To those who serve/served in the armed forces: WHAT DO YOU ENVY ABOUT THE PLA?

Well, to the point of view by a Canadian infantryman, I wouldn't envy the PLA much... I mean that we got some of the best infrantry equipment in the world,good support element, got a pretty good and safe training and some decent food ( we even have smoke salmon and BBQ chicken in our ration pack !! ).

Oh, BTW, I'm a recon specialist and I think that one of my best friend is really the Coyote LAV, I'll never saw before a useful vehicule like this one...

In fact, I still think it's better to serve in the Canadian Army than PLA

I dont envy the PLA much at all, like the Canadian up there

We have the best equipments the world was to offer, unlike the PLA. And we have the best soldiers in the world much similar to the PLA. And we also have the best training in the world.

The only thing I envy about the PLA is that it has so many people. The number of active duty soldiers in the U.S. Army is only 500 thousand, while the PLA has 2.5 million, and dunno how many reserves.

BTW, I am an airborne paratrooper, currently enroled in the Army ROTC, and will because an officer in the Army quite soon.

If I have to choose between the PLA and the U.S. Army, I ill choose the U.S. Army =/

And if I have to choose between the Canadian Army and the U.S. Army, I will choose the U.S. Army

You need officers and men of intelligence. In China, apparently, the traditional pattern still holds, the best of the breed goes into the civilian life, and the middling or inferior gets into the army.

Once upon a time, however, being a member of the PLA was supposed to be highly prestigious, since compared to the pay one received in an SOE, the PLA was fairly well off.

Like Golle and most of other Finnish males, I've served in Finnish Defence Forces and draw a lot of my limited military knowledge from there. Just about the only thing worth of envy about PLA is the fact that each year they are receiving more and more funds that can be used to develop and modernize PLA.

Perhaps in the near future China will take more active role on UN peacekeeping missions and Chinese troops in good shape, well equipped and disciplined, become a common sight in different crises areas of World. After a few succesful years of such service and media coverage PLA's international appreciation and prestige could be very high and even worth of envy.

Current PRC deployments for UN missions have been PAP, and probably will remain so.

green beret said:

I dont envy the PLA much at all, like the Canadian up there

We have the best equipments the world was to offer, unlike the PLA. And we have the best soldiers in the world much similar to the PLA. And we also have the best training in the world.

The only thing I envy about the PLA is that it has so many people. The number of active duty soldiers in the U.S. Army is only 500 thousand, while the PLA has 2.5 million, and dunno how many reserves.

BTW, I am an airborne paratrooper, currently enroled in the Army ROTC, and will because an officer in the Army quite soon.

If I have to choose between the PLA and the U.S. Army, I ill choose the U.S. Army =/

And if I have to choose between the Canadian Army and the U.S. Army, I will choose the U.S. Army

Click to expand...

People don't choose which army they want to join. The volunteer join because he/she feels like it. And they will join in the military that they believe in no matter how nice or poor they equipment. USA has the best training..... i suggest u open ur eyes and watch how many other smaller, weaker and ill equiped armies train their soldiers.
Anyway i envy the PLA because i will not get a chance to join. It would be a great honour to serve to PLA for a while. But unfortunately i have better things to do nowadays.

rommel said:

decent food ( we even have smoke salmon and BBQ chicken in our ration pack !! ).

Click to expand...

Smoke salmon and BBQ chicken!!!!!!!!..... i envy the Canadian army...very very much

Well, one thing that might be incentiv for PLA soldiers might be the fact that the speed at wich their military is evolving is really fast. They see a process. But might pay the price by not earning more mony 'cause everything is used to deveop and buy new equipment.
No comparisson with most western countries where it sometimes takes years of political discussions of the pros and cons of a project, and in the end it is canceled because tactical needs changed in the meantime

So, what can I say about my draftee-time ...
I sat in a bunker-like building on an airfield an coordinated flight plans and such things. Not really a hard job...At least I saw the first Eurofighters being transfered so aur wing.

The German field food is not what you get in a five star hotel, probably because until recently there were no german soldiers outside our boarders in combat missions.
The chinese might be happy to have anything to eat regarding the news saying many poor people hardly get enough food.

Chinese are supposed to be very practical, like all peoples recently divorced from poverty. If you have a choice between a comfy, well-paying office job and being an ill-paid leader of peasants, which would you prefer?

Dear Sirs:

Those of you who have served in Western armies certainly don't have anything to envy in the PLA, but here in the 3rd world, (specifically the Philippines) there is a lot the PLA has that I wish we had.

I served in the artillery and our standard piece is ex-WWII US Army M-1 105 mm howitzer, and yes its a towed piece. I consider myself lucky as the average Philippine soldier goes into battle on foot, we never are far away from our beloved 6x6 trucks (also ex-WWII US Army stuff).

Yeah the trucks had wooden planks for seats, wouldn't go over 50-60 km/hour and rattled the hell out of us... but it certainly beats walking.

If you've ever been off road in the tropics in the middle of monsoon season (pouring rain) and you have to slog on foot through mud, you'll rapidly understand the true meaning of MISERABLE.

The standard ration of the Philippine army is a small can of sardines in tomato sauce and a bag of rice. To improve my men's morale, I had to buy extra food for them. Once in a while I'd buy them a drink (the local rum and gin was popular).

In our army you have to buy your own uniform (usually some officer's wife has a concession) and provide your own toothbrush, toothpaste, spoons, forks, etc.

Our equipment was old, and poorly maintained. As we couldn't make them we had to order for spare parts that seldom came. The standard Chinese arty couldn't just outshoot us in range, their stuff is more accurate and more lethal to boot.

We never really expected to go to war anyway, the real skill of the Philippine Army is fighting its own people, not foreigners, we're not very good at that. I do not doubt that we have the weakest army in the region.

Just my 2 cents.

Dusky Lim

IMO those living in the PRC (or US) should be glad that they have a choice with military service, since they don't have mandatory conscription. In many other countries you'd be conscripted for 1-2 years. Some might say that's a good thing and provides a "rite of passage" for manhood, but we'll save that for another discussion.

The PRC has not been involved in major military conflict since 1978. If you join the PLA, you'd most likely spend your couple of years in-country. The PLA doesn't have large oversea deployements, so it can spend most of its $$ at home for its own benefit.

In contrast, if you joined the US army, you might get sent off to middle east to get shot at. The US spends hundreds of billions of dollars every year to maintain its military deployement around the globe, putting its soliders at risk to maintain a favorable status quo. The PRC/PLA doesn't have to do that since someone else is already footing the bill.

zraver said:

We are still using bradelys and Abrams Abrams in Iraq and need more Strykers and the Stryker gun system. All the wear and tear we ar eputitng on those tracks is causing billions in maintenc eshortfalls. Wheel armored in an urban and patrol enviroment is much more effective, both tactically and economically.

Click to expand...

I think the fact that the US can standarize on fewer types of armor should be classified as an advantage, in terms of logistics, supplies, maintenance, etc.

For urban environment, I lean toward the Israeli HPAC (Heavy APC) model. Most wheeled APC's, like the Malaysian Condor APC's used during Battle of Mogadishu, could not protect its crew against RPG's.



p.s. Dusky: I'll be in Mauban, Quezon next year around May-June.