Garrison Observation | "Direct Service Express" Goes to Sea with the Fleet

Focusing on "Problems That Surface at the Combat Station"

■ Li Yiyang, PLA Daily Reporter Xiang Liming

A ship's whistle cut through the thin morning mist. At a naval port in the East China Sea, a formation of vessels was about to cast off and set sail. Beside the gangway of the Zibo, a group from the headquarters of a certain flotilla (支队) under the Eastern Theater Command Navy stepped onto the gangway and prepared to board.

Qin, a staff officer from the flotilla's human resources section, paused and patted the backpack behind him, telling the reporter that in addition to a few changes of clothes, it contained business materials, work manuals, survey forms, and other office supplies, as well as professional books prepared for the sailors.

More than twenty days at sea on an extended voyage—not a single piece of "official baggage" left behind. Why?

Staff Officer Qin explained that this boarding was different from previous on-ship research trips. He and his colleagues had brought with them a brand-new task assigned by the flotilla headquarters: to bring innovative measures for serving the grassroots aboard the ship, and to push the headquarters' service front forward to the combat station (战位) on the front line.

Once aboard, Qin set down his luggage and went straight to the sailors' activity room. He wanted to exchange views with the ship's officers and men as quickly as possible: first, to gather grassroots needs regarding talent development, and to listen to the voices from the combat stations regarding the career development of the flotilla's personnel; and second, to refine the service-for-combat list (为战服务清单) that had been jointly compiled by the various sections of the headquarters.

Within the Eastern Theater Command Navy flotilla, the headquarters service team that boards ships with assigned tasks—like Staff Officer Qin—now has a resounding name: the "Direct Service Express" (服务直通车).

"In the past, headquarters service to the grassroots often followed the pattern of 'grassroots reports up, headquarters transfers it along'—problems went around in circles, resolution cycles were long, and results were slow," the flotilla leadership acknowledged candidly. Now the flotilla is exploring the establishment of an "embedded" service mechanism (嵌入式服务机制), out of which the "Direct Service Express" was born—a service team composed of a mixed group of backbone personnel from the various functional sections of the headquarters, who board ships to "work" during navigation and training intervals, seizing every available moment to conduct research, answer questions, and resolve difficulties.

Sun, an assistant in the headquarters' ship maintenance section, discovered during one sea voyage that there was room to optimize the maintenance procedures for a certain type of equipment. After returning to port, rather than simply handing off the problem, he brought the grassroots feedback back to the headquarters and, after repeated deliberation, developed an improvement plan.

Not long ago, he once again shouldered his pack and boarded a ship, prepared to jointly verify the optimization plan with the officers and men during follow-on training. He said: "Problems that surface at the combat station always strike at the vital points of training. Resolving the difficulties and bottlenecks of the training ground on the spot—that is what it truly means to focus on enhancing combat effectiveness."

Today in this flotilla, ships spend an average of more than 180 days at sea per year, and the "Direct Service Express" delivering services aboard ships has become the new normal. Trip after trip, the "Direct Service Express" accompanies the vessels as they cleave through the waves, embedding service into the training chain, listening to the voices of the troops and resolving their difficulties, steadily closing the distance between headquarters and the grassroots amid the surging seas.

The whistle sounded again, and the ship formation slowly pulled away from the dock. Watching the naval port recede into the distance, Staff Officer Qin felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. From "sitting in the office" to "delivering service aboard ship," this "Direct Service Express" is driving a transformation in the working style of the flotilla's headquarters.

"Only by bending down can you truly 'connect with the ship's spirit' (接舰气)," Staff Officer Qin said. "We must make the most of this opportunity aboard ship and produce a 'research report' that satisfies both the headquarters and the grassroots."

Eastern Theater Command Navy Flotilla Improves Work Style to Help Grassroots Officers and Men Overcome Difficulties——

"Direct Service Express" Goes to Sea with the Fleet

■ Li Yiyang, Wei Chenping, PLA Daily Reporter Xiang Liming

The Anqing formation underway. Photo by Wei Chenping.

