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)