Chapter 538 - 422 Contract Firefighter?

Sunday.

Today at Second Squadron, there’s not much luck to speak of, with some finding joy on the third floor, and others in the study room watching the Olympic Games.

For Fang Huai today, things are quite comfortable.

Because his epaulettes have changed to green.

Although there are no stars, at least he no longer has to wear the epaulettes of a soldier, the object of everyone’s surprised gazes.

A week of public notice has passed, and the enrollment date has also arrived; he is now officially a Military Academy student and is allowed to wear the student rank.

Thus, he called Wu Di, who had already been commissioned as a second lieutenant, and borrowed a pair of student epaulettes that were left in the Squadron Department, replacing the red tabs on his camouflage uniform with green ones.

After his internship ended, Wu Di left after all.

Knowing he couldn’t keep up with the physical demands, he ultimately didn’t stay with Second Squadron. However, he didn’t go to the Big Team either, instead going to work as a platoon leader at Nanming Detachment in the city center on Shengshi Road.

Fang Huai still felt a bit of a pity about that.

Wu Di was rough around the edges, but he had a cultivated air about him, capable with several musical instruments, quite good with English, talented at soccer. Without him, Second Squadron was missing a key figure in cultural and sports activities.

His computer skills were also pretty decent.

Fang Huai had wished to train him well, to make him an all-around Cadre.

But not everyone dreams of battling against the current.

When Fang Huai called him, he asked why he transferred, and Wu Di honestly said that he enjoyed the grassroots squadron life and liked the training, but he couldn’t handle the training intensity of Second Squadron.

To the tip of the spear, Second Squadron was an attractive prospect, but to many with average physical qualities, it was known as a demon’s lair.

The allure of being Special forces was something high-end yet bitter and painful to many ordinary soldiers.

Nothing could be done about it.

This morning Fang Huai didn’t head to the third floor but wandered around the front yard instead.

Soon, the people of the training team would arrive, and he was specifically waiting here for them.

Mostly, he was waiting for the Chief of Staff.

This time was a bit different from the last Martial Arts Competition. The other six members of the training team would assemble at the Detachment and then be brought over together.

The Olympic Games were happening amidst excitement, and the Chinese team kept bringing good news, causing national celebrations. Meanwhile, various regions gradually shifted their focus from Olympic collaborative tasks back to their primary duties.

In terms of firefighting, to support the Olympics, fire prevention was done particularly well this year, with slogans posted everywhere and door-to-door advocacy. Fang Huai even contributed a promotional highland primarily centered on firefighting that the city government praised at the July meeting.

This was an aspect they could be proud of.

However, when it came to training soldiers, it left something to be desired, which is why the Chief of Staff was making a personal visit today, to boost everyone’s spirits.

The soldier standing guard in Guard Pavilion, Chen Zhenghai, saw Fang Huai and immediately popped his head out with a sheepish smile, waving at Fang Huai.

"Fang Huai! Cover for me for a few minutes, I need to take a dump!"

Fang Huai rolled his eyes.

"You need to go as soon as you’re on guard! It’s just an hour’s shift. You dawdle for five minutes, take a twenty-minute dump, and then loaf around for another five minutes before your shift ends.

Is there an electric current running under that guardhouse, shocking you? Is it that hard to stand there?

The Chief of Staff is about to arrive! If he sees you like this, careful he doesn’t whip out his belt!"

"Shit, why didn’t you say so earlier!"

Hearing this, Chen Zhenghai immediately returned to the guardhouse, opened the door, and stood straight as an arrow.

About 10 minutes later, two cars drove into the squadron.

Upon seeing the people arrive, Fang Huai ran cheerfully up to the front of the black Passat, opening the car door for the Chief of Staff.

"Chief of Staff, you’ve arrived!"

Chief of Staff Zhou got out of the car, his smile quite friendly.

"Little Fang, call the training team to assemble!"

"They’re waiting at the back playground! Instructor Huang! Instructor Huang!"

Fang Huai called out twice, and immediately someone from behind responded.

The Chief of Staff then nodded, turning and saying,

"Chen Zhechang, form up!"

The chief of the Training and Operations Department, Chen Zhechang, had come again.

When he saw Fang Huai’s shoulder boards, he couldn’t help but laugh and said, "Yo! You’ve got green tabs now?"

Fang Huai smiled and nodded his head, took a glance at the few people getting off the car on the other side, and noticed that most were familiar faces. He also raised his hand to greet them.

But he didn’t move an inch from the Chief of Staff’s side.

