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Historically, the only significant foreign military influence on the PLA was the Soviet Red Army. Throughout the 1950s to the mid 60s, Soviet advisors played a significant part on the PLA providing not only weapons but training as well. Soviet successes against a much more technical Nazi war machine provided the PLA a basis to use highly motivated troops against a more sophisticated enemy. The PLA seemed to take this to heart, including the kinds of officers required for this model.

The PLA recently boasts much about how their military academies are producing officers by the thousands. However, this must be taken into context that the majority of these are Lieutenants (Lts) and Second Lieutenants (2Lts). The percentage of middle officers, the Captains (Capts) and Majors (Majs) going for further education, especially in the military arts, is much lower. If the trades are taken into consideration, then the number of field officers are significantly lower. Capts run kitchens and act as supply clerks; Sergeant posts in the West. Ballet dancers, full time athletes, and propaganda officers swell the officer corps, draining resources required by the combat arms (usually referred to as Infantry, Armoured Units, Artillery, and Combat Engineering).

As with any military, there is a dividing line which once achieved by an officer that he can expect to go to the upper echelons. That rank in the PLA seems to be Senior Colonel (Brigadier General equivalent in the West). As such, the real battle management training does not begin until the Lieutenant Colonel and the Colonel ranks, specifically gearing towards a regimental command.

Significantly, the Soviet Red Army viewed the regiment as the smallest independent combat unit. Under the Red Army system, the motorized rifle regiment was a key combat formation, comprising of 3 motor rifle battalions, each re-enforced by a tank company. Normally, the regimental commander could expect 3 to 4 artillery battalions in support. Added to this an air defence battalion and an engineering battalion. This gave the regimental commander significant assets to perform one to two echelon attacks, usually two motor rifle battalions on the main attack axis and a single motor rifle battalion on a flanking axis. It should be noted that this is a highly compartmentalized system. Artillery support for the infantry was restricted to the preparatory barrage. Battalion and company commanders were given objectives and they must plan accordingly to meet those objectives. Most often this meant getting their people into place and letting the actions take their own course.

The one major weakness of this system is that it could not tolerate many surprises and it's up to the regimental commander to avoid as many of these surprises as possible.