07 August 2014

CMSI ‘Red Book’ #12: “The Recruitment, Education, and Training of PLA Navy Personnel”

The study that everyone wanted but nobody had produced before!

Kenneth Allen and Morgan Clemens, The Recruitment, Education, and Training of PLA Navy Personnel, Naval War College China Maritime Study 12 (August 2014).

Looking back at the parlous state of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the early 1980s, Liu Huaqing, its former commander, wrote, “All areas [of the navy] required significant strengthening, but I believed the key was developing capable personnel.” Indeed, during Admiral Liu’s tenure (1982-88), the PLAN embarked on a major effort to improve the quality of its officers and enlisted personnel an effort that continues to this day. This historically-informed monograph examines the results of reforms of the way in which the PLAN recruits, educates, and trains its officers and enlisted personnel today.