"Before the opening of the NPC and CPPCC sessions this year, I made a special investigation, through which I deeply feel that it is extremely urgent to improve the scientific and technological quality of our officers and men," said Commander Li Shaojun of a group army under the Beijing Military Area Command, who is an NPC deputy attending the ongoing 4th Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC).

"The scientific and technological quality of the officers and men will have a direct impact upon the outcome of war." Li Shaojun said, and "along with information-based weaponry and equipment being gradually introduced into service in the PLA, the quality of our officers and men cannot remain at the standards of the 1970s or the 1980s. Today when we judge a soldier whether or not he has measured up to the new standards, we have to see whether he has acquired necessary IT knowledge and operational skill, and whether he can skillfully operate the weapon in his hand."

Li Shaojun also said that it is a systematic project to improve the quality of officers and men, thus it should proceed from the sources of soldiers, and need concrete and feasible method. He pointed out that the troops at various levels should, on the basis of devoting time efforts to improve scientific and technological quality of the officers and men, work out the contents of training and evaluation in a scientific way, formulate a complete set of training and evaluation standards in light of the features of various posts manned by officers and men, different specialties and different levels, and the evaluation results should be taken as the hard and fast criteria for officers' promotion, for soldiers' college enrollment and for the selection of non-commissioned officers.

Source: PLA Daily