A Navy Detachment Explores a New Intensive Training Organization Model to Release Greater Effectiveness from Limited Resources
A Navy Detachment Explores a New Intensive Training Organization Model —— Same Specialty, Centralized Training; Same Subject, One-Ship Examination
■ PLA Daily Reporter Bi Xiaotian, Special Correspondent Wu Di
The detachment organizes maritime training. Photo by Li Fengxiang
Between sea and sky, with high winds and surging waves.
In the height of summer, a live combat-oriented (实战化) anti-air engagement training assessment aboard the Qingdao, a ship of a certain Navy detachment, got underway. Entering the command compartment, the reporter found that the officer in command was not the Qingdao's own commanding officer, but the deputy commanding officer of the Harbin. As soon as training began, he fixed his gaze on the integrated display console and issued a series of commands in rapid succession.
"Target attribute identification," "fire control solution input" … As the commands came through, the warship swiftly maneuvered to an advantageous battle position, and round after round of shells screamed from the barrels, precisely striking the aerial target drone.
"Target destroyed — excellent score!" The moment the examiner finished speaking, the Harbin's deputy commanding officer let out a breath of relief. "The ship's missions are heavy, and training time constantly conflicts. This assessment has been hanging over me — today I finally cleared it!" he told the reporter.
The experience of the Harbin's deputy commanding officer is not an isolated case, but rather a new development brought about by the detachment's exploration of an intensive training organization (集约化组训) model — commanding officers from multiple ships "hitching a ride" on a single vessel to sit for assessments together. The detachment's leadership introduced that, at peak times, as many as 10 deputy commanding officers have gathered aboard a single ship to complete multiple training assessments on the same platform.
This leader told the reporter that the innovation of the intensive training organization model was "forced out" by the real-world difficulties confronting live combat-oriented training. In recent years, a number of new ships have entered service with the detachment in succession, yet there are not enough commanding officers who have passed full-qualification assessments. Some ships have multiple overlapping training tasks; others have had coordinated training delayed. The accumulation of commanding officers' training metrics and their eligibility for independent-operation qualification assessments have been affected, and the contradiction between assessments that "cannot be conducted" and missions that "cannot be put off" has grown increasingly acute.
Breaking the impasse was urgent. Targeting this acute contradiction, the detachment Party committee leadership studied the matter and decided to explore a new intensive training organization model. The detachment headquarters would compile each ship's mission situation and scheduling, integrate dozens of assessment subjects into multiple sets of training plans, and assign different ships different training assessment tasks. After assessment plans were distributed to each ship, commanding officers with qualification assessment needs could apply to go aboard the ship carrying out the corresponding task to participate in training and assessment.
Since the new training organization model was implemented, the quality and effectiveness of training have shifted into a higher gear: aboard the Urumqi, deputy commanding officers from the Zhumadian and the Garzê responded flexibly and handled situations calmly, completing assessments in navigation maneuvering, mooring and unmooring from buoys, and other subjects; aboard the Weifang, the Yantai's deputy commanding officer conducted intensive and refined training (专攻精练) in anti-surface attack, anti-air defense, damage control, and other subjects, and successfully completed the assessment with close coordination among all battle stations.
To further improve training effectiveness, the detachment simultaneously launched a "training bus" (训练班车) and a "training express" (训练专车) — the "training bus" is organized around common subjects, allowing personnel of the same specialty from different ships to study together and train jointly; the "training express" focuses on specialty subjects for refined intensive training, precisely targeting the capability shortfalls of specific categories of personnel. The two approaches complement each other: a single voyage concentrates and intensifies training for a cohort of backbone personnel, allowing limited training resources to produce maximum training effectiveness.
During the reporter's visit to the detachment, the following scenes were observed: in the headquarters office, operations and training staff officers were busy compiling training requirements from different ships, coordinating suitable vessels, and working out logistical details; inside a ship's compartment, a combat watch officer was checking off pending assessment subjects one by one and reporting the training and assessment plan; on the naval port pier, a department head from a ship that had just completed a major mission rushed straight to a sister ship to make up training in formation maneuvering subjects …
Not long ago, during a live-fire missile training exercise in distant sea areas, the Anshan received three personnel riding along for training, including the commanding officer of the Garzê. During training, the ride-along personnel participated throughout in scenario planning and group deduction exercises; after training concluded, they further conducted self-assessments and mutual assessments, exchanging insights on command. "Cross-ship exchange and sparring helped me pinpoint my own shortfalls, and my command capability received genuine, concrete tempering and improvement," the Garzê's commanding officer told the reporter.
