Correct Outlook on Political Performance, Practiced in the Barracks | "Dual-NCO" Mobile Training Team Enters the Parachute Training Ground
"Dual-NCO" Mobile Training Team Enters the Parachute Training Ground
■ Fu Jiawei, Liu Jing, PLA Daily Reporter Qian Xiaohu; Illustration: Fang Han
In recent days, a special team has been active at the maritime training ground of an aviation brigade under the Southern Theater Command Navy — a mobile training detachment from a base of the Naval Aviation University.
What makes them special is that the detachment includes both master's-degree instructors with a solid theoretical foundation and noncommissioned officer (NCO) paratroopers with extensive parachuting experience.
"The master's-degree instructors are responsible for theoretical instruction and curriculum design, while the NCO paratroopers take charge of demonstrating techniques and teaching emergency-situation handling. The two pair up to prepare lessons and conduct training together on the same platform." When speaking of the "Dual-NCO" detachment, the brigade chief of staff was full of praise.
When the reporter first heard this, he assumed it was merely the chief of staff being polite — after all, the "Dual-NCO" detachment had traveled a great distance to deliver training, which was no small effort. But after learning the full story of how this detachment was formed, the reporter came to understand that the chief of staff's words were no exaggeration.
The story begins three months ago.
On that day, a base of the Naval Aviation University received a support request from the brigade: in accordance with higher-level directives, the brigade was temporarily organizing maritime parachute training and requested the base to dispatch instructors to travel a great distance to assist.
Considering that Base Commander Jia Zhuo had recently taken up his new post and would certainly want to produce results quickly, the staff officers at the meeting to discuss the task one after another recommended the conventional approach: select high-academic-credential instructors to form the mobile training detachment.
It was assumed that Commander Jia would agree to this plan. Unexpectedly, he raised objections. It turned out that after taking on the support mission, he had pulled out summary materials from previous mobile training efforts and studied them carefully. Several pieces of feedback from grassroots soldiers left a deep impression on him: the instructors had a very solid theoretical foundation, but parachute instruction was highly technical in nature, and the feedback recommended that mobile training detachments strengthen skills-based instruction.
Jia Zhuo then sought out several instructors with extensive mobile training experience and learned the actual situation: the reason previous mobile training teams had always been composed of high-academic-credential personnel was that this both demonstrated the base's strong teaching capacity and showed that the unit took the mobile training work seriously. However, during the actual instruction process, the high-academic-credential instructors who excelled at theoretical teaching had indeed exposed a relative weakness in practical operational ability, causing the instructional effectiveness to fall short.
"Mobile training cannot be about name recognition or putting on a show — it must ensure that officers and soldiers are taught genuine skills." Jia Zhuo immediately convened the relevant staff departments, teaching and research offices, and support teams to deliberate and decide together, requiring grassroots units to recommend talent without being bound by convention, in close alignment with the characteristics of this particular mission.
Before long, a list of mobile training personnel was placed on his desk. When Jia Zhuo looked it over, he found that grassroots units had still used academic credentials and length of service as the primary criteria for nominations, and young officers and soldiers were barely visible on the list.
When the list was reviewed at the meeting, Jia Zhuo stated his position clearly: "Cultivating and employing backbone talent cannot follow the beaten path. We must break the 'credentials-only' (唯学历论) approach. We must select high-academic-credential talent, but we must also boldly employ grassroots NCO backbone personnel."
For the second round of nominations, each grassroots unit broke with the mindset of "seniority ranking" (论资排辈), adhered to the principle of ability first, and focused on recommending grassroots backbone personnel with outstanding performance, clear areas of specialization, and cultivation potential. In the end, the base, following the complementary principle of "master's degree + NCO," selected more than 20 master's-degree instructors and NCO paratroopers to form this mobile training detachment.
"In terms of seniority, they are not the most senior; in terms of ability, every one of them stands out." Once the list was posted, it sparked lively discussion among officers and soldiers — several instructors with longer years of service were not on the list, while young instructors with well-rounded, solid overall quality emerged to the fore.
What were the actual results? A staff officer from the brigade headquarters who had participated in parachute training camps on multiple occasions recounted a story to the reporter.
Before the "Dual-NCO Detachment" arrived at the unit, the brigade had already received a Maritime Parachute Training Needs Survey Form sent by the detachment. The detachment conducted a thorough investigation across more than 20 items in four major categories, including personnel baseline and training shortfalls, and coordinated with the unit's operations and training departments item by item. "At first, a small number of pilots thought it was just going through the motions and dashed off a few sentences when filling out the form," the staff officer recalled. Unexpectedly, the instructors of the "Dual-NCO Detachment" went through each form one by one, repeatedly confirmed requirements, and gained a thorough and clear understanding of the specific situation of frontline officers and soldiers.
Based on the unit's actual combat needs, the "Dual-NCO Detachment" divided the training plan into five major modules: use of maritime communication equipment, defense against shark attacks, floating at sea while awaiting rescue, use of maritime survival supplies, and self-rescue and mutual-rescue skills. At the same time, they conducted real-time effectiveness assessments and dynamically optimized the training plan. The series of practical and useful training content gave the participating pilots a fresh perspective.
