Political Work

Eyewitness Accounts of the Rectification Training | A Troop Leader Is First and Foremost a Soldier

亲历者话整训丨带兵人首先是个兵

PLA Daily (解放军报) 24 August 2026

Summary

A brigade-level troop leader, writing in official military media during an ongoing political rectification training (政治整训), reflects on the institutional distance that had grown between himself and his soldiers and describes concrete remedial measures his unit has adopted, including a 'camp-stool candid-talk meeting' (马扎恳谈会), a one-stop family-services center, and a transparent merit-and-promotion system. The article documents how the rectification campaign is being used to address two named problems simultaneously: officer detachment from enlisted soldiers and the lingering effects of corrupt evaluation and awards practices (不正之风) that the author says had 'wounded the hearts' of soldiers who worked with integrity. The framing — anchored in the 'Yang Ting'an Squad' and the 'Two Fearlessnesses' (两不怕) combat spirit — points to an effort to connect welfare and morale reforms directly to combat readiness, though the article identifies neither the specific brigade nor its theater army.

Translation

During the political rectification training (政治整训), I often found myself turning over a single question: what has actually changed — the grassroots soldiers, or the original aspiration (初心) of me, their troop leader?

At some point, I seemed to have grown accustomed to educating them from a seat on the stage, sizing them up through a car window, and analyzing them buried in paperwork. They were right in front of me, yet a distance had quietly opened up in my heart. I could no longer sense the joys and sorrows they kept hidden inside, and their vivid faces had become nothing more than blurred outlines.

How long had it been since I sat down with the soldiers for a real heart-to-heart talk? How long since I had heard them speak from the bottom of their hearts? Every time I asked myself these questions, a wave of guilt would rise up.

Yes, they are soldiers — ordinary soldiers. They stand guard and keep watch, bury their heads in their work, charge forward when a mission calls, make do with a cup of instant noodles at the front line, and can fall asleep caked in mud when exhaustion takes over. And yet they are not merely soldiers — they are the apple of their parents' eyes, the pillars their wives and children depend on, and, more than that, the principal actors in preparing for war and the cornerstone of building a strong military (强军兴军).

This brings to mind the "Yang Ting'an Squad" in our unit, which gave voice to the "Two Fearlessnesses" (两不怕) combat spirit. During the 1962 border campaign, Yang Ting'an led his entire squad in a charge under dense enemy fire. He shouted the battle cry "Fear neither hardship nor death (一不怕苦、二不怕死)," fighting with heroic tenacity and no fear of sacrifice; seven of the squad's eight soldiers shed their blood on the battlefield. What force drove these young soldiers to throw themselves forward with such utter disregard for their own lives?

Leafing through the history of that campaign, the answer lies in the small moments before the battle. When the "Yang Ting'an Squad" was first formed, its soldiers came from all corners of the country, and it was the Party member backbone who shaped this squad into an "iron fist" with their own hands. Squad leader Yang Ting'an was only a few years older than his men: he stayed up at night to train alongside those who were falling behind; when a soldier's family ran into hardship, he quietly sent his own allowance to them; whenever someone came down with so much as a headache, he would sit at the bedside holding a bowl of sick-call rations.

That kind of bond is not built by orders. It is warmed into being, little by little, through days of stirring the same pot and rolling in the mud of the same trench. It was precisely because they felt the most genuine care within the organization that these young soldiers came to regard the unit as home and their comrades as family — and that is why, at the moment of life and death, they did not hesitate to leave the hope of survival to their comrades and shoulder the danger of death themselves.

This glorious chapter of history has taught me clearly: the blood-and-bone roots of the "Two Fearlessnesses" lie in the fine political work traditions (政治工作优良传统) of organizational care, unity between officers and soldiers (官兵一致), and sharing life and death together. A troop leader is first and foremost a soldier — that is the profound revelation this political rectification training has given me.

Caring for officers and soldiers must be done with genuine feeling and true emotion. The brigade has promoted the "camp-stool candid-talk meeting" (马扎恳谈会): the organs set up no presidium and read from no scripts — everyone sits in a circle and talks openly. It was only after filling several notebooks with soldiers' conditions (兵情台账) that I understood: it is not that the soldiers are unwilling to speak — it is that we have been sitting too high up and standing too far away.

Caring for officers and soldiers must ultimately come down to concrete, individual matters. In the past, when organizing efforts to "do practical things for the people," individual Party member cadres were satisfied with writing them into plans and summaries — it all looked lively on paper, but a good deal of it was mere window dressing. Now we have established a one-stop service center where matters such as family members joining the unit and children's school enrollment are handled at a single window; an online "Soldier Conditions Express Lane" (兵情直通车) routes requests to the relevant departments with a time limit for resolution. Soldiers say: what used to take three or four trips now gets done in one. Children's school enrollment advances year after year; the military children's summer camp has run for five years; family quarters are renovated ahead of the Spring Festival and stocked with New Year goods and medicines. One military spouse said: the highland winters are cold, but the New Year inside the barracks is truly warm.

To be honest, in the past there were indeed certain unhealthy tendencies (不正之风) that wounded the hearts of many officers and soldiers who worked with integrity. During the political rectification training, the members of our leadership team reached complete ideological consensus: we must hold the "umbrella" of healthy conduct (风气) firmly over all officers and soldiers. Over the past few years, the evaluation of merits and awards, selection for further education and promotion to officer rank, and the selection and advancement of non-commissioned officers have all been conducted with full transparency from start to finish — quotas, criteria, procedures, and results are all laid out in the open; whoever is capable moves forward, and ability does the talking. With conduct set right, everyone works with clear eyes and an easy conscience.

