Prasun K. Sengupta

The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Western Theatre Command (WTC) covers Tibet, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Chongqing. It has its headquarters in Chengdu, and it includes a joint operations command centre, also located in Chengdu. The Army HQ of the WTC is in Lanzhou.

PLA’s PGZ-09 35mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun

The new Strategic Logistics Support Force has subordinate Joint Logistics Support Centres in each of the five theatres, with one in Xining for the WTC. The WTC can deploy subordinate PLA Army (PLAA) and PLA Air Force (PLAAF) units and request additional forces from the Beijing-based Central Military Commission (CMC) if required. Each theatre will require time to fully transition from the erstwhile army-dominated Military Region-headquarters to establish joint commands, gain familiarity between the services, as well as train personnel in their new joint positions.

For example, the WTC brought together experts to address theatre construction and develop plans to promote joint operations on 28-29 February 2016. The newly formed PLA Rocket Force (PLARF), as well as the other services, have assigned high-quality officers to the new joint commands. The PLARF has assigned approximately 100 officers to the five new theatre commands to support planning and training. It is not yet clear whether PLARF conventional missile launch brigades remain directly subordinate to the CMC or are theatre assets. If they remain under centralised control, the CMC would assign launch brigades to support the theatres as required.

Integral ground force assets of the WTC comprise the 76^th Group Army (GA) which was previously the 21^st GA, the 77^th GA (erstwhile 13^th GA, plus the integral assets of the Xinjiang Military District (XMD) and Tibet Military District (TMD). The 76st GA (Unit 68210) at Baoji, Shaanxi province, comprises the 61^st Motorised Infantry Division (at Tianshui, Gansu province), 62^nd Combined Arms Brigade (Jiayuguan, Gansu), 12^th Combined Arms Brigade (Zhangye, Gansu), a Special Operations Brigade, 13^th Army Aviation Brigade