(Under the guidance of Xi Jinping's thinking on strengthening the army, we report in the battle position)
Write the mission of a strong army on the blue sky of the motherland-a record of a military aviation brigade of the 77th Army of the Army focusing on training and preparation
Xinhua News Agency, Chengdu, November 9th, title: Writing the mission of a strong army on the blue sky of the motherland-a record of a military aviation brigade of the 77th Army Group focusing on military training and preparation
Xinhua News Agency reporters Huang Ming, Liu Jimei, Gao Yujiao
Fighting on snow-covered plateaus, fighting on the battlefields, fighting on the battlefields, and on duty on border warfare... For 13 years of flying, Zhang Shangnian has participated in more than 10 major missions, leaving a figure of fighting and flying in the sky of the motherland.
Fly the terrain that others do not want to fly, the weather that others do not want to fly, and the flight routes that others do not dare to fly... For many years, a certain army brigade of the 77th Army Group Army of the Western Theater of the Army where Zhang Shangnian is located keeps in mind Chairman Xi Jinping’s entrustment and realizes the “support guarantee” Transformation and development from "type" to "main battle-use type".
Zhang Shangnian’s brigade is the unit of Qiu Guanghua’s crew.
In May 2008, Zhang Shangnian, who had just graduated and was assigned to the army, witnessed every day the "Lao Fei" drove the war eagle into the hardest-hit areas in order to open up the "passage of life".
"Flying is the career of the brave, and we must be prepared to face accidents at any time." This is what the captain Qiu Guanghua often said to the "new flying", and it became his last exhortation.
On May 31, 2008, Qiu Guanghua's crew was destined to send health and epidemic prevention experts to Li County.
It is a typical dangerous route with "two mountains and one valley".
Zhang Shangnian watched them take off, but could not wait for them to return.
"Since soldiers live for war, they must go to war." At that moment, Zhang Shangnian set a goal for himself: advocating heroes, we should follow their tracks——
(One)
On April 20, 2013, when the Lushan earthquake occurred, Zhang Shangnian was on the way to welcome his relatives.
He immediately sent a text message to the bride, "I'm going to rescue and wait for me to come back", and drove back to the army in the wedding car.
That morning, all the pilots of the brigade who had been on a shift abroad returned to duty.
"You don't need to wait for notification from the superior. The disaster is the order." Zhang Shangnian said, "This has become the common consciousness of all officers and soldiers of our'Earthquake Relief Hero Army Aviation Corps'."
Baoxing County is surrounded by dense clouds and damaged roads among the mountains. It is an "island of life" that is difficult to reach for ground rescue.
On April 22, 2013, after several previous raids were unsuccessful, Zhang Shangnian was ordered to advance to the "Island of Life" and successfully delivered urgently needed food and medicine to the victims.
Inheritance is the best memory of heroes.
During the more than 20 days of participating in disaster relief, Zhang Shangnian successfully opened up 7 aerial "passages of life" and transported 17 severely wounded people.
On May 22, 2013, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the State, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission inspected the brigade.
When he learned that Zhang Shangnian had interrupted his wedding to participate in disaster relief on the day of the earthquake, President Xi told him: "Hurry up and get the wedding."
"Make new contributions in major emergency rescues", this is President Xi's affectionate encouragement to this heroic force.
Over the past seven years, the brigade party committee has kept in mind Chairman Xi’s instructions, and in response to the frequent occurrence of natural disasters in the western region and the increasingly normalized execution of diversified military tasks, it has continuously optimized the combat readiness and duty system, improved the emergency response mechanism, and created "rescue and disaster relief emergency teams". Can emergency force.
Opened the flight log of the brigade in recent years, a string of data recorded their solid footprints——
During the Ludian earthquake rescue, they hovered in a single wheel and forced a landing field; when the earthquake occurred in Jiuzhaigou, they immediately went into battle and performed 77 rescue missions; there was a wildfire in Muli, Liangshan, and two helicopters took 5 minutes Complete the takeoff preparations inside, cross the line of fire to rescue...
The soldiers of the Army Aviation "condred eagles descend from the sky" again and again, bringing hope of life to the people.
(two)
The Kunlun Mountains, 4,500 meters above sea level, are inaccessible "life forbidden zones".
Since its establishment in 1986, the brigade has undertaken the task of opening up plateau helicopter routes.
For more than 30 years, the officers and soldiers of the brigade have used their lives to open up the plateau route and guard the blue sky of the motherland.
"The war eagle must always fly along the route of being able to fight and win battles. Only by practicing hard flying can we live up to the chairman's care." said Liu Jun, the brigade commander and super pilot.
In July 2013, the plateau test flight mission of a certain type of transport aircraft was released, and Zhang Shangnian was the first to sign up.
The "main event" during this entry into the snow-covered plateau is to verify the flight data of the new fighter aircraft at extreme altitudes.
On the day of the mission, the fuselage shook violently in the strong air current, and Zhang Shangnian drove the war eagle to climb continuously...
300 meters beyond the theoretical ceiling!
The war eagle surpassed Tanggula Mountain and surpassed Bayan Har Mountain.
At that moment, Zhang Shangnian successfully flew out of the historical record of this type of fighter, and flew out of the future record of victory in alpine mountain combat.
"This means that in an unfamiliar area with towering mountains, we have one more route and one more chance of winning." Zhang Shangnian said.
From the plateau test flight to the normalized station training, and then to the joint training of multiple arms, Zhang Shangnian has grown from a pilot student of the year to an excellent "highland captain."
His growth trajectory also reflects the brigade's determination to train "war-fighting" talents guided by training and preparations.
"In the past, the large fleet of planes crossing the snow-capped mountains and valleys was a scene in the movie for us, but now it is a'common meal'." Liu Jun said.
(three)
The new era opens a new journey, and a new mission calls for new deeds.
As an important support for the army's mobile operations and three-dimensional offensive and defensive operations, Army Aviation has ushered in the spring of transition from a "support and support type" to a "main battle type".
In August 2016, the installation of several new armed helicopters was a milestone in the transformation and development of the brigade.
"From transport helicopters to armed helicopters, there is only one way to maximize the effectiveness of weapons and equipment-transformation." Liu Jun said.
"Fly the most advanced fighter plane and be the best pilot" has become Zhang Shangnian's ambition; "Remove the halo and transform to war" has also become the unanimous choice of his comrades.
However, in the process of converting transport helicopters to armed helicopters, the most difficult thing is not the inexperienced "new pilots", it is precisely the mature "old pilots" like Zhang Shangnian-because to "learn", you must first "forget".
Forget the deep muscle memory, forget the operating habits that have been practiced over the years, forget the operating skills that used to be proud of... During that time, Zhang Shangnian was practicing even dreaming.
In December 2019, Zhang Shangnian’s helicopter set sail in the winter sun and completed the assessment with a series of high-standard tactical actions, achieving a good start for the first flight of the integrated system and taking a solid step in transformation and moulting.
In recent years, going to the plateau, fighting in the Gobi, and rushing into the desert, from integrated training opened the prelude to helicopter air-ground coordination, the "first step" in combat and aviation, to the first live ammunition on the plateau, the first institutional plateau training, and the first landing by land. Aviation led the development of multi-arms coordinated operations...Under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s thought of strengthening the army, Zhang Shangnian and his comrades flew from the basin to the plateau, from the training ground to the exercise field, and turned the chairman’s entrustment into a conscious action to reform and strengthen the army. On the route to the future battlefield, they continue to flutter their wings.