Doctrine Political Work

Improve the Long-Term Mechanism for Cultivating the Combat Spirit

健全战斗精神培育长效机制

PLA Daily (解放军报) 26 May 2026

Summary

A PLA political work article, attributed to 'Zhe Zhi' and tied to an unnamed brigade's cross-regional exercise, lays out a three-part institutional framework for normalizing combat spirit cultivation: reforming education to address ideological roots, tightening training mechanisms to close capability gaps, and restructuring incentive and promotion systems to reward war-fighting orientation over peacetime careerism. The article documents a persistent institutional problem the PLA has named repeatedly but not resolved—that promotion culture, training culture, and daily garrison life systematically erode the combat posture the force is supposed to maintain—and extends a pattern of Xi-directed campaigns to address it through formal mechanisms rather than episodic political campaigns. The explicit framing of cadre selection reform and the 'deliberating on war and training' system as tools for answering Xi's 'question of winning battles' confirms that combat readiness credibility remains a live internal accountability problem, not a resolved one.

Translation

Improve the Long-Term Mechanism for Cultivating the Combat Spirit

■ Zhe Zhi

Recently, a certain brigade, while executing cross-regional exercise and training tasks, focused on integrating the cultivation of the combat spirit (战斗精神) throughout the entire exercise and training process, motivating officers and soldiers to take the lead and serve as the vanguard when facing tasks, and to train hard to master the skills needed to win. This approach of starting from institutions and cultivating the combat spirit in a normalized, multi-channel manner is worthy of our reference.

"Though battle has its formations, courage is its foundation." Chairman Xi attaches great importance to cultivating the combat spirit and has repeatedly stressed that "in peacetime, we must never raise soldiers who are pampered; a mighty army must still be mighty, and soldiers must still have fighting spirit (血性)" and that "no matter what time it is, the combat spirit of fearing neither hardship nor death must never be abandoned." The combat spirit is the concentrated embodiment of a soldier's convictions, emotions, will, and conduct; it is the key to stimulating human subjective initiative and giving full play to the decisive role of the human factor in military practice. Cultivating the combat spirit is an important component of combat capability building, and is also the foundational work and an enduring subject in forging a force capable of fighting and winning. For an army to be able to fight and win battles, it must certainly rely on strategy and tactics, weapons and equipment, and comprehensive national power—but without the combat spirit, even the best operational conditions will not be enough to win.

"Everything has its key point; grasp the key point and things will succeed." Institutions can play a fundamental, overarching, and long-term role. The combat spirit has its source in inheritance, is cultivated in peacetime, manifests in wartime, and its key lies in habituation. As Chairman Xi has emphasized, "we must give prominence to cultivating the combat spirit and combat style (战斗作风), strengthen officers' and soldiers' thinking about soldiering to fight, leading troops to fight, and training troops to fight, and explore the formation of a long-term mechanism for cultivating the combat spirit." The combat spirit is not innate; its generation must necessarily go through a continuous process of progression from the internal to the external, from concept to behavior, and from cognition through practice to will. Cultivating the combat spirit is a systems engineering project that must act upon the spirit, will, and psychology of officers and soldiers through means such as education and training, enabling them to perceive the battlefield atmosphere in advance, enter the operational rhythm, continuously improve battlefield adaptability, solidify confidence in defeating powerful enemies, and maintain a high combat enthusiasm.

Improve the education mechanism to resolve the problem at the ideological root. The combat spirit, as the spiritual strength of an army and a soldier, is not the reckless bravery of a momentary impulse, but is grounded in a scientific understanding of the nature of war, a deep sentiment of love for the Party and the country, and a heroic spirit that does not fear powerful enemies. At all levels, Marxist views on war and education on our army's fundamental functions should be strengthened; officers and soldiers should be clearly informed about fundamental questions such as for whom they carry the rifle, for whom they fight, what soldiering is about, and why they train; efforts should be made to reinforce the thinking of a combat force (战斗队思想), and to deeply plant the ideological roots of mastering military skills, strengthening capabilities, and preparing for war and fighting. Educational methods and approaches should be innovated; education on mission tasks, the situation, and war preparedness should be conducted well; the red genes (红色基因) of daring to fight and being certain of victory should be integrated into daily education; the chronic ailments and accumulated malpractices of being a "peacetime officer" or a "peacetime soldier" should be thoroughly corrected; and officers and soldiers should be educated and guided to always maintain a combat posture of sleeping with weapons at the ready (枕戈待旦), so that at critical moments they can give everything and at moments of danger and urgency they can charge forward.

