Observations and Reflections on Successive Temporary Party Organization Building Under Dispersed and Mobile Conditions in a Certain Naval Unit
In the past, when detachments of a certain naval unit returning from external missions conducted work handovers, they tended to focus on weapons and equipment, materiel inventories, and the like, while paying insufficient attention to the handover of temporary Party organization building, Party member education and management, and related matters. This left the Party organizations taking over the work to start from scratch in their exploration, and it was easy for problems to emerge such as gaps in Party member education (党员教育"断档期"), inadequate implementation of organizational systems, and insufficient exercise of Party members' roles.
This year, the unit conducted in-depth study and implementation of the relevant content in Xi Jinping's thought on Party building concerning "persisting in improving an organizational system that is vertically integrated and capable of forceful execution," and incorporated Party affairs work into the scope of mission handovers. This effectively broke through the previous predicament of "change the unit, start Party affairs work from scratch," and produced a favorable situation in which work continues without interruption and mission coverage is complete. In this issue, we hear the experiences and reflections of the two successive temporary Party branch secretaries who carried out the work in sequence.
"The mission officers and soldiers were drawn from various units; some comrades initially lacked unified thinking and harbored a temporary mindset (临时思想). One can strengthen ties with the Party organizations of their original units and focus on doing individualized work (一人一事工作)."
"A certain mission lasted a relatively long time and posed a significant test of officers' and soldiers' strength of will and character. It is recommended that, when necessary, a Party member shock team (党员突击队) be organized to give full play to its inspiring and motivating role."
"When the mission reaches a certain stage, attention should be paid to mixing experienced and new personnel. It is best to ensure that Party member backbone personnel are present at every position, so that no blind spots are missed and comprehensive control is maintained."…
Not long ago, during the handover of a certain maritime special mission, I sorted through the key and difficult issues in the temporary Party branch's work and explained them one by one to Dong Wenbo, the temporary Party branch secretary taking over the mission, while flagging certain issues that required particular attention.
After the handover, I also passed on to him the Handbook of Difficult Questions and Answers on Party Organization Building Under Dispersed and Mobile Conditions (《动散条件下党组织建设疑难问答手册》), which I had compiled together with the temporary Party branch.
"This experience is even more valuable than the materiel inventory!" Hearing Secretary Dong's heartfelt affirmation, I felt deeply gratified. These "clear accounts (明白账)" — bearing the lessons learned from carrying out the mission — were the result of our branch's collective effort.
In the past, when several units successively carried out a single mission and conducted handovers, insufficient attention was paid to Party affairs work.
On one occasion, I led a team in executing a comprehensive exercise mission, and the outgoing temporary Party branch handed over only the military mission situation and the equipment and materiel inventory. As a result, the temporary Party branch's work was thrown into a state of confusion for a time, and at one point we were even notified and criticized by higher authorities for poor implementation of organizational systems. We spent a long time exploring the allocation of backbone personnel, Party class education, organizational life, and other matters before arriving at a relatively fixed model suited to the actual conditions of the mission.
After the unit Party committee learned of the situation, it reflected on the problem and concluded that, while on the surface it was a blind spot in the handover, it in fact indicated a systemic shortcoming in temporary Party organization building. Following deliberation, higher authorities formulated the Implementation Rules for Party Organization Building Under Dispersed and Mobile Conditions (《动散条件下党组织建设实施细则》) in accordance with relevant regulations, and explicitly stipulated that mission handovers must, under the leadership of the higher-level Party committee, incorporate the operational status of temporary Party organizations into the handover checklist, to be transferred together with building achievements, lessons learned, and a log of outstanding problems.
During this mission, our temporary Party branch focused on sorting and recording problems in a timely manner, so as to lay a solid foundation for the brother units that would carry out the mission in succession.
On one occasion, as the mission entered its most critical phase, a key piece of equipment suddenly malfunctioned. Officers and soldiers were already fatigued from continuous operations and now had to conduct emergency repairs; any delay would affect the entire process. Everyone looked at one another: who would step up to tackle this hard nut to crack?
"Branch committee members take the lead, Party members go first!" I decided on the spot to organize a Party member shock team and joined it myself. The shock team was quickly established, with all branch committee members at the positions included. Time was pressing; the shock team gathered on the deck to discuss the division of tasks and deployment, held a brief mobilization meeting, and then rushed to the front line to tackle the problem in uninterrupted rotating shifts.
After more than 30 hours of hard fighting, the malfunction was finally resolved. A young soldier said to me: "When I saw the branch committee members all step up, I didn't feel tired anymore — I just charged forward with you."
Another incident also left a deep impression on me. For a period of time, Soldier Xiao Zhang, who had previously been diligent in his work, seemed deflated. Through a heart-to-heart talk, I learned that he was worried the extended duration of the mission would affect the assessment period for his status as a Party membership applicant (入党积极分子). Upon further inquiry, it became clear that soldiers like Xiao Zhang who had reservations about matters such as Party member development, merit citations, and awards during external missions were not isolated cases. Taking advantage of a Party class education session, I promptly conducted a briefing, telling everyone that the temporary Party branch would conduct real-time assessments and keep records, reporting regularly to their original Party organizations as the basis for Party member development and merit and award evaluations, thereby helping everyone set aside their concerns.
