No holds barred training for elite force

Five soldiers test their skills at handling an inflatable boat during an endurance training exercise in June. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Jining Regiment focuses more on overseas drills

The People's Liberation Army special forces have in recent years, taken part in an increasing number of overseas exercises with the forcesof other nations.

This not only develops contact and trust with foreign countries but helps the special forces upgrade their fighting ability.

Xie Shaosheng, political commissar of the Jining regiment, said that special forces are increasingly engaged in international military drills and have established more lines of communication.

They have been sent to Venezuela, Israel and Turkey to study. Many soldiers have participated in international competitions or joined drills and training exercises conducted overseas, Xie said.

In Xie's regiment alone, more than 150 soldiers have studied abroad or taken part in international competitions, and more than 1,000 have participated in joint drills or training with foreign countries.

"Greater international involvement shows the world our achievement in building a national defense and promotes trust with foreign countries," Xie said.

"It also gives us opportunities to learn from foreign special forces and help improve our training ideas and methods," Xie added.

Jin Song, a company commander of the regiment who studied in Israel and participated in joint training with Indonesian special forces, said he picked up many tips from his counterparts, some of whom had experienced combat.

"We used our right hand to signal commands, but the actual combat experience of Israelis shows that this can be quite dangerous," Jin said.

"You m not have time to grip your pistol," he added.

He also said the safety catch on the weapons was changed to a more accessible position, again to save time when fractions of seconds can be the difference between life and death.

He said they also learned how to quickly and silently enter a building holding terrorists and to achieve their objective while at the same time greatly reducing exposure to fire.