From Special Operations Platoon to Regular Squad, a Special Operations Veteran Charges Again and Leads the Company to a "Major Leap Forward"
During the dog days of summer, the sun blazes like fire. On the exercise and training ground of a certain company of the Yangzhou Detachment, Jiangsu Corps, People's Armed Police, officers and soldiers are in high spirits, completing in sequence such subjects as field fortification construction, battlefield medical care, and sniper rifle precision shooting — movements crisp, responses flexible — earning commendation from higher authorities.
"The company's rate of excellent training scores has risen from under 65% to over 80%, with the excellent rate on some key and difficult subjects improving by nearly 30 percentage points"… Reviewing the score sheets, it is clear that over the past year the officers and soldiers of this company have made marked progress in training results. When asked why, Company Commander Fan smiled slightly: "We have our 'Old Special Ops' comrades to thank for that!"
When it comes to the special operations platoon, the company's officers and soldiers all give a thumbs-up, because the platoon not only performed outstandingly in day-to-day activities but also won gold and silver medals on the competition field on multiple occasions — beginning in 2021, they captured medals every year in the special operations skills competitions organized by the Jiangsu Corps, People's Armed Police.
However, those results came to an end a year ago. Due to organizational restructuring and reform, the platoon was reorganized into a mobile platoon (机动排), and more than half of its personnel were redistributed to other squads and platoons.
At first, the "Old Special Ops" soldiers redistributed to the various squads were deeply disheartened. Some quietly put away the special operations arm patches they had once worn with pride; others stood gazing blankly at the familiar tactical training grounds…
The person who helped everyone find their footing again was Tian Ganqing, a former member of the special operations platoon who had been reassigned to serve as squad leader of the company's 5th Squad. After arriving at the 5th Squad, Tian Ganqing did not wallow in despondency for long. Instead, he quickly set himself a new goal: "Soldiers from the special operations platoon can shine wherever they go. Rather than dwelling on the past, it's better to seize the present and bring the squad up to 'special operations standards'!"
No sooner said than done. The soldiers of the 5th Squad were weak in marksmanship, and Tian Ganqing happened to have placed fourth in the individual all-around shooting event at a skills competition organized by higher authorities, giving him considerable expertise in that area. He shared his experience and techniques with his new comrades without reservation. Under his mentorship, the 5th Squad's training scores improved markedly.
Before long, the changes in the 5th Squad caught the attention of Company Commander Fan. After a thorough exchange with Tian Ganqing, the company began to find every possible way to leverage the mentoring and coaching role of the former special operations platoon members: organizing former special operations platoon members to pair up with officers and soldiers from other squads and platoons, grouping them by strong and weak to teach together; through formats such as "classroom training sharing sessions" and "inter-training-session mini-classes," arranging for former special operations platoon members to serve as "junior instructors" for various specialized training subjects; and helping former special operations platoon members sort out and summarize their experience and techniques, compiling them into professional skills handbooks to be distributed to each squad and platoon for study and reference.
With a clear goal and direction, the former special operations platoon members reignited their fighting spirit one after another: Jiang Wen, reassigned as squad leader of the 1st Squad, shared insights he had accumulated in the special operations platoon, helping his squad comrades overcome fear and achieve a breakthrough in the 400-meter obstacle course event; 2nd Squad Leader Lu Wei taught his squad comrades the tricks of light machine gun shooting — in the most recent assessment, the 2nd Squad's soldiers achieved an average score of 92 rings; under the guidance and mentorship of 4th Squad Leader Song Weidong, newly trained snipers from the company took first place in the team category at a centralized training assessment organized by higher authorities…