I later summarized this experience and established that a briefing should be conducted at the very outset of a mission to clearly explain matters bearing directly on officers' and soldiers' personal interests — such as Party member cultivation, the "Dual Striving" (双争) competition, and assistance with difficulties — so that officers and soldiers can go into action unburdened and fully committed.
During this handover, I transferred to the brother unit the experience and lessons from more than ten areas of the temporary Party branch's work and several instances of work lapses, in the hope that they could build on our practical experience, take fewer detours, achieve more results, ensure that Party building work continues without interruption, and let the Party flag fly high on the mission front line.
"This week, the tactical squad led by Squad Leader Ma performed outstandingly in tackling subjects including quick-reaction shooting and squad tactics, and received commendation from higher authorities. The detachment has selected them as this week's 'Party Member Vanguard' (党员先锋). We hope everyone will learn from their example!"
The duty officer read out the weekly situation report, and I scanned the room. From the resolute expressions on everyone's faces, it was not hard to see that the spirit of fighting with high morale and striving to be first was growing stronger and stronger, and I felt confident in my heart about doing this mission well.
In the early phase of the mission, a small number of Party member backbone personnel in the detachment harbored a "temporary mindset (临时思想)," feeling that since the detachment was temporarily assembled and would disband when the mission ended, there was no need to take the work so seriously, and entertaining thoughts of "taking a breather."
Everyone came from different units — how to quickly rally the troops and inspire morale? During the Party affairs handover, Secretary Qin had flagged this issue, so I followed their example and launched a "Party Member Vanguard" competition.
The temporary Party branch divided Party member responsibility zones down to every squad and platoon and every combat team, encouraging and guiding Party member backbone personnel to give full play to their exemplary and leading role at their combat positions. This gave rise to the scene described at the opening.
Having in hand the methods and experience of the brother unit that came before us gave me, as a first-time temporary Party branch secretary, a sense of confidence. Frequently leafing through that Handbook of Difficult Questions and Answers on Party Organization Building Under Dispersed and Mobile Conditions was like listening to an experienced veteran secretary impart lessons in person — something I could follow and put to immediate use.
In the past, carrying out work without such a solid foundation was a different matter. I recall one mission in which positions were highly dispersed. As a branch committee member, I led a group of soldiers to garrison an independent position and established a temporary Party group. As for how exactly the Party group should operate at this position and what role it should play, I never managed to get a clear grasp of it, and could only lead everyone in putting their heads down and getting on with the mission.
Later, higher authorities required each position's temporary Party group to independently conduct Party class education, but our personnel were scattered and the mission burden was heavy, and the quality and effectiveness of instruction could never be guaranteed. It was only when the higher-level Party organization came to provide guidance that I learned the temporary Party group at this position from the previous rotation had already worked out a set of effective methods: rather than holding large centralized classes, they made use of time before and after meetings and gaps between tasks — about ten minutes at a time — breaking the Party class theme into small sub-topics and covering them in segments.
During this mission handover, Secretary Qin mentioned that as the voyage entered its middle phase, the enclosed space and restricted movement could easily give rise to problems such as lax organizational life and declining morale among personnel. I seized the opportunity to ask him how to resolve this.
He told me that one could draw up a "Maritime Organizational Life Calendar (海上组织生活日历)" closely aligned with the rhythm of the mission. In accordance with the transitions between mission phases and key nodes, organizational life activities, heart-to-heart talks, collective activities, and ideological education could be interspersed during training breaks.
I found this very inspiring and set about drawing up a "Maritime Organizational Life Calendar" in advance: broadcasting a "Voyage Express (远航快报)" during daily mealtimes to cover recent training highlights and noteworthy small events from among the troops; mobilizing Party member backbone personnel to deliver short thematic talks and share brief inspiring stories during training breaks…
Throughout the entire mission, training quality and effectiveness were ensured, and personnel morale remained stable. Higher authorities later commended our mission detachment: personnel morale was stable, and implementation of organizational systems was flexible and forceful.
The handover of Party affairs work not only provided ideas and methods for solving problems, but also conferred new responsibilities on the temporary Party branch.
During the mission, we faced the new situation of multi-position coordinated operations. If we had followed the previous approach of "implementing the organizational life system at dispersed positions," the different operational tempos at each position would have made rigid uniformity unworkable. So I led the temporary Party branch in attempting a method of "unified theme, implementation by position, consolidated the following day," which both ensured that organizational life continued without interruption and took into account the actual conditions at each position. I carefully compiled this experience and wrote it into my handover notes.
When the mission ends, what I hand over to the next secretary will certainly be a more comprehensive and more practical set of Party affairs work experience and methods.