Immediately after the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, in response to the revolutionary requirements, on September 7^th, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh ordered to establish the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army. He pointed out that “The General Staff, an intimate military advisory body, is an important agency of the Army and tasked with well organizing and training the Army and firmly grasping the enemy and our troops’ situation with clever scheme and smooth secret, timely, and fast commanding organization to defeat all enemies and protect the revolution”. Thoroughly grasping and implementing Uncle Ho's teachings, during the past 75 years, under the leadership and direction of the Party and State, directly the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence, generals, officers, and cadres and soldiers of the General Staff (GS) have brought into full play their stuff, intelligence, and ingenuity to fulfill all assigned tasks that have made an important contribution to the growth and maturity of the VPA, the people's armed forces, and the glorious victories of our army and people in the cause of national liberation and Fatherland protection.

General Ngo Xuan Lich, Member of the Politburo, Deputy Secretary of the CMC, Minister of National Defence, addresses at the GS' Party Congress (2020 - 2025 tenure)

Over the past 75 years of construction, fighting, and growth, regardless of the circumstances, GS has always been absolutely loyal to the Party, the Fatherland, and the People and clearly demonstrated its stuff, wisdom, and ingenuity to excellently fulfill the mission of “...an intimate military advisory body and an important agency of the Army...”, build up the tradition of “Loyalty - Ingenuity; Dedication - Creativity; Solidarity - Synergy; and Determined to fight - Determined to win”, and contribute to the glorious tradition of the heroic Vietnam People's Army.

Currently, our cause of Fatherland construction and protection under the leadership of the Party is facing favorable opportunities interleaving with difficult challenges. Peace, cooperation, and development will still be the main trend in the world and the region, but there remain unpredictable potential risks of instability, including sovereignty disputes, racial and religious conflicts, terrorism, limited war, and non-traditional security challenges; increasingly fierce strategic rivalry among major countries, and complicated situation of the East Sea with unpredictable potential risks. Meanwhile, the hostile and reactionary forces continue to accelerate their sabotage against our country’s revolution through the strategy of “peaceful evolution” and promote “self- evolution” and “self-transformation” internally, and “depoliticisation” of the Army with sophisticated tricks. In addition, the development of science and technology, especially the Fourth Industrial Revolution, has had multi-dimensional impacts on the military and national defence tasks, etc. Such situation has posed new requirements to the armed forces in general and GS in particular. To fulfill its assigned tasks, GS needs to inherit and promote the tradition and experience of 75 years in proactively, acutely, comprehensively, and effectively implementing all aspects of its work, in which attention should be paid to the following issues:

Firstly, to improve the quality of strategic research, forecast, and advice on the military and national defence to meet the requirements of Fatherland protection in the new situation. Facing the rapid and complex fluctuations of the world, regional, and domestic situation with interwoven subjects and partners, the GS’ agencies should further improve the quality of strategic research and forecast on the military and national defence to assist the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence in advising and proposing to the Party and the State strategies and guidelines to deal with international relations, proactively prevent the risk of war and conflicts soon and from afar, and successfully resolve defence and security situations not to be left passive  and unattended in term of strategies, and prevent hostile forces from taking advantage to complicate the situation. To do this well, GS’ agencies should continue to thoroughly grasp two strategic tasks, military and defense lines, the Party’s new thoughts on Fatherland protection. On that basis, it is required to have close coordination and proactively grasp the situation, analyse and forecast strategies, especially the strategic moves and trends of major countries, forecast possible strategic situations, especially in the East Sea, etc. Continue to give advice to improve the efficiency of the economy-defense and defense-economy combinations; promote the building of defense potentials and posture and security posture, build solid defensive areas; and build the people's armed forces, the People's Army increasing regular, elite, seasoned, modern, and on a par with the task requirements. In particular, continue to advise and direct the improvement of the legal system on the military and national defense; effectively implement military and defense strategies, resolutions, conclusions, proposals, and laws. To develop methods of defense struggle and defense foreign affairs and well resolve defense relations and cooperation with partners to ensure strategic balance, etc. To propose medium and long-term strategic solutions to develop the defense industry and mobilize the national industrial potentials to serve national defense. To step up practical review, development of theories on strategic and campaign operations, military art, and people's war in new war conditions. To focus on studying and advising to adjust forces and posture to form strategic positions in areas and regions to meet the requirements and tasks of national defense in the new situation.

Secondly, to enhance the commanding and direction over the armed forces to regularly raise their vigilance and make them ready to fight successfully and firmly protect the Fatherland in all circumstances. This is the GS’ important and regular task that requires special attention, especially in the face of the rise of traditional and non-traditional security challenges and complex and unpredictable developments of situation. Accordingly, GS should continue to advise and direct the adjustment of the military strategic disposition to ensure continuity, stability, and close combination of the locality and mobility, not to be strategically isolated and split to meet the requirements of handling situations of defense, security, and defense operations. At the same time, to focus on directing functional agencies and units within the entire army to strengthen research, assessment, and grasping of situation, regularly supplement and complete combat determination and plans and assurance and synergistic plans according to strategic and campaign combat situations, consistent with the actual situation. To enhance the direction and inspection of strategic and campaign units to strictly observe the order and combat readiness regime, patrol and control activities, ... to prevent and promptly and effectively handle situations and strictly manage the airspaces, waters, borders, inland areas, and cyberspace, especially in key strategic directions and areas, sea, and islands. To actively research and apply science and technology, promote modernization of command equipment, and improve the capacities of commanding, coordination, assurance, and control organization in combat to meet the requirements of modern wars.

