Problems for winter training encountered by the reserve forces, such as providing hot foods and drinks and warm encampment to troops, and camouflage to equipment and materials, have now been effectively solved by a reserve force regiment in the Jilin Provincial Military Command. On November 25th, it was snowing heavily in the Changbai Mountains with temperature far below zero, officers and men of the reserve force regiment in white camouflage uniforms were prodding through forests, bringing with them vehicles and equipment clad in"snowy white"camouflage. The officers and men swiftly occupied positions as soon as they arrived at their destination. These were the scenes of successful winter training of this reserve force regiment the reporter saw on that day, which fully demonstrated the upgrading of the field survival ability and battle effectiveness of the reserve forces.

　　This regiment took three major problems in winter training as the emphasis of its scientific research project, namely to provide hot foods and drinks, to provide warm encampment to troops, and to effectively camouflage equipment and materials in snowy training field. By relying on local scientific research institutions and scientific and technical personnel in the area, the officers and men of the regiment successfully designed a tin with cooking device at the bottom that could heat tasty rice in less than three minutes. The tin was small in size and light in weight, hence a soldier could easily carry hot foods and drinks enough to last 3 days. In order to solve the problem of warm encampment, the regiment designed a fireproof, waterproof, radiation-proof and infrared-absorbing down-padded sleeping bag, which could enable soldiers to camp safely at 40 degrees below zero. This type of sleeping bag, after being folded, was about the size of ordinary down-padded clothes, so it is easy to carry.　As far as camouflage is concerned, the regiment changed the old camouflage method, and used white clothes that matched the color of snow-covered ground as material to camouflage equipment and other materials.

　　After solving the three problems, the regiment carried out winter training in the immense forest and snowfield with real earnest. Since 2001, it has taken its troops to conduct winter training in various places, and has been awarded the advanced military training unit by the Jilin Provincial Military Command for 3 successive years.

　　By Chen Chonggang and Chen Jie

　　(December 8, PLA Daily)