PLA army accelerates cultivation of information-based talents

On Jan. 29, the seventh day of the first lunar month of 2012, the Spring Festival atmosphere still permeated everywhere in China. However, in a group army under the Beijing Military Area Command (MAC) of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA)，the officers and men in a concentration training team of IT backbones were having a class: in the satellite specialized classroom, an instructor was explaining the function of satellite communication equipment and the new content of the lecture aroused heated discussion among the listeners from time to time.

According to Shi Delong, chief of the Informationization Office of the group army command, in recent years, new-type weapons and equipment have been put into service and information-based command methods have been employed extensively, which has posed higher requirements on the information-based attainment of officers and men. During mid-December last year, the office organized over 240 IT backbones and commanding officers to receive a two-month-odd cross-year systematic training on six majors including satellite, regional network, and automation.

"This concentration training releases a strong signal," Shi Delong told the reporters, "that is, promoting the information-based attainment of officers and men and strengthening the building of systematic combat capability based on information systems will be the priority of this year's training。"