"Are you still nervous when disposing of unexploded bombs now?"
"To be honest, I feel nervous every time I do an EOD."
Faced with this question from a China News Service reporter, Pu Youfei, a Yi soldier from a brigade of the 82nd Group Army of the Central Theater Command, answered without hesitation. After thinking for a while, he added: "But 'nervous' is different - the first time I EOD was panic, hand tremors, and many distracting thoughts, now the nervousness is awe of the industry."
EOD soldiers are recognized as one of the most dangerous professions in the world. Pu Youfei has been swimming between life and death for nearly 20 years: he has carried out more than 100 EOD missions, eliminated more than 500 unexploded bombs, and led his team to eliminate major dangers more than 10 times.
From "covering ears in fear" to independent explosive disposal
Pu Youfei has dreamed of joining the army since he was a child. His great-uncle joined the army in the 1960s, and his uncle once joined the army and was stationed in the northeast of the motherland. He grew up with the military stories of his elders. Pu Youfei was moved by the story of "The Five Heroes of Langya Mountain" in primary school Chinese class and became more determined to become a soldier.
After the recruit training, Pu Youfei was assigned to the explosive search and explosive disposal position. The first time he participated in live explosion training, he was startled and subconsciously covered his ears when the explosives exploded. "Just like Xu Sanduo in "Soldier Assault", when he saw the barrel of a tank pointing at him for the first time, he made a surrender gesture with his hands above his head. It's quite embarrassing now that I think about it." Pu Youfei said.
To complete the EOD work, both courage and carefulness are indispensable. In daily training, picking beans is a compulsory course, and 60 beans per minute is considered qualified. Pu Youfei practiced from picking soybeans to picking mung beans, and the stability and precision of his hands became increasingly higher and higher. Threading needles and threads, connecting wires, making explosives... He practiced each of them into muscle memory.
In his third year of joining the army, Pu Youfei conducted independent explosive disposal for the first time, which was a "coming-of-age ceremony" in his career. On a training day, an unexploded bomb was found at the training ground. If it is not eliminated, it will cause safety risks and affect subsequent training missions. The squad leader gave him the detonation task.
"The closer you are to the unexploded bomb, the harder your heart beats." Pu Youfei carried a work bag containing pliers, tape and other tools, and went through the process in his mind as he walked. After arriving at the location, he calmly completed cleaning, connecting fuses, making explosives, etc., and then retreated to a safe area to detonate the bomb. Pu Youfei was relieved until he heard a "bang" - a successful explosion.
The "King of EOD Soldiers" who has performed more than 100 missions without any mistakes
During his many years of military career, Pu Youfei once set a "first" in his company: he was the first soldier to wear an EOD suit to perform close-range EOD missions.
Now recalling that experience, Pu Youfei still clearly remembers the feeling of wearing an EOD suit weighing more than 30 kilograms: "I obviously felt that my movements were restricted, my field of vision was narrowed, and my lenses fogged up as soon as I breathed." Although the operation was difficult, he still successfully completed the process of connecting the fuses and setting the explosives. However, during the evacuation, an accident happened: He tripped over the lead due to the blind spot in his field of vision, and also pulled the set explosives.
"My heart skipped a beat at that time," Pu Youfei said. Fortunately, the unexploded bomb did not trigger. He stabilized his mind and rechecked the device. Finally, he successfully eliminated the unexploded bomb and eliminated the danger. When he took off his EOD suit, he realized that he was steaming from head to toe in the cold winter.
In 2022, Pu Youfei went to South Sudan to perform peacekeeping missions as a member of the engineering team. He is not only the search and explosive disposal support personnel in the team, but also the team leader. He and his comrades are responsible for road engineering support in the mission area.
The situation in the mission area is complex, and emergencies are often encountered when working outside. Pu Youfei recalled an experience when he was collecting soil to build a road. At that time, the convoy was forced to stop by local armed forces. The other party knocked on the car door with the butt of a gun. The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became tense. All members of the convoy wore protective equipment and were ready to defend themselves at any time, and finally evacuated safely after negotiation with an interpreter.
When the repaired road reached the entrance of the village, some villagers stood on the roadside holding eggs and mangoes and gave a thumbs up to the Chinese engineers. Pu Youfei lamented: “When you go abroad, you can better understand the meaning of protecting peace.”
In the past 20 years, Pu Youfei has walked into the empty work area alone again and again. From the anxiety of independently detonating explosives for the first time, he has now carried out more than 100 missions without errors. He has won the second-class personal merit due to his excellent skills and has become a recognized backbone of explosives.
When I was young, I heard about the Yi-Hai alliance. When I grew up, I continued to walk on the "Long March"
This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army’s Long March. As a child of the Yi ethnic group, Pu Youfei has heard the story of the Yihai alliance from his elders since he was a child: In 1935, the Central Red Army's Long March passed through the Yi area. Xiao Yedan, the leader of the Guoji family branch of the Yi ethnic group, and Liu Bocheng, chief of general staff of the Red Army and commander of the advance team, formed a bloody alliance in Mianning Yihai. Xiaoyedan later sent a guide to escort the Red Army out of the Yi area. “My hometown has always had a strong tradition of supporting the military,” he said.
Flying to capture the Luding Bridge is Pu Youfei’s favorite Long March story. What impressed him deeply was that when the Red Army soldiers climbed on the iron rope and charged under the hail of bullets, no one took a step back. "If I were in that team, I would also rush forward." Pu Youfei said, this kind of courage has always supported him to stand on the front line of EOD.
After joining the army for nearly 20 years, Pu Youfei has witnessed the iterative upgrade of EOD equipment: new equipment such as robots, drone detection, and laser destroyers have allowed EOD personnel to work from close range to hundreds of meters away, effectively reducing the risk of personal EOD.
But in his view, what has changed is the equipment, but what remains unchanged is the mission and responsibility. After new equipment is distributed, he always leads the students to "learn first" just to "form combat effectiveness faster." As the squad leader, he encourages new recruits to practice more, but when encountering complex and dangerous situations, he always rushes to the front: "You stand back, I'll do it."
"Nowadays, science and technology are developing rapidly. I still need to improve my technology and study new equipment; lead students well and cultivate more backbones." Pu Youfei said that he still has "a long way to go". From the recruits who covered their ears during live explosion training to the capable EOD backbones who now lead the team, Pu Youfei's "Long March" is still underfoot.
