An exhibition of troops displaying a new type of Chinese military support system was recently held in north China. The occasion demonstrated a new logistics system, “units for specialized emergency support”. The system has been designed to provide flexible assistance, and strengthen the acquisition of sustainable support initially formed for logistical aid in field operations.
The exhibition of the logistics support system was carried out by the Beijing Military Area, which set up the first emergency support brigade and emergency barracks for the PLA. The Beijing Military Area has done a great deal of tangible and effective work in the area of civilian economic utility mobilization and contribution, establishing a foundation for exploring new types of military support systems.
During the exhibition, several red signal flares could be seen soaring through the air, followed by several hundred fast and efficient vehicles, serving as parts of separate battalions, in charge of ordinance, treatment, fuel, general materials and emergency barracks. The field hospital, including X-ray equipment, surgeries, and cardiogram rooms, composed of a number of vehicles were soon at the ready. The “wounded” were “cured” in a timely manner; food was cooked for soldiers in a mobile kitchen; ordinances were transmitted by vehicles to troops on the front line; and fuel was supplied to motorized troops by roving gas stations.
Soon after the main force has executed its long-haul mobile battle operations, provincial and civic authorities provided rapid civilian mobilization support to the army by leveraging local manpower, material resource, and financial reserves.
The exhibition shows how transformation mechanisms are been utilized to merge local resources with military resources, and turn their combined potential into sustainable support for strengthened military operations.
According to a field commander’s prologue, traditional logistics support systems had relied on the original fixed line of support composed of depositories, barracks and garrison hospitals, offering only fixed points of supply, an obvious weakness in supporting the field operations of haphazard battles.
The exhibition demonstrates that the PLA has an initial support system for field military measures. Significant and sustainable support for massive company operations can be achieved using the new supply system.
(china.org.cn by Wang Zhiyong, October 17, 2002)
