Grassroots delegate: A soldier from the PLA Rocket Force

A file photo of Zhu Hongjun [Photo/81.cn]

Zhu's performance in the military trainings won him a post of rocket control system in the Rocket Force, but his poor education background dragged him behind others in the first theoretical test.

His former squad leader even suggested Zhu should change his post. Zhu swore to have a good performance.

He got up one hour earlier than others every day to learn the rules and the parameters. He read books and researched on circuits at study room late at night when others were fast asleep.

"I'm not a quick learner. Before joining the army, I didn't pay too much attention to education. But I decided that I must learn from other people, master all the techniques, become a useful person to the army and its future development," Zhu said.

In the last 17 years, he has read for at least one hour every day.

In the past 11 years, Zhu has been awarded certificates for an operator, and deemed suitable for eight positions. He has memorized 11 books of the operational rules, and can draw about 100 rocket schematics.

Zhu has conducted 25 combat readiness trainings, solving more than 40 knotty problems, including four major equipment failures.

In 2011, when Zhu was on a launch mission, telemetry data showed that a rocket part was behaving abnormal 15 minutes before the launch. After examination, Zhu pushed a button and discovered that the data was wrong. Experts agree with Zhu's finding and launched the rocket in time.

Zhu also took part in the research and building of the rocket control system simulation training equipment.

"I want to train more talents for the army and improve their fighting capacity," Zhu said.

Since Zhu began serving as a squad head 12 years, he has trained more than 100 soldiers and 30 professional leaders in their fields.

In 2016, Zhu joined in compiling the new training outlines, taking charge of making rules for five training subjects. In more than 40 days, Zhu and his colleagues poured through resources, took data and made teaching plans day and night.

The force wanted him to take a long time holiday with family, but he returned less than 15 days later, as he wanted to train more soldiers who had just joined the army.