Wang is a workaholic. Once in early winter, the radar station’s antenna failed due to a bearing breakdown. The unit relied on a subsidiary radar to monitor air security. Wang and other soldiers worked day and night to fix the gear wheel. It was hard work, especially on the oxygen-thin plateau.
Wang hails from rural Sichuan and graduated from junior high school. He self-deprecatingly calls himself "old-fashioned." "I can barely use a smart phone, let along surf the Internet or dress fashionably. My wife and son call me ‘Bumpkin’," he says.
A 700-page radar operation handbook sits on Wang’s bookshelf. "Current radars are all integrated circuits, many of which I can’t understand or hope to repair. In the past, I was a technical expert on the electric soldering iron, multimeter and screwdriver. Not any longer," he says sadly.
"Sometimes we want to give Wang an incentive," says station commander Liu Ben. This year, Wang will represent the station in the year-end brigade competition. Hearing the news, Wang took Zhou Guoan, the station’s only computer studies graduate, as his teacher and studied day and night.
Recognizing one’s own shortcomings is a sign of advancement. Wang often comes to the Honor Room at Gambara Station to reflect in front of the pennants, medals and trophies, inspiring himself "to win and not to tarnish the reputation of the station."
