Dalian women honored for military service

A female militia group based in Haiyangdao town in Dalian, Liaoning province, was designated as a March 8 Red Flag Group recently by the All-China Women's Federation.

Over the past 63 years, the March 8 Female Artillery Squad — 14 generations of 92 members — has been guarding the coastal frontiers in the northern Yellow Sea, together with soldiers stationed on the Haiyang Island, which covers a land area of 19.3 square kilometers in Changhai county.

Established in 1960 with five women from fishing families, the squad has become a well-known grassroots militia group in the country.

Its 14th generation, consisting of nine women from different fields, took up its duties in 2015. In addition to regular military training, they typically work as village cadres, kindergarten teachers, nurses or enterprise employees.