Personnel Political Work

National Defense University: Helping the "Critical Minority" Take the "Critical Lesson" Well

国防大学：帮“关键少数”上好“关键一课”

PLA Daily (解放军报) 16 July 2026

Summary

National Defense University has institutionalized discipline and anti-corruption education as the mandatory first lesson for incoming senior cadre students—the 关键少数 ('critical minority')—embedding conduct-reminder cards in dormitories, rolling electronic-screen broadcasts of daily management standards, and a discipline inspection team throughout teaching management, while the Joint Operations College has run its 'Forging the Soul at Xibaipo' situational course for 20 consecutive years. The article documents the university's sustained effort to address a recognized institutional vulnerability: senior commanders who arrive with entrenched habits of authority and, in the framing's own terms, 'shortcut thinking.' The repeated emphasis on resetting rank identity and enforcing the same standards as ordinary students points to persistent friction between the PLA's anti-corruption campaign and the cultural expectations of senior officers entering professional military education—what remains unknown is whether the disciplinary enforcement described reflects new procedural changes or restates existing policy.

Translation

National Defense University Makes Discipline and Rules Education the First Lesson for Senior Cadre Students Upon Enrollment——

Helping the "Critical Minority" (关键少数) Take the "Critical Lesson" (关键一课) Well

■ PLA Daily Reporter Luo Jinmu

In the height of summer, a lively clean governance culture (廉洁文化) symposium and exchange event unfolded at National Defense University. During the event, the discipline inspection commission secretaries of the university's various colleges engaged in in-depth discussion on topics including tempering the official virtue and personal character (官德人品) of senior cadre students, strengthening family education and family conduct (家庭家教家风) development, and cultivating a strong teacher's ethic and conduct (师德师风). This is one of the university's concrete measures to leverage clean governance culture development in support of the cultivation of joint operations command personnel.

"Senior cadre students are important commanders on the future battlefield, and they are also a priority target for clean governance education." A university leader explained that, as the furnace for forging the loyalty and tempering the Party spirit (党性淬炼) of the entire military's senior commanders, the university has consistently advanced clean governance culture development and teaching tasks as an integrated whole, working to build a distinctive clean governance culture brand of "loyalty as the root, integrity as the foundation" (忠诚为根、清廉为本).

The university keeps its sights fixed on the "critical minority" of senior cadre students, making discipline and rules education the first lesson upon enrollment. On the very day students report in, the first thematic education session on study conduct is launched; discipline and conduct reminder cards for study and training are placed in dormitory rooms; daily management standards are broadcast on a rolling basis on building electronic screens; and clear red lines are drawn in the areas of political discipline, cultivation of study conduct, internal and external interactions, and behavioral formation. The university's conduct and discipline inspection team is also embedded throughout teaching management, bearing down hard on violations of regulations and discipline, and establishing a clear orientation of strict discipline enforcement.

The study notebooks of students in the university's Commander Class are densely filled with study reflections and personal insights. One student frankly stated: "Upon enrollment, everything resets to zero; your identity is that of a student." All members of the Commander Class strictly implement the "three transformations" (三个转变) requirement—shifting from performing duties in one's post to studying with a focused mind, shifting from daily life in the troops to the college classroom, and shifting from being a leading cadre back to being an ordinary student. Implementation of systems such as morning exercise formation, interior management, and leave request and cancellation reporting is held to the same standard as for ordinary students. Late at night, the lights in the graduate school dormitory building of the university often burn long. Immersed in a strong atmosphere of scholarly conduct (研风), students set aside "shortcut thinking" (捷径思维), focus their collective intelligence on tackling difficult battlefield problems, and write academic papers oriented toward actual combat requirements.

The university places emphasis on drawing on the red bloodline (红色血脉) as the source and living water for forging the soul and cultivating personnel. The Joint Operations College has for 20 consecutive years conducted situational teaching under the program "Forging the Soul at Xibaipo" (铸魂西柏坡); the Military Management College organizes faculty and students to travel to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and the Jiao Yulu Cadre College for on-site tempering, gaining an understanding of integrity and clean conduct by following in the footsteps of their predecessors; the Political College leverages its advantage in theoretical teaching and research, continuously building high-quality courses, and uses the Party's innovative theories to firmly establish the ideological foundation for revering integrity and rejecting corruption.