Since the "dual-track training" (训练双车) mechanism was implemented, the detachment has intensively consolidated training resources, training quality and effectiveness have improved substantially, and officers and soldiers' enthusiasm for training has continued to rise. Over the past year, multiple ship commanding officers have successfully passed position qualification assessments through this mechanism, and large numbers of multi-skilled (一专多能型) officers have distinguished themselves in major missions.
The detachment's leadership stated that they will continue to optimize the training organization model, keep a close eye on weak links in combat readiness training (练兵备战), and drive the "dual-track training" system to extend from sea to shore and expand from a single domain to multiple domains, comprehensively strengthening the cultivation and reserve of personnel for combat readiness, and continuously driving combat readiness training to new heights.
Releasing Greater Effectiveness from Limited Resources
■ Yang Yue
Victory or defeat in war lies in shaping the situation (谋势); the strength or weakness of the situation lies in overall coordination (统筹). On the training ground, the precision of resource coordination directly affects the speed at which frontline officers and soldiers generate combat power. A training organization model in which each unit fights alone and training is conducted in dispersed fashion easily leads to resource idleness and redundant investment, severely constraining improvements in training quality and effectiveness. Implementing intensive training organization is undoubtedly the key solution for activating training resources and breaking through training bottlenecks.
The core of intensive training organization is establishing the concept of treating training resources as "a single game of chess" (一盘棋). The Navy detachment's implementation of the joint-ship co-training model is a vivid practice of intensive training organization — the track of one ship becomes a forge for tempering talent across multiple ships. This has not only allowed the detachment to leave behind the extensive training困境 (困境) of "single-ship independent training and resource waste," but has also effectively resolved the practical problems facing personnel assessments. Their innovative practice shows us an effective path toward the intensive transformation (集约化变革) of military training: only by proactively breaking down organizational barriers (建制壁垒) and parochial thinking (本位思维) can limited training platforms and equipment resources be made to release greater training effectiveness.
A Record of "Hitching a Ride" to the Assessment
■ Officer of a Certain Navy Detachment, Duan Chunjie
Standing on the deck of the Qingdao, watching the waves rolling across the sea surface, I recalled my experience as a department head aboard the Nanchang. At that time, the ship carried out high-intensity combat readiness watch duties year-round, and I was on the go almost every single day.
Preparing for deployment exercises, maintaining and servicing equipment, filling out documents and reports … The complex watch duties and administrative affairs consumed the vast majority of my time and energy. Once, I had prepared well in advance for a position qualification assessment, only to be suddenly ordered to carry out an urgent mission, and had no choice but to give it up. The next assessment would mean waiting more than half a year.
Watching comrades from the same cohort pass their assessments one after another and move into key positions, my inner anxiety grew with each passing day.
The detachment's exploration and implementation of the "dual-track training" mechanism showed me an opportunity. I applied at the first opportunity to ride the Qingdao's "training bus," hoping to use it to make up for what I owed.
At first, facing the new training environment, I was somewhat out of my element. The Qingdao's command cadence was faster, and its coordination habits differed slightly from those of the ship on which I had served. During my first time commanding a navigation maneuvering training session, poor communication with the crew led to an overall slowdown in progress, and the training results fell short of expectations.
Faced with this setback, I did not lose heart. During my training period aboard the Qingdao, I familiarized myself with coordination commands with each crew member every day and refined the maneuvering procedures; during training breaks, I humbly sought guidance from the Qingdao's training backbone personnel on training organization methods and practical techniques, and gradually integrated into subsequent training.
Dedicated effort is never in vain. During the position qualification assessment, I led officers and soldiers as the commanding officer through training in navigation maneuvering, mooring and unmooring from buoys, anti-air engagement, and other subjects. Everyone coordinated closely and worked in seamless concert, and we ultimately passed with outstanding results. In that moment, I truly experienced the sense of achievement and honor that comes with being a ship's commanding officer.
(Compiled by PLA Daily Special Correspondent Wu Di)