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Ongoing Organizational Reforms of the PLAAF

  • Published
  • China Aerospace Studies Institute

From the chapter by Dr. Brendan S. Mulvaney and Ken Allen on the Ongoing Organizational Reforms of the PLAAF from Modernising the People’s Liberation Army: Aspiring to be a Global Military Power (available at https://www.routledge.com/Modernising-the-Peoples-Liberation-Army-Aspiring-to-be-a-Global-Military-Power/Char/p/book/9781032309439)

Since the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Military Commission (CMC) launched a major reorganization of the entire People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in early
2016, the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) has followed up with its own reforms at all levels. In February 2016, the PLAAF entailed ‘above the neck’ reforms at PLAAF Headquarters and reduced the number of Military Region Air Force (MRAF) Headquarters from seven to five, renaming them Theater Command Air Forces (TCAF). Changes in 2017 focused on ‘below the neck’ reforms by creating a ‘base-brigade’ structure by reforming several command posts into bases; abolishing fighter, fighter-bomber, and ground attack aircraft air divisions; replacing air regiments with brigades; and changing the name of its former 15th Airborne Corps to Airborne Corps. The PLAAF also reduced the number of its officer and non-commissioned officer (NCO) academies and renamed the former Air Force Equipment Research Academy as the Air Force Research Academy, as well as completely restructuring the basic training structure for its new enlisted members, which now includes multiple new-soldier training brigades and a two-cycle structure per year. It has also created a Master Chief system for NCOs at the company to brigade levels.

Also available at https://www.amazon.com/Modernising-Peoples-Liberation-Army-Aspiring/dp/1032309431?