Improve the training mechanism to resolve the problem of insufficient capabilities. Daring to fight is courage; fighting well is wisdom. Solid quality and capability are the foundation of the combat spirit. Only by both using "steel" to accumulate the power of "spirit" and using "spirit" to manifest the might of "steel"; by both maintaining the fearless courage of revolution combined with fighting to the death, and cultivating the scientific spirit of winning through mental superiority combined with winning through wisdom—only then can one always maintain spiritual strength, and at critical moments subdue the enemy with a single move and seal the throat with a single "keystroke." Party committees should take unified charge and management, with multiple departments implementing in a coordinated manner, simultaneously issuing training tasks and putting forward requirements for spiritual tempering; cultivation work should be bundled together with combat and training actions and grasped in an integrated manner, so that in planning there is orderly connection, in plans there is a coherent and complete system, in content there are respective emphases, and in evaluation there is synchronized assessment of results—ensuring that every link of military training fully reflects the requirements for tempering the combat spirit, and that every training subject takes into account the function of tempering the combat spirit. Adhere to starting from difficulty, strictness, and actual combat conditions; give prominence to capability-driven and foundation-wins approaches; anchor on target positioning; keep a close eye on key elements such as the battlefield environment, equipment performance, and adversary characteristics; train the basic subjects solidly, train tactical coordination to a high level of refinement, and train limit capabilities to a high level of strength. Give full play to the role of major military operations and exercise and training tasks as a "whetstone"; set up difficult, dangerous, and crisis situations to temper will and character; combine training in techniques and tactics with training in thinking and conduct; and in near-realistic combat environments, train boldness and stimulate fighting spirit.

Improve the incentive mechanism to resolve the problem of incorrect orientation. In recent years, the Party and the state have promulgated and implemented laws and regulations such as the Law on the Protection of the Status and Rights and Interests of Military Personnel and the Regulations on Military Meritorious Service and Honor Commendations, comprehensively restructuring the military's system of meritorious service, honor, and commendations, and establishing an orientation of fighting for war, devoting oneself to war, and encouraging war. At all levels, the standard of a good military cadre should be upheld; cadres should be selected and employed strictly according to principles, policies, rules, and procedures, so that those who want to fight have a stage, those who study fighting have a position, and those who can fight have prospects; the unhealthy tendencies and erroneous orientations in selecting and employing personnel should be resolutely rejected and corrected; and a work orientation, personnel-use orientation, policy orientation, and public opinion orientation conducive to strengthening combat training and war preparedness should be genuinely formed. The mechanism of Party committee leadership over operational modes should be innovated; the system of deliberating on war and deliberating on training (议战议训制度) should be improved and implemented; members of Party committee standing committees should take the lead in studying military affairs, studying war, and studying fighting; the capabilities of planning for battle, commanding battle, and leading troops in battle should be honed to a high standard; and the actual results of training troops and preparing for war should be used to answer the questions Chairman Xi has raised regarding "the question of winning battles (胜战之问)," "the question of values (价值之问)," and "the interrogation of capabilities (本领拷问)."

