By Fang Chao

WUHAN, July 25 (ChinaMil) -- On July 24, dozens of officers and soldiers assigned to an airborne brigade under the PLA Air Force departed from Wuhan, a City in Central China’s Hubei Province, to Russia, participating in the Airborne Platoon competition of the International Army Games (IAG) 2019. This will be the fifth time that the PLA Air Force’s airborne troops attend the competition.

It is reported that the number of teams participating in the Airborne Platoon competition has broken the record in history. Paratroopers from a total of 21 countries are going to compete against each other.

The Chinese team has begun its intensive training since April this year. After several rounds of elimination, the team led by Shi Jianqiang, deputy chief of staff assigned to an airborne brigade under the PLA Air Force, is composed of 32 outstanding officers and soldiers. This team, among which there are 25 members are first participating in the competition, is the youngest one among all the Chinese teams in recent years, with an average age of less than 22.