Military Service Organs Nationwide Focus on Combat Training and War Preparedness, Strictly Control Military Service Checkpoints, and Improve the Quality of Recruits
Military Service Organs Nationwide Focus on Combat Training and War Preparedness, Strictly Control Military Service Checkpoints, and Improve the Quality of Recruits—— Sending More Outstanding Young People to the Vibrant Military Barracks
■ PLA Daily Reporters Zhu Hongbo, Zhang Lei
"Strive to gather more outstanding young people under the Party's banner and deliver them to the people's armed forces, and genuinely fulfill the sacred mission of selecting talent for the military and serving the goal of a strong military." Recently, the Ministry of National Defense Conscription Office issued the "Professional Ethics Code for Conscription Workers," drawing widespread attention. Requirements such as "broadly recruiting outstanding talent from all corners of the country," "selecting talent on the basis of merit," and "choosing the best of the best" regarding the responsibility to select recruits not only allow people to see the increasingly standardized and law-based (法治化) trend of conscription work in the new era, but also convey the resolve and effort that military service organs have demonstrated in recruiting high-quality personnel.
The foundation of the military lies in its soldiers, the source of soldiers lies in conscription, and conscription work directly affects the generation of combat power and the development and construction of the armed forces. From the implementation of the "two-induction, two-discharge" (两征两退) reform to the revision and improvement of laws and regulations such as the Regulations on Conscription Work and the Provisions on Military Service Registration; from innovating the pre-conscription and pre-reserve model to promoting the use of the auxiliary soldier-assignment system; from the "five-rate" (五率) evaluation to building the "five-dimensional, four-type" (五维四型) framework—in recent years, conscription work has undergone profound changes, and all of these changes point to a single goal: "focus on combat training and war preparedness, strictly control the conscription checkpoint, improve the quality of recruits, and continuously provide strong talent support for a strong military capable of winning wars."
"Looking at national conscription data, the number of college graduates conscripted and the proportion of high-quality recruits have increased significantly compared to the past and have been maintained at a high level in recent years. In 2022, the proportion of college graduates conscripted exceeded 50% for the first time, and has remained stable above 70% for the past three years." A staff member of the Ministry of National Defense Conscription Office introduced that "focusing on college students and emphasizing the conscription of graduates from schools at all levels and of all types" has been a consistent requirement of national conscription work in recent years. In particular, young people of eligible age who possess urgently needed professional skills or relevant skills certificates have been designated by military service organs in many localities as priority targets for "preferential conscription and preferential assignment."
Conscription data from the first half of this year shows: the proportion of college students conscripted in Yucheng City, Shandong Province has remained above 85% for the past three consecutive years, and the proportion in Xiangcheng District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province has been maintained at around 90% for the past two years. As the main front for conscription work, universities are also working hard to improve the effectiveness of mobilization and the rate of recruit enlistment. Student enthusiasm for enlisting at "double first-class" (双一流) universities such as Tsinghua University and Nankai University continues to run high.
In early July, five themed conscription publicity bus lines in Lu'an City, Anhui Province officially began operations, becoming mobile conscription classrooms shuttling through the city's streets and alleys. "City buses are a publicity window directly facing the public, and also a new vehicle for us to create a 'mobile exhibition platform' for conscription publicity," the head of the city's conscription office introduced. To select quality recruits, one must first expand the base of pre-conscription candidates. Conscription publicity that is novel in form and broad in coverage is critically important. After the second-half conscription work was launched, they joined with the city's public transportation company to carefully select five routes running through the urban area and covering multiple schools, integrating conscription information and national defense news into residents' daily commutes, thereby broadening the coverage of conscription publicity.
At the beginning of the year, the three northeastern provinces created new conscription publicity scenarios in conjunction with the ice and snow tourism season. Beside the ice sculpture of the "Yang Jingyu Detachment Battle Flag" on Xinmin Street in Changchun City, Jilin Province, a night market conscription publicity point was packed with people, and a giant ice-and-snow painting of the Fujian carrier and three types of carrier-based aircraft created by teachers and students of Harbin Engineering University went viral. Fujian Province on the eastern coast, as well as Guizhou and Chongqing in the southwest, leveraged popular sporting events such as "Village Super" (村超) and "Village BA" (村BA), as well as drone light shows, to ignite conscription publicity and stoke the enthusiasm of eligible young people to sign up.