"Defense against shark attacks is an essential skill for pilots conducting maritime parachute jumps. Because the training scenario is difficult to simulate, instructors in the past mainly explained the theory to pilots." Tu Jiajia, a master's-degree instructor and member of the mobile training detachment, said that this year's instructional format was entirely different. He and several NCO paratroopers formed a special research group, consulted a large volume of reference materials on defense against shark attacks, and, targeting the common dangerous situations that might be encountered after a maritime parachute jump, added instructional content such as "introduction to shark behavior" and "correct timing for deploying shark repellent" to the curriculum, helping pilots scientifically master shark-repellent techniques.
The changes did not stop there. The reporter sat in on a class at the brigade on the theme of maritime survival. Facing the common difficulty reported by pilots — "sea-surface glare affecting judgment of the landing point" — the master's-degree instructor analyzed on the spot the optical principles and causes of physiological illusions, while the NCO paratroopers shared practical mnemonics such as "judge altitude by the size of the whitecaps, estimate distance by the color of the seawater." Targeting the characteristics of exiting through a helicopter's rear door, the NCO paratroopers conducted demonstration instruction at a simulated hatch, while the master's-degree instructors simultaneously recorded video and provided commentary alongside them, jointly explaining to the pilots the key points of movements such as slightly tucking the chin, drawing in the abdomen and rounding the chest, and pulling in the legs upon exit.
When the reporter reviewed the "Dual-NCO Detachment's" instructional plan, it was apparent that compared with previous years, the instructional content had nearly doubled. "We came here to practice parachuting — how did this turn into special forces maritime training?" At first, a few pilots muttered privately. But as training deepened, the pilots gradually came to appreciate the difference: more class hours meant greater growth in maritime parachuting skills; more content meant greater confidence in maritime survival. "What the instructors taught are genuine skills that can save your life at a critical moment," said one pilot.
On the final day of mobile training, the maritime parachute training proceeded as scheduled. A thousand meters above, the roar of fighter aircraft filled the air. A sudden weather report indicated that wind speed was right at the threshold for parachuting.
Outside the cabin, clouds and sea churned. Jump, or not jump? Inside the cabin, the instructors and participating officers and soldiers were divided in opinion.
Jia Zhuo stared at the meteorological data, his brow slightly furrowed. As the leader in charge of the team, he knew full well that his every move affected the hearts of all the participating officers and soldiers, and bore directly on the effectiveness of the training. He stood up and said in a firm tone: "Although the weather conditions present a challenge, we are fully prepared, our parachutes are reliable, and the drop is being conducted professionally. We will absolutely complete the mission. Today's training — I will jump first!"
The signal to exit the aircraft sounded, the cabin door slowly opened, and howling airflow instantly filled the cabin. Jia Zhuo moved with steady steps and led the way, leaping out of the cabin in standard form.
Witnessing this scene, the instructors and participating officers and soldiers all felt a surge of strength rise within them simultaneously.
"Boom——" Between sea and sky, parachute canopies bloomed one after another in the air, descending smoothly toward the designated assembly area.
Reflecting on this experience, Commander Jia said: the political performance (政绩) of mobile training is not the impressive figures on a report form, nor the carefully chosen words in a summary document — it is the parachute canopies blooming between sea and sky, and every transformation (蝶变) marking a leap in combat capability.
Illuminating One Area to Brighten the Whole
■ Zhang Yuqing
For those in a position of leadership, whether one calculates personal gains and losses in a "small ledger" or shoulders the "great responsibility" of combat capability building tests every leading cadre's breadth of vision and sense of responsibility, and examines whether their outlook on political performance (政绩观) is correct.
Chairman Xi has profoundly pointed out: "When leading cadres think through problems and make decisions, they must keep the nation's overarching priorities (国之大者) firmly in mind, think more in terms of the big picture and the big account, and less in terms of the small picture and the small account." When faced with a support request from a sister unit under tight time pressure and heavy mission load, does one play it safe to avoid a misfire on the "first shot," or does one press forward and calculate the "combat capability account"? When forming a mobile training detachment, does one follow the well-worn path of "credentials-only" (唯学历论), or does one break with convention and insist on "effectiveness first"? A base of the Naval Aviation University has shown us through concrete action: to truly inscribe one's political performance on the frontline of training for war and at the cutting edge of combat capability building, one's eyes cannot be fixed solely on one's own "small plot of land." One must firmly establish a sense of the overall situation (大局意识) and illuminate the whole by brightening one's own area.
There is a vivid analogy: "A choir, to achieve unanimity of voice, must observe a single melody and a single rhythm." The same holds true for combat capability building in the armed forces. Only when leading cadres at all levels open up their thinking, broaden their horizons, identify the intersection between their own strengths and the work of the overall situation, and consistently plan for their own area from the perspective of the whole while serving the whole through their own area, can they play their part in the "grand chorus" of high-quality advancement of national defense and military modernization.