The ultimate destination of political work is preparation for war and the ability to fight. When officers and soldiers are freed from worries on the home front and have a fair track for advancement, their minds will naturally focus on fighting. I often tell my staff officers: you must truly regard officers and soldiers as brothers — find fewer faults, show more understanding, and trust them. Each generation is stronger than the last, and the words "pure love, only for China (清澈的爱、只为中国)" are the best proof of that.

Drift too far from the soldiers, and you forget that you were once a soldier yourself; drift too far from their hearts, and you can no longer read these most lovable soldiers. So no matter how far you go, you must never forget your own beginning as a soldier (兵之初). Conducting political rectification training is meant to bring me back among the officers and soldiers — to be as plain and unassuming as they are, rooted at my combat post; to be as steadfast as they are, striving and fighting hard; to be as courageous as they are, unafraid of sacrifice. When I stand among them and can calmly be called "comrade" by them — only then can I say without shame: I, too, am a soldier.

Original Chinese

政治整训中，我经常思考这样一个问题：发生变化的究竟是基层战士，还是我这个带兵人的初心？曾几何时，我好像习惯了坐在台上教育他们、隔着车窗打量他们、扎在材料里分析他们。明明人就在跟前，心里却慢慢有了距离。体察不到他们藏在心底的喜怒哀乐，一张张鲜活的面孔只是个模糊轮廓。有多长时间没跟战士坐一块儿好好谈谈心了？多长时间没听过他们掏心窝子的话了？每每这样问自己，都会有种愧疚涌上心头。是啊，他们就是个兵，普普通通的兵。站岗执勤、埋头干活，遇着任务往上冲，在任务一线泡碗面就对付一顿，累了浑身是泥也能睡着。可他们又不仅仅是兵——他们是爹娘的心尖子，是老婆孩子的顶梁柱，更是备战打仗的主体、强军兴军的基石。由此，我想到了我们单位叫响“两不怕”战斗精神的“阳廷安班”。1962年边疆作战中，阳廷安带领全班战士在敌火力密集封锁下发起冲锋，他高喊“一不怕苦、二不怕死”的口号，英勇顽强、不怕牺牲，全班8名战士7人血染疆场。是一种什么力量，让这群年轻战士如此奋不顾身？翻看那段战史，答案就在战前的点滴之间。“阳廷安班”组建之初，战士们来自五湖四海，是党员骨干手把手把这个班铸成了一个“铁拳”。班长阳廷安比战士大不了几岁，训练跟不上的，他夜里陪着加练；家里有难处的，他把自己的津贴悄悄寄过去；谁有个头疼脑热，他端着病号饭守在床前。这种感情不是靠命令建立的，是在一口锅里搅勺子、一个战壕里滚泥巴的日子里一点一点焐热的。正是因为在组织里感受到了最真切的关怀，这群年轻战士才把部队当成了家、把战友看成了亲人，才会在生死关头毫不犹豫地把生的希望留给战友、把死的危险扛在自己肩上。这段光荣战史让我深知：“两不怕”的血性根子在组织关怀、官兵一致、生死与共的政治工作优良传统中。带兵人首先是个兵——这是政治整训给我的深刻启示。关爱官兵，必须真用情、用真情。旅里推行“马扎恳谈会”，机关不设主席台、不念稿子，围着坐、敞开聊。几本兵情台账记下来，我才明白——战士不是不愿说，是我们坐得太高、隔得太远。关爱官兵，最终要落到一件件具体事上。以往组织“办实事”，个别党员干部满足于写在计划里、写在总结里，看着挺热闹，实际不少是花架子。如今我们建起一站式服务中心，家属随军、子女入学等业务“一窗办”；线上“兵情直通车”派单到科室、限时销号。战士说：以前跑三四趟，现在一趟成。子女入学年年推进，军娃夏令营办了5年，春节前家属房提前整修、备齐年货药品——有军嫂说：高原的冬天冷，军营的年真暖。说实话，以往确实有些不正之风伤了不少踏实干事的官兵的心。政治整训中，我们班子成员思想高度统一，必须给全体官兵把风气这把“伞”撑好。这几年，评功评奖、考学提干、军士选晋，全程公开透明，名额、标准、程序、结果全亮出来，谁行谁上，凭本事说话。风气正了，大家干得明明白白、心里舒坦亮堂。政治工作的最终落点是备战打仗。官兵没有了后顾之忧，成长有了公平赛道，心思自然会向打仗聚焦。我常跟机关同志说，得真把官兵当兄弟，少挑刺、多体谅，相信他们——一代更比一代强，“清澈的爱、只为中国”这句话，就是最好的证明。离兵远了，就忘了自己也当过兵；离心远了，就读不懂这群最可爱的兵。所以，走得再远，也不能忘了自己的兵之初。开展政治整训，就是要让我回到官兵中间——像他们一样朴实，扎根战位；像他们一样坚守，拼搏奋斗；像他们一样勇敢，不怕牺牲。当我站在他们中间，能坦然被他们唤一声“战友”的时候，才无愧地说一句：我，也是一个兵。