"Which aspect of our city's conscription work are you most satisfied with?" At the beginning of the year, the Linyi City Conscription Office in Shandong Province organized a conscription work questionnaire survey, and the "intelligentized (智能化) physical fitness and physical capability assessment model for prospective recruits" received widespread praise from pre-conscription youth. The physical fitness and physical capability assessment of prospective recruits is a critical checkpoint for ensuring the quality of recruits. In the past, this work was typically carried out using manual stopwatches and verbal counting. This year, Linyi City fully rolled out the use of intelligent equipment to precisely read and assess prospective recruits' body mass index, lung capacity, balance ability, and physical fitness levels in events such as jump rope, standing long jump, and the 1,000-meter run, accurately reflecting the capabilities and qualities of prospective recruits and effectively eliminating human interference.
"Every measure of fairness and impartiality in conscription work deepens the popular foundation of national defense and military construction; every breath of clean and upright conduct bolsters the enthusiasm of society as a whole to care about national defense and love the military." A staff member of the Shandong Province Conscription Office introduced that the province has continued to advance the implementation of "sunshine conscription" (阳光征兵) through measures such as reinforcing the conscription physical examination responsibilities at all levels, openly selecting incorrupt conscription supervisors from across society, organizing parents to participate in soldier-assignment meetings, and improving the military-civilian joint political review system, ensuring that the conscription process is open and transparent, that recruit quality is precisely assessed, and that recruit assignments are scientifically allocated.
More than ten service windows—covering civil affairs, social security, taxation, and other functions—are lined up in a row, with members of the public who have come to handle business waiting in orderly fashion according to their appointment times. Inside the government services hall of Guangfeng District, Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province, a military service station filled with military-themed elements stands out prominently. To make it more convenient for prospective recruits and their parents to seek consultation, the district relocated the military service station from the district people's armed forces department into the services hall at the beginning of the year.
"Doing military service work well and attracting ambitious young people to sign up and join the military requires joint efforts from both the military and local authorities." A conscription worker introduced that in recent years, military service organs and relevant local departments have continuously strengthened coordination and pooled their efforts. Anhui Province is advancing the integrated construction of grassroots armed forces departments and veterans service stations, building a service and support platform covering "enlistment—active service—discharge"; the two localities of Sichuan and Chongqing have introduced online processing of political reviews conducted in locations other than one's place of registration, establishing a cross-provincial conscription political review channel so that data "does more of the running" and prospective recruits "do less of the running"; Guangdong Province, Shaanxi Province, and other localities have optimized employment placement and preferential treatment policies for military family members of college student soldiers, encouraging large numbers of young people to sign up enthusiastically.
Short Commentary
Select the Best of the Best and Send Elite Soldiers
■ Zhang Lei
To strengthen the nation, one must first strengthen the military; to strengthen the military, one must first strengthen its soldiers. At present, the new round of technological revolution and military revolution is advancing with each passing day, the form of warfare is accelerating its evolution toward informatization and intelligentization (信息化、智能化), and the organizational form, force structure, and operational methods of the armed forces are undergoing profound transformation. The requirements for the specialization and composite capability (专业化、复合化) of recruits are growing ever higher, and the demand for high-quality recruits is growing ever more urgent.
To do well the great and important task of recruit conscription, one must continuously expand the "reservoir" of high-quality recruits. In conscription work, military service organs must deeply tap the potential of quality recruits, actively mobilize outstanding young people to sign up and join the military enthusiastically, and, through a scientific and rigorous selection mechanism, guard the checkpoints of political reliability, physical condition, psychological fitness, and educational background, selecting the best of the best, so that every new soldier delivered can withstand the test.
On the basis of "selecting well," one must also "deliver with precision." To drive the precise alignment of the recruit "supply side" with the military's "demand side," military service organs must also strengthen communication with the troops, scientifically formulate conscription plans, clear the fast lane for precise delivery, send quality recruits to the most suitable posts, and better bring into play the role of high-quality recruits.
Deliver good soldiers to the military, select elite soldiers for war, let the headwaters of high-quality recruits surge forth in abundance, and provide solid talent support for the goal of a strong and prosperous military.