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How are the chiefs selected?
“Only one in a hundred is chosen,”said Liu Xianghui, a deputy brigade commander of the 42nd Army. His brigade has almost 1,000 NCOs, but just 13 were promoted in the first group of chief non-commissioned officers this year. The brigade has a pilot program for the system of chief non-commissioned officers. They should, in principle, be selected from equally ranked and qualified NCOs. The NCOs in Liu’s brigade are optimistic of selection as 189 applied to be chiefs.
The assessment covers more than 20 skills and attributes, including military theory, basic skills, physical ability, capture skills, military geomorphology, climbing, professional skills and ability to command. “Chief non-commissioned officers must excel in training, but they must do more. Their abilities in command, administration, education and language are also assessed,” said Liu.
Thirty NCOs made it to the second round after severe selection. Huang Zhongliang and 12 others finally stood out and became the first group of chief non-commissioned officers in the Guangzhou Military Area Command after checks and assessments that included discussion by the brigade’s Communist Party of China (CPC) committee. “Personal understanding of the duties of a chief non-commissioned officer is also very important,” Huang said. A veteran scout who served for years as training squad leader of the brigade, Huang said more than 85 percent of the brigades’ squad leaders are his “apprentices.” The other 12 chief non-commissioned officers are central to building grassroots fighting capacity. All are CPC members, and have more than four years experience as squad leaders and an education of at least a junior college degree.
The chief non-commissioned officers of a company are selected from NCOs who are squad leaders or at a post equal to squad leader, and they can be further appointed as chief non-commissioned officers of a battalion or a brigade in return for good performance. They enjoy the same political treatment and welfare conditions as commissioned officers. “Chief non-commissioned officers should not relax once chosen,” said Liu, whose brigade has regular assessments of chief non-commissioned officers, to ensure pressure and motivation for chief non-commissioned officers.
