SCHOFIELD BARRACKS — A visit to Hawai'i last week by a dozen People's Republic of China military members was the first delegation visit by noncommissioned officers to the U.S., and reciprocation for a visit by U.S. enlisted personnel to China in June.

As the U.S. and China continue a policy of engagement to foster mutual understanding, some fundamental differences in the two nations' enlisted ranks were revealed.

In June, U.S. Pacific Command sent 12 enlisted members to visit with Chinese counterparts. The group was led by an noncommissioned officer.

Last week, China sent 12 troops to Hawai'i in return — only three of whom were enlisted. The other nine were officers.

People's Liberation Army Maj. Gen. Zhong Zhiming, director of the department of organization and discipline, was the center of attention during a stop to see some Hawai'i National Guard soldiers conduct marksmanship training in preparation for a deployment to the Philippines.

Air Force Chief Master Sgt. James Roy, who led the U.S. non-commissioned delegation to China, said it's a start for the enlisted exchanges.

"This is the first chapter in a very long book," said Roy, the senior enlisted leader at U.S. Pacific Command at Camp Smith. "What we have traditionally done are exchanges at the more strategic level — we do the mid-grade officer exchanges. Now, it's a natural progression for us as United States military personnel for the enlisted (ranks) to exchange."

Adm. Timothy Keating, head of U.S. Pacific Command, has made two trips to China.

U.S. troops last week fielded questions that ranged from the marksmanship training and those who run it, to how the U.S. military pays for college and the role of spouses in a military career.

Some of the translation was done by one of two female Chinese military members who were part of the group drawn from the Army, Air Force and Navy.

A trip to the noncommissioned officer academy at Schofield also was planned, along with visits with other services' enlisted members, a meeting with Keating, and stops at an NCO academy and housing at Hickam Air Force Base and the Fleet and Family Support Center at Pearl Harbor.

Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph P. Zettlemoyer, the top enlisted soldier with U.S. Army Pacific at Fort Shafter, told the visiting Chinese that the U.S. military places a lot of trust in NCOs — using them to not only train individual soldiers below them, but also for a much wider range of tasks that cuts across rank.

"This training that's occurring here today is a skill level 1 task that every soldier from private to general must do," Zettlemoyer said of the marksmanship. "So even when my boss Lt. Gen. (Benjamin) Mixon goes to the range, he's being taught by non-commissioned officers. So we're very proud of what our NCOs in the Pacific do."

Zettlemoyer said NCOs in the People's Liberation Army have technical jobs, but are not in leadership positions.

About 30 Hawai'i National Guard soldiers were conducting the marksmanship training for an upcoming deployment to the Philippines.

Some 1,200 Hawai'i Guard soldiers are at Fort Hood in Texas preparing to go to Kuwait and Iraq, but smaller units also are sent to the Philippines.

"It's a good mission, we're doing some real good stuff," including rebuilding an airfield in Jolo in the southern Philippines, said 1st Sgt. James Jimenez.

Asked about the Chinese service members visiting during their training, Sgt. Victor Ortiz, who's also with the Hawai'i Guard, said, "I think it's great if the whole world can get together like this."

The exchanges with China are intended to improve communication, and to better gauge intentions and capabilities.

China is building up its military, and is developing its submarine force in particular.

Despite the buildup, the Federation of American Scientists earlier this year said China's 55 general-purpose submarines conducted only six patrols in 2007, and its Xia- and Jin-class ballistic missile submarines had not conducted any deterrence patrols.

U.S. Navy Secretary Donald Winter recently said he was concerned not only by the number of ships that are being constructed, but also "by what appears to be a lack of transparency ... because we just simply don't understand the rationale for many activities they (China) are engaged in," the news agency Reuters reported.

Roy, the senior enlisted leader at U.S. Pacific Command, said it's important to understand China's NCO system.

"It's much different than ours," he said.