Haitian Eagle: Tao Siyong, political commissar of the test flight team, can he be promoted to major general? A Ph.D. degree is an advantage

In "The Eagle of the Sea and Sky", people often focus on Qin Dadi, the captain of the Navy Test Flight Brigade, but ignore his partner Tao Siyong. What's even more interesting is that the captain of the test flight team and the political commissar of the test flight team should be of the same level. However, Qin Dadi has the rank of colonel, and Tao Siyong has the rank of colonel. We might as well make a hypothesis, can Tao Siyong be promoted to the rank of major general?

Before answering this question, we need to have a brief understanding of Tao Siyong. Tao Siyong is a Ph.D. graduate, and before serving as the political commissar of the aircraft carrier flight test team, he was the director of the Navy's Carrier-based Aircraft Pilot Selection and Transfer Office. Tao Siyong dedicated the best years of his life to the army and never had children of his own. When he learned that Qin Dadi's children needed money for treatment, Tao Siyong helped his old partner without hesitation, and his deep comradeship was all moving.

▲ "Haitian Heroes" Tao Siyong stills (1)

The task of the aircraft carrier aircraft test flight team is heavy, the time is tight, and the pressure is great, and Tao Siyong has tried his best to cooperate with Qin Dadi's work, made great efforts, and demonstrated excellent political work quality. Returning to the question, as for whether Tao Siyong can be promoted to major general, in the author's opinion, Tao Siyong's advantages in being promoted to major general are mainly reflected in the following two aspects:

1. Tao Siyong is a doctor, which meets the needs of the times for the development of the navy;

The navy is a very high-tech branch of the military, and it requires a high level of professionalism, not to mention carrier-based aircraft pilots. In other words, science and technology are the primary combat strength, and our military attaches particular importance to this. In December 1995, the Central Military Commission put forward the strategy of strengthening the army through science and technology, emphasizing relying on scientific and technological progress to improve the quality of army building and gradually realizing the "two transformations," that is, the transformation from quantity and scale to quality and efficiency, and manpower-intensive to science and technology-intensive.

▲ "Haitian Eagle" Tao Siyong stills (2)

Since the beginning of the new century, the building of the navy's combat strength has entered a golden period, and high-quality, sophisticated, and cutting-edge weapons and equipment have been continuously installed. In the construction of the talent echelon, our army has trained a number of young officers who are in the prime of life. According to the plot of "Haitian Eagle", Tao Siyong should be a doctoral student at the beginning of the new century. However, Tao Siyong's doctoral professional direction is not mentioned in the play. In any case, Tao Siyong is a highly educated career officer.

You also need to pay attention to a time node in the play, the background of the times is before and after the service of the Liaoning ship, which is an important time period for the development of the navy, and the importance of talent cannot be overemphasized. Although Tao Siyong is a political cadre, he can be regarded as the first batch of colonel-level officers in the whole army to systematically contact aircraft carrier-related training, and has accumulated rich work experience. Therefore, after Tao Siyong has formed the combat strength of the Liaoning aircraft carrier, he will make greater achievements in the construction of the navy's combat strength.

▲ "Haitian Eagle" Tao Siyong stills (3)

In addition, Tao Siyong belongs to a relatively young cadre, and he has a certain advantage in age. Judging by Tao Siyong's seniority, his military age is 24 years. According to the calculation of joining the army at the age of 18, Tao Siyong's age is about 42 years old. A colonel in his early 40s, Tao Siyong is undoubtedly in his prime. The work of the test flight team is complicated, and the fact that the navy leadership team was able to let Tao Siyong take on the heavy burden of political work is enough to show that there is a lot of trust in its capabilities.

Second, the special status of the aircraft carrier aircraft test flight group is of great significance to determine its military and political chief;

The aircraft carrier flight test team in "Sea and Sky Eagle" is not only a key link in the cultivation of aircraft carrier combat effectiveness, but also an important step in the construction of the talent echelon of aircraft carrier pilots. This determines that the status of the aircraft carrier aircraft test flight group is extremely special, and it can also explain why the deputy commander of the Navy, Yi Zhengbang, attaches great importance to the work of the aircraft carrier aircraft test flight group. It is precisely because of the special status of the aircraft carrier aircraft test flight group that, to a great extent, determines that its military and political chief is of great significance.

▲ "Haitian Eagle" Qin Dadi and Tao Siyong stills

In a sense, the status of the aircraft carrier aircraft test flight team is similar to that of China's first batch of astronauts. You can take a look at the first batch of active astronauts on the mainland, except for Senior Colonel Deng Qingming, the other astronauts have all been promoted to major generals. Let's go back and look at Tao Siyong, who made outstanding contributions to the formation of the combat effectiveness of the Liaoning aircraft carrier. In particular, under the controversy over whether to use the Harrier to fly and land on the ship, Tao Siyong played the role of a political work cadre, guiding and coordinating all parties from top to bottom, and ensuring the unity of the test flight team.

On the whole, Tao Siyong is a political officer with academic qualifications, courage, ideas, and contributions. In fact, among the many generals in the navy, there are many senior generals with doctoral degrees. For example, Liu Zhe, the second captain of the Liaoning (promoted to rear admiral in December 2019), is a doctor of strategy from the Academy of Military Sciences. Therefore, the possibility of Tao Siyong being promoted to the rank of major general is still relatively large. As for the other possibilities, there are only two things: either change jobs at the age of age, or retire as a full teacher-level colonel. No matter which possibility it is, we cannot ignore Tao Siyong's contribution in the process of forming the combat effectiveness of the Liaoning ship.

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