By Qian Xiaohu, Li Fang
BEIJING, August 3 -- In late July, the Chinese PLA Navy successively held ceremonies to hand out admission letters to the fresh flying cadets at the juvenile aviation schools of Chongqing No.11 Middle School and the Hengshui Middle School of Hebei Province, which aimed to commend the aviation schools' outstanding performance in the early cultivation of naval pilots, and also marked the successful completion of the naval pilot recruitment in 2021.
According to the PLA Navy Pilot Recruitment Office, they have recruited naval pilots in more than 200 areas of 22 provinces nationwide, with about 13,000 student applicants. Three features reflected the breakthroughs in the quality of this year's recruitment campaign. First, the admitted students have generally scored higher in the national college entrance examination; second, they have selected more ship-borne fighter pilot cadets than planned; third, the navy’s juvenile aviation schools have contributed more fresh pilot cadets, demonstrating the encouraging effect of intensive cultivation mode on pilot elites.
An official at the PLA Navy Pilot Recruitment Office introduced that the admitted candidates need to go through the physical examination, flight potential test and political assessment, and can only be admitted as naval pilot cadets on a merit basis after they passed national college entrance examination. Next, the cadets will receive comprehensive and systematic cultivation at the Naval Aviation University, some under the program of ship-borne pilot training and others receiving joint cultivation at top-grade engineering universities in China.
It is learned that the PLA Navy has built 14 juvenile aviation schools based on senior high schools since 2015, where aviation experimental classes are set to highlight aviation education and pilot potential training in addition to regular high-school courses. At present, the PLA Navy mainly recruits pilot cadets from graduates of regular senior high schools, juvenile aviation schools and military academies, with aviation schools gradually becoming the main source.