Original Chinese

健全战斗精神培育长效机制 ■哲之近日，某旅在跨区执行演训任务时，注重将战斗精神培育贯穿于演训全过程，激励官兵在任务面前打头阵、当先锋，练强打赢本领。这种从制度入手，常态化、多渠道培育战斗精神的做法值得我们借鉴。 “战虽有阵，而勇为本焉。”习主席对培育战斗精神高度重视，多次强调“和平时期，决不能把兵带娇气了，威武之师还得威武，军人还得有血性”“无论什么时候一不怕苦、二不怕死的战斗精神都不能丢”。战斗精神是军人信念、情感、意志、作风的集中体现，是军事实践中激发人的主观能动性、发挥人的决定性作用的关键。战斗精神培育是战斗力建设的重要内容，也是锻造能打胜仗部队的基础工作和永恒课题。军队能打仗、打胜仗，固然要靠战略战术、武器装备、综合国力，但没有战斗精神，光有好的作战条件，也是不能打胜仗的。 “凡事有其要，执其要者事成。”制度能起到根本性、全局性、长远性的作用。战斗精神，源头在传承，培育在平时，表现在战时，关键在养成。正如习主席强调的，“必须把培育战斗精神、培养战斗作风突出出来，强化官兵当兵打仗、带兵打仗、练兵打仗的思想，探索形成战斗精神培育的长效机制”。战斗精神不是与生俱来的，其生成必然要经历一个由内到外、由观念到行为、由认知经实践再到意志的连续推进过程。培育战斗精神是一个系统工程，必须通过教育、训练等手段，作用于官兵精神、意志、心理，让官兵提前感知战场氛围、进入作战节奏，不断提升战场适应能力、强固制胜强敌信心、保持高昂战斗热情。健全教育机制，解决好思想根子问题。战斗精神作为一支军队、一名军人的精神力量，并非一时冲动的匹夫之勇，而是基于对战争性质的科学认知、爱党爱国的深厚情怀、不畏强敌的英雄气概。各级应加强马克思主义战争观和我军根本职能教育，向官兵讲清为谁扛枪、为谁打仗，当兵干什么、练兵为什么等根本问题，着力强化战斗队思想，深扎精武强能、备战打仗的思想根子。应创新教育方式方法，搞好使命任务、形势战备教育，将敢打必胜的红色基因融入日常教育，彻底纠治当“和平官”“和平兵”等沉疴积弊，教育引导官兵始终保持枕戈待旦的战斗姿态，做到关键时刻豁得出来、危急关头冲得上去。健全训练机制，解决好本领不够问题。敢斗是勇气，善斗是智慧。过硬的素质本领是战斗精神的基础。只有既用“钢”积蓄“气”的力量，更用“气”彰显“钢”的威力；既保持革命加拼命的无畏勇气，又涵养心胜加智胜的科学精神，才能始终保持精神上的强大，才能在关键时刻一招制敌、一“键”封喉。应坚持党委统抓统管，多部门联动实施，同步下达训练任务、提出精神锻造要求，把培育工作与战训行动捆在一起做、融合起来抓，做到筹划上衔接有序、方案上成龙配套、内容上各有侧重、评估上同频问效，使军事训练的各个环节都充分体现战斗精神锻造要求，每个训练课目都兼顾战斗精神锻造功能。坚持从难从严从实战出发，突出能力牵引、基础制胜，锚定目标定位，紧盯战场环境、装备性能、对手特点等关键要素，把基础课目练实、把战术协同练精、把极限本领练强。充分发挥重大军事行动和演训任务“磨刀石”作用，设置难局险局危局砥砺意志品格，把练技术、练战术与练思想、练作风结合起来，在近似实战的环境中练胆激气。健全激励机制，解决好导向不正问题。近年来，党和国家颁布实施《军人地位和权益保障法》《军队功勋荣誉表彰条例》等法律法规，整体重构军队功勋荣誉表彰体系，立起为战、务战、励战导向。各级应坚持军队好干部标准，严格按原则、按政策、按规矩、按程序选拔使用干部，让想打仗的有舞台、钻打仗的有位子、能打仗的有奔头，坚决摒弃、纠治选人用人上的不正之风和错误导向，切实形成有利于加强练兵备战的工作导向、用人导向、政策导向、舆论导向。应创新党委领导作战模式机制，完善落实议战议训制度，党委班子成员应带头研究军事、研究战争、研究打仗，把谋划打仗、指挥打仗、带兵打仗的本领搞过硬，以练兵备战的实际成效回答好习主席提出的“胜战之问”“价值之问”“本领拷问”。