CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- In Southwest University of Political Science & Law, there is such a team whose members are uniformly dressed and well-trained. Moving with guns in the arms, shooting while sliding and kneeling, rolling forward … they are almost capable of all kinds of difficult tasks. They are from the “Sharp Sword SWAT” of Southwest University of Political Science & Law. The team has 63 members, with an average age of 21 years old. Now, they are all energetic and vigorous!

They wear cool black equipment, holding one-armed weapons, which easily reminds people of “special police”. The “Sharp Sword SWAT” was established in May 2013, and is a self-governing organization of students with criminal investigation characteristics in the College of Criminal Investigation of Southwest University of Political Science & Law. It is led by the College of Criminal Investigation (National Security College) of Southwest University of Political Science & Law, with professional guidance from a team of teachers from the Department of Physical Education.

The “Sharp Sword SWAT” is a team that aims to improve the level of policing skills of the students of the College of Criminal Investigation by taking learning the professional knowledge and skills of the special police as the guiding principle to carry out academic exchanges, physical training and learn the professional knowledge of the special police.

Not only in training with reference to the special police, management system and other aspects are also referred to the police equipment use norms. Taking the management of fake guns as an example, the personal responsibility system and number-marking management of the training guns of the Sharp Sword SWAT was implemented, and will be reported on the personal custody of firearms for the team public display. The team members will regularly check the maintenance, management, use and safety of the training facilities, weapons and equipment and so on.

It is learned that most of the graduates of the College of Criminal Investigation will work for the public security, state security agencies, and the army, and these jobs require students to have excellent physical fitness and skills. In order to improve the physical quality and policing skills of students in the College of Criminal Investigation, Jiang Huanhui, a 2011 graduate student of Southwest University of Political Science & Law and a former member of the special police team of the Chinese People’s Public Security University, decided to provide relevant teaching for criminal investigation students, and the “Sharp Sword SWAT” was established.

The current captain of the “Sharp Sword SWAT”, Pu Cheng, told us that the team has received a lot of attention since its establishment, and in 2019, it won the title of “Top 100 Student Associations” among all the universities in China. However, due to the special nature of the training content, it is currently only available for the students of the College of Criminal Investigation.

After the students applied for the Sharp Sword SWAT get qualified in the interview and physical test, they can join the team to start the trial training. After they get qualified in a one-month trial, they can become regular members. And they can become official members only after a certain period of inspection. “Nearly 100 students will sign up each year, but less than 30 percent of them could stay at last,” said Pu Cheng.

Although they have heavy training tasks, the team members treat their studies with no negligence. Many members of the team often win the scholarship of the College or even the whole university, and many of them have also obtained the opportunity to pursue graduate studies with no examination. The “Sharp Sword SWAT” has an unwritten rule: if a member fails a course, then there will be 500 push-ups as the team’s punishment. “We are a special police team that are capable of paper works and martial arts!”, that’s what Pu Cheng keeps saying.

Due to the special nature of training, among the current 63 members, girls account for less than a quarter of the total number. A female team member Tian Luxi said she grew up as a “military fan”, but failed to join the military because of her height, and the “Sharp Sword SWAT” allows her to realize her dream in another way. The team members have thick calluses on their fists, which are all traces left from doing push-ups. “This is my medal and the mark of my youth,” Tian Luxi said.

Pu Cheng said, he gained strong physique after joining the “Sharp Sword SWAT”, as well as a sense of collective honor without hesitation to take on responsibility, improvement of willpower, and the friendship of suffering together. “We are just a group of ordinary students who are trying to align with the military.” But “SWAT” has provided them a highlight for youth. (Translated by Wang Junli, Fathom Language Limited)