China's first group of air force pilots with bachelor degrees left their training center on Thursday for services in combat units flying new fighter planes.
Liang Tian, commander of the training center, said the 20 pilots had completed nearly 300 hours of flight training after two years' study of basic aviation at flight school.
The commander described the pilots as well informed, well educated with a good command of some foreign languages.
They were selected from among 5,000 university graduates from 19 military academies or colleges in July 2000.
The Air Force has started recruiting and training high-caliber servicemen to match the increasing complexity of weapons and facilities.
The 20 pilots were assigned to the training base to fly Qian 7 transonic fighters after being awarded their second bachelor's degree in July of 2002 at the school.
At the base, the pilots were trained to use cutting-edge electronic equipment and radar and improve their combat tactics and mobility, while studying the characteristics of war in the information age.
Officers with the base said the 20 pilots completed their basic training with "excellent scores", and had done very well in 28 tactics training programs, including air formation, aerobatics, air-to-surface and air-to-air attacks.
Sources with the Air Force said nearly 100 college graduates had been selected from around 50 military academies this year for flight training, over half of them with a bachelor's degree.
(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2003)