Facing the complicated developments in climate change, natural disasters, epidemics, and non-traditional security challenges that adversely affect the economy, society, national defense, and security of the country, GS should actively research effective response methods and direct the entire army to develop implementation options and plans. To continue promoting the role of assault and core force and the people's trust in the prevention, fighting, and overcoming of consequences of natural disasters, catastrophes, and epidemics - a combat task in peacetime.

Thirdly, to actively advise and direct the construction of the people's armed forces, especially the People's Army with increasingly high quality and combat power to be the core in performing the task of Fatherland protection in the new situation. GS functional agencies should continue to thoroughly grasp the Party’s orientation of construction of the armed forces, the Politburo’s Conclusion No.16-KL/TW issued on July 7^th, 2017, the Central Military Commission’s Resolution No.606-NQ/QUTW issued on June 16^th, 2018, and the Ministry of Defense’s decisions and directives and proposing major policies to successfully implement the Army's staffing organization towards “lean, compact, and strong” direction. To enhance direction to accelerate the modernization of forces; build and improve the quality of the reserve force, militia, and self-defense forces with importance attached to directing the good implementation of the Project on building permanent militia naval fleets, etc. Along with that, to actively advise and direct the application of achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the research and development of military science and technology; and to procure, improve, and modernise weapons and equipment to suit the country's potentials.

Bringing into play the achieved results, GS should continue directing the entire army to promote innovation and improvement of the quality of education, training, and strategic, campaign, and combat drills; well implement the training motto of “Basic, practical, and solid”; organize synchronous and intensive training close to reality of combat, areas of operation, and combat objects in accordance with the development of weapons, equipment, and Vietnam military arts. To continue researching and directing the preparation and good organization of strategic and campaign drills, defense exercises, cyberspace operations, ... to improve combat coordination qualifications and capacity between the main units and the local armed forces in the defensive areas, etc. On the other hand, to focus on directing to strictly maintain the regular order and discipline management to make steady changes in the regularity construction and observance of disciplines and law within the entire army.

Finally, to build GS’ Party Committee clean and strong and GS’ Agency comprehensively strong, exemplary, typical, and on par to the requirements of tasks. GS’ subordinate agencies and units should continue synchronously and effectively implementing the 4^th Central Resolution (the 12^th Tenure) on building and rectifying the Party in association with the implementation of the Politburo’s Directive No.05-CT/TW on promoting the learning and following of Ho Chi Minh thoughts, ethics, and style. To attach importance to improving the leadership and combat power of the Party organizations; to improve the quality of the Party activities in association with the management and training of cadres and Party members; to strictly implement the principle of democratic centralism; to actively innovate leadership methods; to promote the pioneering and exemplary role of the heads of the Party committees and unit commanders; and, at the same time, to strengthen inspection, supervision, criticism, and self-criticism and strictly observe the Party's disciplines. To well implement the work of internal political security, not to let expressions of degradation in political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, “self-evolution”, and “self-transformation” within the General Staff. In the short term, the Party committees and organizations should focus on leading the implementation of the Action Program for implementation of the Resolution of the 18^th Party Committee Congress of the General Staff - Ministry of National Defence and the Resolutions of the Party congresses at all levels for the 2020 - 2025 period, in which the building of clean and strong Party organizations is associated with the building of the regular, exemplary, and typical GS Agency for the entire army in terms of disciplines and working efficiency, etc.

During his life time, President Ho Chi Minh taught that “Cadres are the root of all jobs”. For the General Staff - the strategic advisory agency and the “head” of the Ministry of Defense, the contingent of cadres plays a particularly important role. Therefore, GS’ subordinate agencies and units should continue thoroughly grasping and strictly implementing resolutions, directives, regulations, and rules of the Party and Central Military Commission on cadres, directly Resolution No.245-NQ/ĐU issued on July 3^rd, 2019 by GS’ Party Committee on “Building the contingent of cadres to meet the requirements of tasks in the new situation”. On that basis, to build the contingent of cadres with strong political stuff and absolute loyalty to the Party, the Fatherland, the People, and the socialist regime; to have pure moral qualities and sense of strict discipline; and to have knowledge, sharp thinking ability, and combat commanding and advising at strategic and campaign levels to ensure a reasonable structure and solid succession and meet requirements of immediate and long-term tasks.

Promoting the revolutionary nature, glorious tradition of 75 years of building, fighting, and development, the General Staff of the Vietnamese People's Army should continue to strive to fulfill its assigned functions and tasks to be worthy of being an agency that advises and directs the military strategies to contribute to building the Army, consolidating the defense, and firmly protecting the Socialist Fatherland of Vietnam.

Senior Lieutenant General PHAN VAN GIANG, Member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Member of the Central Military Commission, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, Deputy Minister of National Defence