The four headquarters of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (the Headquarters of the General Staff, the General Political Department, the General Logistics Department, and the General Armament Department) recently issued a notification announcing the winners of the 2013 Excellent Sergeants First Prize among all PLA officers and soldiers.

Fourteen students from Bayi College of the Open University of China (OUC) were granted the prize, among whom there were 3 students from Shenyang Military Command, 4 students from Beijing Military Command, 4 students from Nanjing Military Command, 1 student from Lanzhou Military Command, and 1 student from the Navy and the Second Artillery Corps. A total of 239 sergeants received awards, of which 6% came from Bayi College. 

Those who received commendation not only had high military and political qualities and exquisite professional skills, but also placed great emphasis on learning in order to enhance their own cultural and scientific qualities. Zewa Renzhen, squad leader of a brigade of Nanjing Military Command was such an example. 

Zewa Renzhen was a student from the class of 2010, and majored in business administration at Bayi College. By taking advantage of the teaching platform of the College, he overcame the conflict between training and learning, and was able to make the most of the intervals between training in order to study. Therefore he received excellent scores on every exam. He was also able to apply the lessons he learned on management to his troop-training routine. Having been in the army for 8 years, he has consistently received commendation for his achievements, having received the “Model of Loving the Army and Proficiency in Military Skills”, “Special Grade Sniper”, and “One Hundred of Outstanding Squad Leaders” awards, besides being awarded the Third-class Merit Citation twice. The squad he led had also obtained remarkable achievements: 2 soldiers were admitted to military academies, 1 was raised to the level of cadre, 9 were admitted to the Party, 12 acted as squad leaders or deputy squad leaders, having gained gold medals or silver medals in above-brigade martial arts competitions for 18 man-times. The squad has twice been awarded Collective First-Class Merits. 

The 2013 First Prize of Excellent Sergeants in the Whole Army is awarded based on joint review and comment by the four headquarters of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, and is held once every year. The Second Prize and the Third Prize are based on review and comments by each large unit. The awards are given to those active sergeants who have made outstanding contributions in their posts with the troops.

By Wang Su, OUC Bayi College