"Shoulder to Shoulder" in Solving Problems

Headquarters Personnel Shift from "Referee" to "Teammate"

"A certain system has suffered a sudden malfunction—immediately activate the backup plan!" Just as the vessel was about to set out, an unexpected situation arose. The officers and men of the Zibo immediately entered a combat-ready state. This was not a real emergency, however, but a test question set on the spot by members of the headquarters "Direct Service Express" who were aboard for follow-on training, designed to assess emergency response capabilities.

The results were gratifying—the officers and men activated an entirely new response procedure, cutting the time to switch to the backup plan by one-quarter compared with before. The ship's officers and men explained that this new response procedure was an achievement driven by Zhang, a section chief (业务长) from a certain section of the headquarters "Direct Service Express," during his time aboard.

During a previous follow-on training deployment, Section Chief Zhang had witnessed a certain radar system producing errors under strong electromagnetic interference. Rather than simply logging the problem, he engaged in repeated discussions with the ship's backbone personnel and proactively contacted the equipment manufacturer, condensing what had been a cumbersome switching procedure into a set of "three-step instructions" and designing a "backup plan quick-reference card" for ease of operation. During this assessment, the officers and men used precisely this new plan, still fresh with the smell of ink.

"In the past, we often felt that the headquarters came aboard with a ruler to 'find fault,' and we couldn't help but feel resistant; now they come proactively to help us 'clear mines,' and it feels especially close to home," the Zibo's navigation officer said with genuine feeling.

From "inspection and inquiry" to "shoulder-to-shoulder mine clearing," headquarters personnel have shifted from "referee" to "teammate." This transformation rapidly triggered a chain reaction throughout the flotilla: Assistant Zhang from the support department boarded ship with a "rapid vibration anomaly identification method," converting obscure data into maintenance mnemonics that officers and men could easily understand and use; Staff Officer Cao from the political work department spent several consecutive days in a cramped compartment, discussing with the ship's department heads an online plan for professional skills certification during extended voyages…

Going aboard ship drives the transformation of headquarters work style and focuses service on enhancing combat effectiveness.

At the dock, before a certain vessel set out, a damage control drill targeting compartment breaches quietly got underway. The mechanical and electrical section chief (机电业务长) from a certain headquarters section observed the entire exercise—not only timing it with a stopwatch, but also closely monitoring the practical effectiveness of the response procedures.

He first affirmed the speed of the sealing, then pivoted sharply to the sealing position: "The support points you chose are the most convenient positions for interior compartment operations. On the battlefield, will the enemy specifically target these kinds of 'convenient positions' for attack?"

The section chief suggested on the spot that the scenario be adjusted, moving the leak-sealing point to a cramped corner requiring a half-crouch and a sideways lean. The second drill took noticeably longer, but after this tempering, the officers and men acknowledged: "Our understanding of the word 'battlefield' has deepened considerably."

During the after-action review, he again identified shortcomings in coordination and cooperation, then joined the crew in drawing flowcharts and rehearsing plans. A new damage control contingency plan based on "modular grouping plus dynamic response" (模块化编组+动态响应) was thus born.

Today in this flotilla, the standard for pre-departure inspections has been upgraded from "plans complete, equipment normal" to a live-combat test of "responding to unexpected situations, system-level stress resistance" (应对特情、体系抗压). As one department head on a certain vessel put it: "Every inspection is a live-combat exercise. There are no bystanders aboard ship—everyone is being tempered."

The Zibo conducting maritime training. Photo by He Congcong.

"Knocking on Doors" to Identify Needs

Shifting from Waiting for Problems to Be Reported to Proactively Breaking Through Difficulties

Late at night, a certain vessel slowly came alongside after completing high-intensity adversarial training. In the ship's conference room, the vessel's anti-air warfare officer was leading backbone personnel through an after-action review of issues with a certain type of equipment under severe sea conditions.

At that same moment, in the flotilla headquarters building, Wu, an assistant from a certain section and a member of the headquarters "Direct Service Express," was also working overtime. Under the desk lamp, she was cross-referencing training data—hull attitude and sea condition parameters—brought back from the extended voyage, carefully analyzing the dispersion patterns of a certain type of equipment's point of impact under different sea conditions.