Old Zhou, seeing his posture, had a bit of an epiphany.

This kid had something to ask him.

He stepped aside, and when Fang Huai closely followed, he coughed and said, "Speak if you’ve got something to say, but if it’s about money, forget it. Don’t bother opening your mouth for that, go find your uncle."

Fang Huai’s face twitched.

Crooked day, asking you for money? Aside from getting our squadron a record board, what else can you approve?

Old Zhang says to forget about money issues because he’s stingy, but you saying that means you’re really broke, right?

Fang Huai ranted inwardly, but still maintained an awkward smile on his face, saying,

"Chief of Staff, it’s not about spending money! I was just asking about our squadron getting new people. The Detachment only gave us a plan and hasn’t provided a clear explanation on how exactly we’re going to reinforce our numbers, so what’s the deal?"

He had only thought to ask about this after a phone call with Wu Di that morning.

Old Zhou’s eyebrows furrowed.

"How do you want to reinforce? Didn’t we give you some autonomy? The Detachment issued a notice, all squadrons should apply, there will be physical and skill screenings, and you have certain recommendation quotas. Submit the names, and the Detachment will review them. In principle, we agree, but you cannot go against the volunteers’ own will."

As he spoke, Old Zhou turned his head to see Fang Huai staring at him and grinning, which made Zhou feel rather uncomfortable, and he couldn’t help but raise his voice, "...If you have any ideas, just say them. Don’t beat around the bush!"

"Hem!" Fang Huai cleared his throat,

"Chief of Staff, yesterday, when we established this rescue sub-team, I was thinking, sixty people, that’s just not enough!

Sixty people, and logistics will take up quite a few hands, not to mention the drivers! And also, I heard this new thing..."

"What?" Old Zhou’s voice was already booming,

"You have sixty people and you still want elites. We’ve already done everything we could to transfer people to you, and that’s not enough? What exactly do you guys want to do? Should we move the whole Detachment government agency over to you?"

"Aye." Fang Huai quickly supported the Chief of Staff’s back.

"Listen to me! I heard that in Qingdao, they began recruiting contract-based firefighters in 2002!

Now, the whole country has started pilot programs, right?

I was thinking, for our squadron, could we also recruit some contract-based workers to assist with work?

If only they could take over some of the logistics and guard duty for us, freeing up manpower from some tedious routine tasks, our efficiency would greatly increase!"

Upon hearing this, Old Zhou chuckled and looked at Fang Huai with a somewhat meaningful gaze.

"Contract-based firefighters? The meaning of piloting contract-based employment is to imitate foreign practices, introduce market mechanisms, and improve team efficiency, not to treat them as logistics! From what I’m hearing, you want a bunch of nannies for your squadron?"

In those days, contract-based firefighters could be considered the precursors to the government-employed professional firefighters who would be formally managed in 2017, but recruitment and management mechanisms were entirely different.

The professional teams of the future received concentrated training; mostly young people, discharged soldiers, who went through focused training and completed exercises in ten subjects before being assigned to various on-duty squadrons, truly capable of independently executing firefighting tasks.

But at the present, it was quite a different picture, with a good bunch of old men, many of whom were looking for a career change from security jobs. Some young people wanted to learn about firefighting before taking positions as fire safety officers in enterprises; such a credential could get them promoted from security guard to security team leader.

There was quite a number of old men who had gotten in through connections.

The system training was very basic.

And the effectiveness of their inclusion in the team was predictable.

In a past life, Fang Huai had led a contract team in drill training once, with one instructor for every two men, and after practicing all morning, not a single one passed.

He still remembered that after the training, the captain walked over, looked at the group of old and weak soldiers, handed the oldest one a cigarette, and said:

"Uncle Luo, have a smoke. How’s your Dian Dian doing?"

The system was good, but its practicality had not been demonstrated.

Fang Huai felt that now, this mechanism could finally be put to rational use.

"Chief of Staff! That’s not what I mean at all! If you recruit based on my conditions, don’t bring me a bunch of old men. I will make sure to turn them into a real full-time team!"

"Oh? A full-time team? What do you mean?"

"Full-time, as in being truly proficient as firefighters, able to regard firefighting work as their main duty, possessing skills on par with professional firefighters!"

The Chief of Staff finally grasped the idea and took another look at Fang Huai. No longer in a hurry to assemble his troops, he said,

"What are the conditions, tell me in detail."

(Not enough words in this Chapter, didn’t have enough time, will post now and add another Chapter in the middle of the night.)