A Brigade of the 73rd Group Army Safeguards Officers and Soldiers' Leave Rights in Accordance with Regulations

"Worries" Reduced, "Sense of Happiness" Increased

——A Brigade of the 73rd Group Army Safeguards Officers and Soldiers' Leave Rights in Accordance with Regulations

■ Wang Yanghengyi, PLA Daily Special Correspondent Ni Xinlei

Not long ago, during an educational activity titled "Carry Forward the May Fourth Spirit, Rally the Strength of Youth" organized by the transport company of a brigade under the 73rd Group Army, soldier Xiao Lei vividly recounted the red story of "half a blanket," drawing repeated warm applause from his comrades.

What the reporter did not expect was that this spirited "gold-medal lecturer" on stage had once proactively requested to "resign" because of a small incident triggered by his lecturing duties.

Xiao Lei's hometown is a revolutionary old base area. Having grown up listening to red stories, he is very familiar with the local red history. During one lesson-preparation day, the political instructor of Xiao Lei's company recalled that Xiao Lei came from a revolutionary old base area and asked whether he could visit local red venues during his leave to deliver a "cloud-based" educational class for the officers and soldiers. "It lets me contribute to the company and also sharpens my speaking skills," Xiao Lei agreed readily.

On the day of the class, the teaching format—cloud link-up, on-location filming, and live narration—was a refreshing experience for the company's officers and soldiers, who gained an immersive appreciation of red history, achieving excellent results. After the class, the political instructor specifically commended Xiao Lei. In the years that followed, every time Xiao Lei went on leave, the company asked him to continue lecturing. The battalion and company also recognized his outstanding performance in red education by naming him "gold-medal lecturer." To ensure the quality of his classes, Xiao Lei always put in his best effort, not only teaching himself courseware production and video editing, but also using his spare time to study public speaking techniques.

Over time, "going on leave with coursework in tow" became the norm for Xiao Lei. During one leave last year, Xiao Lei had planned his itinerary with his family well in advance. But on the day of departure, Xiao Lei received a notice from the company hoping he could draw on local red resources to produce a recorded red education lesson.

On one side was a long-anticipated family outing; on the other was the company's work arrangement. After much hesitation, Xiao Lei had no choice but to adjust his plans and travel dozens of kilometers from home to a red venue to film and narrate a video. Although the educational lesson was recorded successfully, whenever he thought of the disappointed expressions on his family's faces, he felt deeply conflicted. His family even complained to him: you're supposed to be on leave—why are you working again?

Faced with his family's incomprehension, Xiao Lei could only patiently explain. However, as his leave neared its end, a new task arrived. The company was at that time drafting the following month's education plan and contacted Xiao Lei again to help collect some red education materials. By then, very little of his leave remained; he had to spend time with his family and pack his bags to return to the unit, and he simply could not find the time.

After much deliberation, Xiao Lei summoned the courage to decline this arrangement. Unexpectedly, this refusal landed him in a misunderstanding. After returning to the unit, Xiao Lei heard some comrades remarking that he "wasn't willing to help with even such a small thing—no spirit of dedication at all." Those words stung him like a needle. "I was on leave, not on a business trip," Xiao Lei thought, full of grievance. He had actively thrown himself into the company's red education work—why, just because of one refusal, was he labeled as having "no spirit of dedication"?

Instructor Yang of the battalion where Xiao Lei serves noticed his low spirits during a heart-to-heart conversation. After an exchange, the instructor learned the full story. Instructor Yang then conducted a survey across the entire battalion and found that the phenomenon of officers and soldiers being assigned tasks during leave was not uncommon.

For example, cook Xiao Zhang went home on leave intending to spend quality time with his parents, but before he departed the company commander told him, "The soldiers all love Sichuan cuisine—when you have time during your leave, go pick up a few techniques." Leave is precious to begin with, and the thought of having to "learn a craft" on top of it left Xiao Zhang troubled……

"Leave is leave. It must never become a business trip, and we must never let people return home carrying a mental burden," Instructor Yang stated at the battalion's administrative routine meeting, decisively putting a stop to the practice of assigning extra tasks to officers and soldiers during leave, and reporting the relevant issues to the brigade headquarters.

The brigade party committee attached great importance to protecting officers and soldiers' right to rest. Referencing the provision in the newly revised Internal Affairs Regulations (内务条令) that "leave is primarily for rest and handling personal matters," the brigade issued an explicit prohibition against all levels arranging any non-emergency work tasks for officers and soldiers during leave, and eliminated covert task-assignment practices such as "help out along the way" and "get it done while you're at it."

To eliminate officers and soldiers' "worries" and enhance everyone's "sense of happiness," the brigade also introduced multiple measures: establishing a pre-leave communication system, whereby if there is genuinely work requiring assistance, it must be communicated with the officer or soldier in advance with full respect for their wishes; establishing a feedback channel for reporting on the implementation of leave rights, so that if officers or soldiers encounter situations where tasks are assigned in violation of regulations during leave, they can report at any time and the brigade headquarters will investigate and handle the matter at the first opportunity; and requiring all grassroots units to optimize work planning, sort out work tasks in advance, and distribute tasks reasonably among on-duty personnel, so as to avoid last-minute calls on personnel on leave to "fill gaps," thereby reducing the hidden burden on personnel on leave at the source.

Sense of happiness is linked to combat effectiveness. As a series of systems took effect, the brigade's officers and soldiers fully felt the warmth and care of the organization, work enthusiasm rose markedly, and the unit's combat effectiveness improved significantly.