"Before the next voyage, we must produce practical and effective concrete measures," Assistant Wu told the reporter. Today in this flotilla, headquarters and grassroots working in sync to tackle hard problems has become the norm.

However, when the headquarters "Direct Service Express" was first introduced, coordination at all levels was not close. Officers and men on a certain vessel had once reported that a certain type of equipment had a high component failure rate and was prone to jamming. The headquarters transferred this difficulty, as reported by the grassroots, through the proper channels to the various business departments. After a round of research and deliberation, more than half a year had passed, yet the problem remained unresolved.

"Sitting in the office waiting for problems to be reported layer by layer may look like following procedure, but in reality it is a failure to take responsibility," the flotilla leadership said pointedly at a political rectification (政治整训) thematic meeting. "We must shift from waiting for problems to be reported to proactively breaking through difficulties and resolving them." Under this heavy blow, the lazy-governance (懒政) mindset of "as long as the procedure is followed, the responsibility is not mine" was broken, and the sense of urgency that "we cannot afford to wait, we cannot afford to be slow" gave rise to a new service norm of "proactively identifying needs."

A change in concept gives rise to new practice.

Assistant Fan from the support department discovered during a routine inspection that a certain vessel's lubricating oil was being consumed abnormally during training. Rather than stopping at "noting the problem" or "passing it on to the next party," he proactively boarded the ship with testing instruments to "diagnose the problem," and ultimately, together with the ship's backbone personnel, located a slow leak at a concealed valve.

Afterward, Assistant Fan leveraged his role as a "Direct Service Express" member to lead a multi-department coordinated effort, completing an inspection and rectification of all same-type vessels in the entire flotilla within one week, eliminating this hidden danger at the root.

"Combat effectiveness development tolerates not the slightest buck-passing or waiting around. Taking the initiative to cut problems out at the root is the only way to seize the initiative for victory one second sooner." Assistant Fan's words captured the weight of the word "proactive" in service and problem-solving.

Within this flotilla, there are many more stories of headquarters cadres "knocking on doors" to identify needs. Staff Officer Ma from the political work department carries with him an "Analysis Report on Officers' and Men's Ideological Trends" and a family liaison support plan, and uses the opportunity of vessels coming into port for rest and maintenance to enter compartment after compartment to listen to the voices of officers and men.

Aboard a certain vessel, when Staff Officer Ma was talking with new recruit Zhou Xinjie, he noticed that this soldier—outstanding in training and excellent in his specialty—always had a furrowed brow. Upon closer inquiry, the knot in his heart came to the surface: "I want to take the examination to become an officer, and the ship's leadership often encourages me, but I don't know the specific conditions or how many slots there are, and I'm even afraid that asking too much will make people think I'm calculating…" Staff Officer Ma reviewed the materials and verified the policies overnight, and the next day brought a detailed response back aboard ship.

Responding to the concerns of officers and men and "knocking to inquire" about grassroots needs—only then can one truly resolve real difficulties and provide genuine help. Today, proactive service and forward-positioned support (靠前保障) have become the compass for this flotilla's headquarters, and one by one the specific, small-scale "matters weighing on officers' and men's minds" are being resolved——

A staff officer accompanying a certain vessel noticed that young officers harbored an impetuous mindset, and immediately coordinated with the operations and training section to tailor a growth mentorship plan; an assistant from the medical affairs office, upon hearing of soldiers' latent need for psychological adjustment during long voyages, pushed for the psychological services team to incorporate "compartment micro-classrooms" (舱室微课堂) into the service plan…

Late at night in the headquarters office, Staff Officer Ma was organizing the officers' and men's needs collected during research, and beginning to draft a "Guideline for the Pre-emptive Resolution of Common Demands Among Officers and Men" (官兵共性诉求前置化解指引). He said: "Only when the 'chronic difficulties' troubling the grassroots are transformed into new growth points for combat effectiveness can the 'Direct Service Express' be said to have truly reached the hearts of the soldiers."

Officers and men aboard ship conducting chart work. Photo by Wei Chenping.