The university also emphasizes innovation in cultural vehicles to create an immersive educational environment (浸润式育人环境). Inside the campus's hundred-meter clean governance culture corridor, classic texts, physical artifacts, and documentary micro-videos are displayed in sequence; a situational course on ancient Chinese clean governance culture has been launched, guiding students to appreciate the profound heritage of upright conduct through immersive experiential settings, making the reverence for integrity and adherence to righteousness (崇廉守正) a conscious action and value pursuit for all faculty and students across the university.

With an eye toward creating a campus environment of clean conduct and upright atmosphere (风清气正), the university will organize teaching to higher standards and stricter requirements, educating and guiding students to consciously put themselves in the right position, stand firm on the standpoint of the masses, and overcome all selfish and extraneous thoughts that are divorced from the masses; and to take the lead in restoring and carrying forward the fine traditions of our Party and our military, setting aside official airs and returning to the true character of revolutionary soldiers.

Original Chinese

国防大学将纪律规矩教育作为高级干部学员入校第一课—— 帮“关键少数”上好“关键一课” ■解放军报记者罗金沐盛夏时节，国防大学一场廉洁文化座谈交流活动火热展开。活动中，该校各学院纪委书记围绕锤炼高级干部学员官德人品、加强家庭家教家风建设、培塑过硬师德师风等内容展开深入交流。这是该校以廉洁文化建设助力联合作战指挥人才培养的具体举措之一。 “高级干部学员是未来战场上的重要指挥员，也是廉洁教育的重点对象。”该校领导介绍，作为全军高级指挥员忠诚培塑、党性淬炼的熔炉，他们始终把廉洁文化建设与教学任务一体统筹推进，着力打造“忠诚为根、清廉为本”特色廉洁文化品牌。该校紧盯高级干部学员这个“关键少数”，将纪律规矩教育作为入校第一课。学员报到当日即展开首堂学风专题教育课，宿舍内摆放学习培训作风纪律提示卡、楼宇电子屏滚动播放日常管理规范，从政治纪律、学风培塑、内外交往、行为养成等方面划出清晰红线。该校作风纪律巡查组还全程嵌入教学管理，狠抓违规违纪问题，立起严格执纪的鲜明导向。该校指挥员班学员的学习笔记本上，密密麻麻记录着学习思考和心得体会。一名学员坦言：“入校即归零，身份即学员。”指挥员班全员严格落实从岗位履职转向静心求学、从部队日常转入院校课堂、从领导干部回归普通学员的“三个转变”要求，早操列队、内务整理、请销假报备等制度落实与普通学员一个标准。深夜，该校研究生院宿舍楼常常灯火长明。在浓厚研风的熏陶下，学员们摒弃“捷径思维”，紧盯战场难题集智攻关，着眼实战需求撰写学术论文。该校注重将红色血脉作为铸魂育人的源头活水。联合作战学院连续20年开展“铸魂西柏坡”情境教学；军事管理学院组织教员学员赴酒泉卫星发射中心、焦裕禄干部学院开展实地淬炼，在追寻先辈足迹中感悟清廉操守；政治学院发挥理论教研优势，持续打造精品课程，以党的创新理论筑牢崇廉拒腐思想根基。该校还注重创新文化载体，营造浸润式育人环境。校园百米廉洁文化长廊内，典籍实物、纪实微视频依次陈列；推出中国古代廉洁文化情景课，引导学员在实景体验中感悟清正操守的深厚底蕴，让崇廉守正成为全校师生的行动自觉和价值追求。着眼营造风清气正的校园环境，该校将以更高标准、更严要求组织教学，教育引导学员自觉摆正位置，站稳群众立场，克服一切脱离群众的私心杂念；带头恢复和弘扬我党我军优良传统，放下官架子、回归革命军人本色。