, learn from and promote each other, and improve support capabilities.

As soon as the program was launched, Qiao Jingchuan, originally from the First Squadron, was the first to raise his hand, applying to take Qiu Yunhao, originally from the Second Squadron, as his mentor. It turned out that Qiao Jingchuan had long known that Qiu Yunhao had extensive experience in troubleshooting faults on new equipment—precisely the capability gap Qiao Jingchuan had always wanted to fill. "Even though I've been working on the old aircraft type for several years, I don't know the new equipment well enough," Qiao Jingchuan said.

After forming a mentor-apprentice pair with Qiao Jingchuan, Qiu Yunhao held nothing back. He said: "We're all here to support flight operations—what's there to hide about good skills?" He quickly drew up a detailed study plan for Qiao Jingchuan. From then on, their figures working side by side could always be seen on the flight line: Qiu Yunhao explaining, Qiao Jingchuan taking notes, the two questioning each other back and forth. In just two months, Qiao Jingchuan had gained a preliminary grasp of common fault-diagnosis methods for the new equipment.

There are many similar "paired partners." The squadron established a dedicated "Mentor-Apprentice Progress Board" and selects "Outstanding Mentor-Apprentice Pairs" each quarter, cultivating an atmosphere of comparing, learning, catching up, helping, and surpassing (比学赶帮超).

Staff Sergeant Second Class Mei Qing and Private First Class Guo Wentao were the "Outstanding Mentor-Apprentice Pair" selected last quarter. Under Mei Qing's guidance, Guo Wentao made notable progress. During one maintenance inspection, Guo Wentao used a method Mei Qing had taught him to discover a crack in a certain component. After the two reported the problem, the squadron rapidly launched a comprehensive inspection, found multiple similar cracks, replaced and adjusted them in a timely manner, and eliminated the safety hazard. Afterward, the two exchanged a smile: "Our mentor-apprentice partnership doesn't waver when it counts!"

Watching the ever-growing list of names on the "Mentor-Apprentice Progress Board," squadron officer Qiu Zifeng remarked with repeated admiration: "Mutual assistance and mutual learning are producing results. Officers and soldiers are growing and improving rapidly, and the squadron's overall support capability level has also improved markedly."

Original Chinese

“从今天起，我就是你的‘新搭档’了！”上季度，空军某部机务中队举行了一场师徒结对仪式。原属不同中队的中士乔敬川与一级上士邱云浩坐在一起，郑重签下“师徒协议书”。这是该中队推行“师徒结对、拜师学艺”全新尝试的一个场景。去年，该部编制体制调整，原属不同单位的两个机务中队合并为如今的该中队，给官兵们带来了新的现实挑战——一方面，与新战友相处时间尚短，彼此了解不深，任务中协同不够密切；另一方面，因为不同单位保障的机型不同，有的同志在原单位本是独当一面的骨干，如今面对新装备感到无从下手，不少官兵存在技能与装备需求不匹配的问题……如何让大家从“合编”走向“合力”、尽快拧成一股绳，成了中队亟待破解的难题。 “不懂就学，不熟悉就多交流，不能让这些问题影响战斗力生成！”支委会上，中队支部一班人态度鲜明。几番头脑风暴后，该中队决定推出“师徒结对、拜师学艺”活动，鼓励官兵跨越原单位界限、打破机型壁垒进行组队，互为师徒、互学互促，提升保障能力。活动一经推出，原属一中队的乔敬川第一个举起了手，申请拜原属二中队的邱云浩为师。原来，乔敬川早就得知邱云浩在新装备故障排除上经验丰富，而这恰恰是乔敬川一直想补齐的能力短板。“虽然我已经在老机型上干了好几年，但对新装备却不够了解。”乔敬川说道。和乔敬川结为师徒后，邱云浩也不藏着掖着，他说：“都是为了保障飞行，好手艺有啥可藏的？”他很快为乔敬川制订出详细的学习计划。于是，停机坪上总能看到他们并肩工作的身影，邱云浩讲、乔敬川记，两人互相提问、有来有往。短短两个月时间过去，乔敬川已初步掌握新装备的常见故障排查方法。类似的“结对搭档”还有很多，中队专门设立“师徒共进榜”，每季度评选“优秀师徒对子”，营造比学赶帮超的氛围。二级上士梅庆和上等兵郭文韬是上季度评选出来的“优秀师徒对子”。在梅庆的指导下，郭文韬进步明显。一次检修时，郭文韬用梅庆教的方法，发现了某零部件的裂纹。师徒二人上报问题后，中队迅速展开全面排查，发现多处类似裂纹，及时更换调整，消除了安全隐患。事后，两人相视一笑：“咱这师徒搭档，关键时刻不含糊！” 看着“师徒共进榜”上越来越多的名字，中队干部邱子丰连连感慨：“互帮互学见成效，官兵成长进步迅速，中队整体保障能力水平也明显提升。”