"Working" Aboard Ship

Putting One's Mind Truly on the Ship, Not Suspended Ashore

"Last time aboard, we found that a certain radar had unstable signals under specific sea conditions—we have already coordinated with the manufacturer to develop an auxiliary tool…" On the deck of a certain vessel, Sun, the ship maintenance section assistant boarding again, opened his toolbox and produced a newly developed trial-use piece of equipment.

"I didn't expect it to be resolved so quickly," said the vessel's intelligence and electronics officer standing nearby, pleasantly surprised—this had been no more than a training difficulty he had casually mentioned a month earlier.

"The difficulties of grassroots officers and men cannot be treated as idle talk. Any training requirement may conceal a breakthrough point for combat effectiveness." Today, more and more "Direct Service Express" members board ships carrying plans and facing difficulties head-on. They have moved their "office" to the combat station, making the urgent needs and pressing concerns of the grassroots the handle for service.

"Working" aboard ship has gradually become a "propulsion engine" for grassroots combat effectiveness. On one voyage, the anti-submarine warfare petty officer of a certain vessel reported that the ship-aircraft coordinated anti-submarine procedure was not running smoothly. Staff Officer Zhang from a certain section, who was aboard for follow-on training, immediately opened a case-study video of combat methods and training methods he had prepared in advance: "We're thinking along the same lines! This is a perfect opportunity to jointly study and advance the optimization of the procedure."

In the ship's study room, Staff Officer Wu from the propaganda section, who had boarded at the same time, handed the radar team a disc containing the "Deep Blue Reading List" (深蓝书单) professional e-book library he had brought with him, encouraging them to study diligently. The radar team leader remarked with feeling: "These books are the 'key' that leads us to the battlefield." Driven by the "Direct Service Express," the entire ship's enthusiasm for study was ignited. By the end of the voyage, the radar team had not only worked through the professional books but had also compiled, based on the actual mission, a "Tips for Radar Operation in Complex Environments."

"If one's own positioning is inaccurate, it is difficult for headquarters service to combat effectiveness development to produce real results," the flotilla leadership emphasized at a deployment meeting. The task is not only to board ships and resolve "combat effectiveness concerns" (战力之忧), but also to consider the "concerns about matters left behind" (后顾之忧) of officers and men.

Listening to the voices of soldiers and going down to the combat station to resolve difficulties at the first moment—this is the deeper logic of "working" aboard ship. In the boarding pack of Staff Officer Wang from a certain section, there is a treasured copy of the "Contingency Plan for Handling Service Matters for Troops" and a "warm-hearted notebook" (暖心笔记). In the notebook, he records pending matters one by one, annotating the degree of urgency and the deadline for handling.

Flipping through it, the reporter found that one item—concerning the hospitalization of Deputy Team Leader Yu's wife from a certain vessel after a burn injury—had been checked off, but he had added a note beside it: "Emergency liaison mechanism needs improvement—urgent!" It turned out that when Staff Officer Wang reviewed the matter, he found that the flotilla lacked an institutionalized channel for supporting the families of personnel on operational missions.

"Officers and men are at sea; there is no one at home to provide care. This time it could be handled through personal coordination—what about next time?" Carrying this reflection, Staff Officer Wang took the lead in coordinating with the human resources, security, and other sections to research and issue the "Regulations on Emergency Liaison Handling for Officers' and Men's Families" (官兵家庭应急联络处置规范), and established fixed liaison channels with multiple hospitals, schools, and neighborhood offices in the local area, substantively resolving the concerns about matters left behind for military families.

That day, when Staff Officer Wang was reviewing the quarterly "Officers' and Men's Demands Resolution Ledger," he found an urgent message: "Unresolved matters for a certain vessel during in-port rest and maintenance." He closed the ledger, picked up the newly issued regulations, and hurried out of the office toward the dock.

"Only by putting one's mind truly on the ship, not suspended ashore, can problems be substantively resolved," said a headquarters cadre accompanying him. "From 'saying it' to 'doing it,' the first step is being able to leave the office and get aboard ship. From 'desk documents' to 'practical combat measures' (战法实招), only by bending down and walking to the combat station can one truly resolve the difficulties and confusion of grassroots officers and men."