Editor's Note: The delegates to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) are outstanding Party members with remarkable achievements. They are selected from and trusted by more than 96 million members and more than 4.9 million grass-roots organizations of the CPC, embodying the pioneering nature of the CPC and carrying the expectations of the Chinese people. China Military Online is publishing a series of stories to elaborate the outstanding deeds of some delegates.
By Zou Fei and Fang Lei
"Three, two, one, go…" A lieutenant colonel with a walkie-talkie in hand was instructing the soldiers to install and test a piece of equipment at the construction site of a national defense project.
The lieutenant colonel is Sha Ziga, a battalion commander of a brigade of the PLA Rocket Force.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, Sha Ziga's battalion has undertaken a more diverse range of tasks. "We must obtain the capability of carrying out construction of different types of national defense projects in different regions in order to adapt to new situations and challenges," said Sha.
Once in the construction of a national defense project, Sha Ziga and his men encountered a special kind of rock for which traditional explosive approaches didn't work very well. Based on long years of experience, Sha Ziga looked up information extensively and figured out a new explosive method that can notably accelerate the project schedule. Zhang Jun, a veteran in Sha's battalion, said the battalion commander was always capable of turning problems in construction work into new opportunities for combat effectiveness improvement.
As the engineering unit of the Rocket Force has introduced new equipment and technologies in recent years, Sha Ziga has been thinking about how to put them into full play in the construction work.
"The past decade has seen our engineering unit going through immense changes. Traditional engineering troops are now tech-savvy, labor-intensive work model is replaced by high-tech and efficient model, he expounded. Since he joined the military 20 years ago, Sha has been dedicated to the frontline of national defense construction. He has participated in the construction of more than ten national defense projects, working as commando leader and successfully handling collapse accidents more than 20 times. He has been honored as "National Excellent CPC Member", and awarded one first-class merit citation, two second-class merit citations, and three third-class merit citations.
Knowing that he has been selected as a deputy to the 20th CPC National Congress, Sha Ziga said with excitement, "I was born in a village of Yi ethnic group in the Daliang Mountains, and have grown up and become a military officer thanks to the Party's care and cultivation. As our motherland is walking along the great journey of building a strong military, I will work with my comrades-in-arms to create more top-quality defense projects."