Starting from the deputy company commander of the Soldier Assault Team

Back in his dormitory, Zhang Anbang also began to think about Shi Jin's problem. According to the current policies, it was unlikely that Shi Jin would be able to get promoted through meritorious service.

Let's examine what Shi Jin is lacking in the current standards for promoting outstanding soldiers to officers/admission to universities.

If Shi Jin wants to be promoted to officer, he needs to go through the non-commissioned officer promotion channel, which is the "outstanding soldier recommended for admission" channel. This is not a direct promotion; he must meet several strict conditions, none of which can be missing.

The first educational requirement is at least a high school or vocational school diploma. Shi Jin only has a junior high school diploma, which does not meet the requirements.

Of course, there is a way to solve this. Shi Jin can enroll in the military education program of the military correspondence secondary vocational school. This program has a one-year study period, low difficulty, and graduates can perfectly meet the academic requirements for promotion.

Secondly, in terms of meritorious service, one needs at least two third-class merits or one second-class merit. Shi Jin is an excellent trainee and a backbone member of the company. He has been commended many times, but he has not earned enough merits.

Regarding the qualifications for the position, one needs to have served as a class monitor or deputy class monitor for at least one year. Shi Jin certainly has no problem with this, after all, he has been a class monitor for many years.

In terms of political affiliation, candidates need to be members of the Communist Party of China or be active applicants for Party membership, and Shi Jin meets these requirements.

There is a major flaw: the age requirement for promotion from non-commissioned officer to officer is no more than 25 years old. Shi Jin is seriously over the age limit. He enlisted at the age of 18, served as a conscript for two years, as a first-term non-commissioned officer for three years, as a second-term non-commissioned officer for three years, and as a third-term non-commissioned officer for three years now.

Shi Jin is now 29 years old. Although there is a way to get a special age exception, the chances are too slim.

The policy stipulates that if someone has made significant contributions and served in remote and hardship areas, the application age can be extended to 29. Currently, this is the only case that can break through the hard age limit of 25, but it requires special approval from the General Political Department.

That's unlikely, since the garrison region isn't exactly a remote or harsh area. It's a vital area around the capital, and it has nothing to do with being remote. As for significant contributions, Shi Jin didn't make any.

After careful consideration, Zhang Anbang concluded that Shi Jin's path of becoming a non-commissioned officer was no longer viable. After much thought, Zhang Anbang determined that there was only one way for Shi Jin to remain in the military, and this required careful planning and strategizing.

That is to pursue the path of "three to four" and cultivate the career of a professional non-commissioned officer. Shi Jin in the recruit training camp can test the leverage turning technique or the teaching track to complete the "three to four" and thus preserve his military career.

Xu Sanduo had just enlisted and was still in the recruit training camp. Shi Jin was focused on fulfilling his promise to train Xu Sanduo well.

Combining these two approaches would preserve Shi Jin's military career while also bringing Xu Sanduo out of the army, achieving a win-win situation where both Shi Jin and Xu Sanduo are able to lead their troops effectively and remain in the military.

Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the training approach for Shi Jin, transforming the pressure that Shi Jin privately bears into a way of publicly setting an example, and turning Xu Sanduo's troubles into Shi Jin's achievements.

Xu Sanduo's performance was too poor. We can communicate with Shi Jin and stop protecting Xu Sanduo alone. Instead, we can study and report on Xu Sanduo as a case study of new recruit transformation.

In front of the entire recruit company, a growth plan for Xu Sanduo was formulated, and the entire process of Xu Sanduo going from a burden to a model soldier was recorded, with regular growth reports given.

This would bring Shi Jin's previously quiet, behind-the-scenes efforts into the public eye, helping him achieve more tangible results and thus making his transformation from a "three-to-four" process more convincing.

We can discuss with Gao Cheng about setting up a teaching pilot program in the recruit company, using Xu Sanduo as a pilot, to explore a training method for motivating introverted recruits, and ask the regimental training section to send someone to follow up and record the process.

Given Gao Cheng's level of care for Shi Jin, if I just bring it up, Gao Cheng will definitely agree and take the initiative to go to the regimental headquarters to negotiate with Commander Wang. This way, Shi Jin can obtain officially recognized teaching experience.

This way, he can smoothly transition through the recruit training period and accumulate some experience as he progresses from the third to the fourth year of training.

When Xu Sanduo was assigned to the Fifth Platoon of the Third Company, he was able to help Shi Jin study hard and take the military correspondence vocational school entrance exam. Xu Sanduo spent more than half a year in the Fifth Platoon, which was half of the one-year correspondence vocational school semester.

