The "People" in the PLA: Recruitment, Training, and Education in China's Military - Chinese Military Career Profiles, Conscripts, Officer Corps, Command Colleges

The People in the PLA: Recruitment, Training, and Education in China's Military represents the latest volume in the series published by the Strategic Studies Institute and brings together top-tier academic analysis and insight on the important questions. This volume describes the advances and reforms the PLA has made in its recruitment, officer and NCO training and education, and mobilization. As part of its larger reform effort to modernize and transform its military into a technologically sophisticated force, the PLA has implemented a number of measures aimed at training up a "new-type" officer for its modernized forces — one capable of operating effectively in a technologically advanced "informationalized" environment. This volume sheds light on such important questions as how the PLA's personnel system is adapting to fulfill the requirements of a military force capable of "winning local wars under informationalized conditions" and how the PLA is cultivating a new generation of officers and what capabilities these new officers will likely possess.

The importance of any military's "human capital" cannot be understated. A military is only as effective as the people running it. To date, certain facets of China's military modernization, including arms buildup, the development of new weapons and systems, and even the emergence of new doctrinal and strategic missions have garnered relatively significant attention. However, the critically important dynamics associated with the PLA's attempts to improve the quality of its human capital have not been as closely scrutinized, and thus, still are not well-understood.

Contents: Trends in Education and Training, 1924-2007: From Whampoa to Nanjing Polytechnic * "True is False, False is True, Virtual is Reality, Reality is Virtual": Technology and Simulation in the Chinese Military Training Revolution * PLA Conscript and Noncommissioned Officer Individual Training * Building the Fighting Strength: PLA Officer Accession, Education, Training, and Utilization * Reforming the Officer Corps: Keeping the College Grads In, the Peasants Out, and the Incompetent Down * PLA Career Progressions and Policies * Educating "New-Type Military Talent": The PLA's Command Colleges * The Cradle of Generals: Strategists, Commanders, and the PLA-National Defense University * Shaping China's Next Generation of Military Leaders: For What Kind of Army?

In addition, this unique collection of American military documents provides a special view of recent Chinese military and policy developments. Contents: China Shaping the Operational Environment - A Disciple on the Path of Deception and Influence * The "People" in the PLA: Recruitment, Training, and Education in China's 80-Year-Old Military * China's Maritime Quest * The PLA At Home and Abroad: Assessing The Operational Capabilities of China's Military * Arms Sales To Taiwan: Enjoy The Business While It Lasts * China's Role In The Stabilization Of Afghanistan * The Coming of Chinese Hawks * Turkey and China: Unlikely Strategic Partners. This ebook also includes the annual U.S. intelligence community worldwide threat assessment in Congressional testimony by Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr.