During the course of building, fighting and maturing, the Military Region 3’s armed forces’ achievements have always attached to the organization and successful implementation of patriotic emulation movements. Promoting the recorded results, armed forces of the Military Region 3 have been stepping up patriotic emulation via various forms and effective measures.

In response to President Ho Chi Minh’s Appeal for Patriotic Emulation, during the two resistance wars against the French and the US, armed forces of the Military Region 3 promoted their vanguard, core role in cooperation with locals in the area to initiated and effectively carried out revolutionary emulation movements contributing to the Military and people’s successful accomplishment of the cause of national liberation and reunification. Typical emulation movements included: “Digging entrenchments, building fighting villages”, “every village is a stronghold, every villager is a soldier”, “Indomitable Route 10”, “Route 5’s thunder”, “Flaming Cat Bi” in the resistance war against the French Colonialists, and “Sufficiently providing food and troops for the battlefield”, “a rifle in one hand, a plough in the other”, “Coastal wave”, “5-ton rice paddy field” in the resistance war against the US aggressors, for national salvation.

In the period of Homeland construction and protection, particularly in the past 30 years of national reform, the Patriotic Emulation Movement by the Military Region 3’s armed forces has been accelerated with new points and forms, and higher quality, focusing on implementing the Determined to Win Emulation Movement which is the version of the Patriotic Emulation Movement in the Military. Emulation movements have generated strong spiritual motivation for the Military Region to muster and arouse determination, enthusiasm and creativity of every person and organization to overcome difficulties and challenges for the sake of successful fulfillment of military and defence task and socioeconomic development in the area.

“Emulation is patriotism, patriotism requires emulation, and those emulating are the most patriotic”. Following Uncle Ho’s teachings in the new condition, the Military Region has thoroughly grasped higher echelons’ resolutions and directives, while cooperating with localities in the area in taking measures seriously, synchronously to conduct the Determined to Win Emulation Movement and the emulation and reward work. It has strengthened leadership and direction over the work of propagation and education to build cadres and troops’ motive and determination of emulation; consolidated and improved the effectiveness of the Council for Emulation and Reward at all levels; promoted the role of political offices in giving advise and instruction on and inspecting the implementation of emulation movements. Offices and units of the Military Region have stuck to their function, task and particularities of the area to set out topics, targets and measures in a practical, specific, feasible manner, while actively renewing content, forms and measures to organize the movements on a focalized basis.

For the sake of high effectiveness, the Military Region has closely combined the emulation with the reward work, and the reward work with the personnel and policy works; opportunely detected and honoured new factors, individuals and collectives having outstanding achievements; maintained the order for inspection and review, set up and multiplied typical examples, proactively prevented and combated formalist emulation, over-satisfaction, and “achievement disease”. Notably, the Military Region has closely combined the implementation of the Determined to Win Emulation Movement with that of the Politburo’s Directives 03-CT/TW and 05-CT/TW (11th tenure and 12th tenure) on studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics and lifestyle, the Campaign “Promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers”, the Party’s Central Resolution 4 (11th tenure and 12th tenure) on the Party building and rectification, and other movements and campaigns launched by sectors, mass organizations and localities. Offices and units in the area have studied and followed Uncle Ho via action programs and creative, effective approaches. The Military Region has diffusely organized political activities of self-review and self-correction and gained positive results. The movements, such as “Cadres and party members with nice words and deeds”, “Diary of following Uncle Ho’s teachings”, “Studying Uncle Ho’s example everyday”, “Superiors set examples, inferiors actively follow”, and the models, such as “five-good party member”, “One month one action”, “Heightening responsibility, maintaining discipline”, have been actively organized by offices and units. As a result, the Determined to Win Emulation Movement has been fuelled and developed to a new height in an effective, sustainable fashion, contributing to perfecting the virtues and personality of revolutionary soldiers, building politically, ideologically, organizationally strong armed forces of the Military Region as a really credible, loyal political, fighting force of the Party, State and People. The spirit of emulation has contributed to preventing “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within while leadership capability and combativeness of party committees and organizations at all levels have been improved. Annually, over 85% of the Military Region’s party organizations have been assessed as “pure” and “strong”; over 90% of its party members have successfully fulfilled their assigned task.

Although various emulation movements and competitions at all levels are organized at the same time, thanks to concentrated, uniform leadership and scientific approaches, emulation movements by armed forces of the Military Region always follow the guidelines and meet the targets and requirements, thereby providing an important basis for the Military Region to overcome difficulties and challenges, enhance the task performance, and successfully fulfil every assigned task. Over the past years, the Military Region have well implemented the guidelines “one focus, three breakthroughs” set by the Ministry of National Defence; therefore, the quality of training and exercises, level and capability of combat readiness, and combat strength of armed forces of the Military Region have been improved. Yearly, tens of  units of the Military Region are given the Flag of Good Training Unit by the Ministry of National Defence while it units always win top awards in the competitions held by the Ministry. Units have achieved the targets of building comprehensively strong unit, safe unit, safe area, while making a sustainable change in working style, exercise of democracy, and observance of law and discipline. Most of the units of the Military Region have had no serious violation of discipline for many years. Armed forces of the Military Region have regularly maintained vigilance and the order for combat readiness, while proactively cooperating with party committees, authorities and other forces in the area in dealing with defence and security situations, foiling hostile plots and artifices, safeguarding national border, sea and island sovereignty, maintaining political security and social order, avoiding falling into passivity.

Localities’ implementation of the Determined to Win Emulation Movement and the Patriotic Emulation Movement has contributed to improving the task performance of military offices at all levels, particularly the quality of giving advice to local party committees and authorities on performing military-defence tasks, building the all-people national defence, all-people national defence posture associated with people’s security posture and defensive zones. Provinces and cities have developed and effectively implemented resolutions, directives and plans/programs on defence and security while the party committee’s leadership over and the authority’s management of national defence at all levels have been enhanced. Socioeconomic development has been closely combined with consolidation of national defence, security and diplomacy in the area. Potential and posture of the defensive zone have been consolidated. The work of providing national defence and security education and building militia and self-defence forces and reserve forces as well as the work of military recruitment in localities have been renewed in line with particularities of the area, and gained positive results.

During the process of building, fighting and maturing, armed forces of the Military Region have always maintained a close-knit relationship with the people. To develop that relationship, the Military Region has enhanced the work of mass mobilization and well performed the function as an army ready for work in the new situation. Accordingly, offices and units have actively conducted emulation movements, such as “Skilful mass mobilization”, “Building skilful mass mobilization unit” in line with the Campaign “Day for the poor” and the movements, such as “Gratitude”, “The Army joins hands in building new-type rural area”. There have appeared creative, effective approaches and models through those movements, such as “4 togethers”, “Assisting the people in production in Spring”, “Helping the people eradicate hunger, reduce poverty, and build cultural villages in Summer”, “Helping children go to school”. The Military Region has encouraged its cadres and troops actively staying close to the area, particularly the isolated, remote, border, sea, island areas to conduct mass mobilization; taking part in building political bases; preventing and combating natural disasters; helping the people eradicate hunger and reduce poverty; and consolidating national and security. Those activities have helped improve the nature and tradition of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” and contributed to making the “people’s hearts and minds” posture”, military-civil unity block, all-people national defence and people’s security in the area increasingly strong.

Fully understanding the position and role of the emulation and reward work, with the tradition, experience, and a sense of responsibility and strong political determination, armed forces of the Military Region 3 will further promote the spirit of patriotic emulation and the Determined to Win Emulation Movement. To this end, the emulation movements will be aimed at well performing central political missions and overcoming weaknesses, thereby providing the basis for the Military Region to successfully accomplishing all assigned tasks, contributing to the entire Party, military and people’s cause of building and defending the Socialist Homeland of Vietnam

Maj. Gen. Nguyen Manh Hung, Political Commissar of the Military Region 3