Thus, the hard requirement of junior high school education for promotion to fourth term sergeant will be perfectly met by the time Xu Sanduo arrives at the Seventh Company and Shi Jin obtains his graduation certificate.

When Xu Sanduo returned from the fifth squad on the grassland, the training model of the third squad was restructured. Xu Sanduo was used as a catalyst to activate the training motivation of the entire third squad, and the collective performance was used to offset his individual performance assessment.

Instead of letting Xu Sanduo hold back in the third squad, they paired him up to help him. Wu Liuyi trained Xu Sanduo in physical fitness, while Shi Jin trained him in tactics and military skills.

Furthermore, by linking performance to grades, the veterans of the third squad can be incentivized to help Xu Sanduo improve.

The goal is to ensure that Xu Sanduo meets the minimum standards of the Seventh Company in all projects within one month, and that his performance reaches or even exceeds the average level of the Seventh Company within two months.

If Class 3 can win first place in the company-wide class assessment within three months, Shi Jin, as the class leader, will definitely have a significant advantage.

Given Shi Jin's age, his personal performance will only get worse. No matter how much effort he puts in, there's no way he can make any more progress. It's enough if he can maintain a decent level of performance.

This will help Shi Jin write Xu Sanduo's growth as an experience summary when applying for the title of outstanding squad leader at the regimental level, and will also allow him to further adjust the introverted recruit motivation training method during the recruit training period into an experience report on the transformation of introverted recruits.

Compared to Xu Sanduo's past achievements, this will definitely be of great help to Shi Jin in applying for the title of outstanding squad leader at the regimental level. Such a document can even be said to directly replace part of the role of a third-class merit when he is promoted from third to fourth class.

The current military policy offers special bonus points for grassroots officers and non-commissioned officers who innovate in leading troops. The Steel Seventh Company does not have quotas for fourth-term non-commissioned officers, but the 702nd Regiment does.

Shi Jin was highly regarded by Gao Cheng in the Steel Seventh Company. In the early days of the new recruits entering the Steel Seventh Company, Shi Jin provided a lot of help, but usually he would just finish his work and that was it.

Zhang Anbang could have easily suggested that Gao Cheng appoint Shi Jin as a recruit adaptation training instructor, managing the third squad while also being responsible for the rapid transformation of all the new recruits who had just joined the seventh company.

This step preserves all the records and documents, allowing Shi Jin to transition from an ordinary infantry officer to a teaching officer, so as to facilitate his reassignment later.

Another point to note is that when Shi Jin is teaching Xu Sanduo after he returns to the Steel Seventh Company, he must teach him step by step and not rush things or personally demonstrate things at every turn. Otherwise, he might injure his hand while swinging the hammer, which would become a fatal weakness in Shi Jin's transition from the third to the fourth level.

After Xu Sanduo joined the Steel Seventh Company, his most outstanding achievement was doing 333 abdominal bar wraps, which perfectly links Shi Jin's efforts with Xu Sanduo's accomplishments.

While Xu Sanduo gained glory, Shi Jin also accumulated more capital for his own advancement.

The highlight of Xu Sanduo doing 333 abdominal pull-ups was captured with a DV camera and added to Shi Jin's application for outstanding squad leader.

It was emphasized that Xu Sanduo's breakthrough stemmed from the scientific training methods of the Third Platoon and the meticulous guidance of Platoon Leader Shi Jin. At the same time, it was requested that the regiment incorporate Xu Sanduo's growth case into the regiment's new recruit training materials as a reference case for future new recruit training.

With so much solid and detailed material piled up, the title of outstanding squad leader at the regimental level is definitely not a problem. In addition, Shi Jin knows how to formulate training plans, so the probability of successfully completing the three-to-four transition is greatly increased.

As Xu Sanduo's performance became increasingly outstanding after completing the abdominal barbell exercise, he further applied for the title of outstanding squad leader at the division/brigade level for Shi Jin and strived to win this title.

Once you become an outstanding squad leader at the division or brigade level, you will most likely be transferred to the new recruit brigade of the division's training team or a professional teaching and research office to be responsible for the unified training of general subjects for new recruits across the division, the cultivation of professional backbones, the optimization of training programs, and to assume the role of system output.

This position grants the authority to conduct company-level assessments, approve and recommend training programs, and participate in discussions on division-level training outlines—a true technical sergeant rank.

With this, there's no problem getting promoted to the fourth term, or even the fifth term. From then on, you can fully embark on the path of a professional non-commissioned officer and work until retirement without any issues.