By Feng Xuxin and Chen Jie
BEIJING, June 4 -- When a brigade of the PLA 82nd Group Army set out for the field training locations in mid-May, their non-combat materials for the training had been handed over to a local logistics company for transportation, which greatly improved the troops’ operation efficiency.
During the past field training, all the materials were loaded together, which resulted in the heavy load of the vehicles. Besides, the loading and unloading were time-consuming and laborious. Together, these factors seriously affected the troops’ maneuver speed.
At the beginning of this year, the brigade tried to rely on civilian logistics companies to deliver daily necessities, cultural facilities and other non-combat materials.
Military operations are highly classified and the selection of civilian company requires enough carefulness. After in-depth research, a logistics company with solid strength, good reputation and qualifications was selected to sign the cooperation and confidentiality agreements in accordance with the principle of being voluntary, mutual benefit and military priority.
According to the agreements, the logistics company came to the barracks with professional transportation equipment before the maneuver. All the non-combat materials were loaded in less than three hours and packed in categories for subsequent distribution.
Initially, some military members were worried that an extra local convoy in the team would affect their operations. However, they found that the logistics trucks did not follow the troops. Instead, when they got to the training place, the logistics convoy had already arrived ahead of time.
"Given the changing battlefield situation, we will keep in constant contact with the logistics convoy," said Wang Zhangchao, the head of the transportation and delivery section of the brigade. Logistics company could quickly reach designated locations with the help of intelligent systems and other technical equipment, he added.
The brigade’s commanding officer expressed that they would continue to use the professional advantages of logistics companies in the future to reduce the transportation burden of the troops and continuously improve their mobility.
