Military unit cover designator

A military unit cover designator (MUCD, MUCK-dee, Chinese: 部队代号; pinyin: bùduì dàihào) is a unique five-digit number used by the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China to externally identify military units. MUCDs are used externally to protect the identity of units, while a true unit designator (TUD, Chinese: 部队番号; pinyin: bùduì fānhào) is used internally as they plainly identify the unit and its function.

An example, a bomber aircraft regiment in the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) 8th Air Division may be known by its TUD, '22nd Air Regiment', or by its MUCD, 'Unit 95183'. The unit's TUD is used by members of the regiment, in common discourse, and among defense analysts, while the MUCD is used on stationery letterheads, newspapers, banners, magazine articles, and signs at the entrance to military facilities.[1]

Some units, namely those conducting sensitive and secretive operations like those of the Third Department (Operations) of the Joint Staff Department, may only be known by their MUCD as their TUD has not been discovered. Popular examples include Unit 61398 and Unit 61486.[2]

History

First seeing use in the early 1950s, the MUCD system has been changed at least five times since the early 1950s with the most recent change in 2016.[1][3]

Begun shortly after the 1949 communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, MUCDs were originally four-digit numbers until 1975 when, as part of Deng Xiaoping's counter-Maoist military reforms, the five-digit system presently used was introduced.[1] Changing under further military reforms in 1987, the PLA saw the reconsolidation of eleven military regions down to seven. MUCD's changed again in 2000 and once more in 2016 following the massive reorganization of the PLA under Xi Jinping that included the transition from military regions to theater commands, the Second Artillery Corps to the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF), and the establishment of the Strategic Support Force (PLASSF) which incorporated various functional units of the General Staff Department (which became the Joint Staff Department).[4][5][6]

Blocks

While blocks of MUCDs are apportioned to commands, those commands decide how MUCDs are internally assigned without regulation from the Central Military Commission leading to variance in numbering patterns below the command.

Organization 1975–1985 1985–2000 2000–2016 2016–present
Joint staff Department (General staff Department) 57XXX, 58XXX, 88XXX 61XXX
General Logistics Department 59XXX 62XXX Disbanded
General Armament Department 89XXX 63XXX Disbanded
People's Liberation Army Air Force 39XXX (aviation), 86XXX, 87XXX 93XXX, 94XXX, 95XXX
People's Liberation Army Navy 37XXX, 38XXX 91XXX, 92XXX
People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (Second Artillery Corps) 80XXX 96XXX
People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force Not established 320XX–320XX
Eastern Theater Command Not established Unknown
Nanjing Military Region 83XXX 32XXX, 83XXX 73XXX Eastern Theater Command
Fuzhou Military Region 32XXX Nanjing Military Region Eastern Theater Command
Southern Theater Command Not established Unknown
Guangzhou Military Region 53XXX, 54XXX 34XXX, 53XXX, 54XXX 75XXX, 76XXX Southern Theater Command
Wuhan Military Region 33XXX, 34XXX Guangzhou Military Region Southern Theater Command
Western Theater Command Not established Unknown
Chengdu Military Region 356XX–359XX 35XXX, 56XXX 77XXX, 78XXX Western Theater Command
Kunming Military Region 351XX–355XX Chengdu Military Region Western Theater Command
Lanzhou Military Region 36XXX, 84XXX 68XXX, 69XXX Western Theater Command
Northern Theater Command Not established Unknown
Shenyang Military Region 81XXX, 82XXX 65XXX Northern Theater Command
Central Theater Command Not established Unknown
Beijing Military Region 32XXX, 83XXX 66XXX Central Theater Command
Jinan Military Region 546XX, 55XXX 71XXX, 72XXX Central, Northern Theater Command
Sources: The PLA as an Organization v2.0,[1] China's Strategic Support Force: A Force for a New Era[4]

See also

References
  1. Pollpeter, Kevin; Allen, Kenneth W.; Atha, Katherine; Blasko, Dennis; Chang, Amy; Cheng, Dean; Clarke, Christopher M.; Corbett Jr., John F.; Easton, Ian M. (14 June 2012). "The PLA as an Organization 2.0" (PDF). Defense Technical Information Center.
  2. Cheng, Dean (14 November 2016). Cyber Dragon:Inside China's Information Warfare and Cyber Operations. ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2017. ISBN 978-1440835643.
  3. Mattis, Peter (16 February 2016). "Combing Through an Invaluable Resource on the People's Liberation Army". War on the Rocks.
  4. Costello, John; McReynolds, Joe (October 2018). "China's Strategic Support Force: A Force for a New Era" (PDF). China Strategic Perspectives. 13: 20 – via National Defense University.
  5. Zhang, Ziyu (15 August 2021). "Explainer | China's military structure: what are the theatre commands and service branches?". South China Morning Post.
  6. "解放军5大战区公布 习近平授军旗(图)_凤凰资讯". News.ifeng.com. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
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