The 10th Division, also known as Dak To Division, is the main force of the 3rd Army Corps. Its key political missions focus on combat readiness and training, participating in disaster prevention and management, and being ready to undertake other assigned tasks. To accomplish its missions, the Division considers the increased implementation of the “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement as an important driver. Therefore, over the years, the Division Party Committee and Commanders have thoroughly grasped their higher echelon’s instructions and strengthened leadership over the execution of emulation work and the “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement. Crucially, the Division has attached importance to developing plans and instructing and initiating the implementation at all levels with a focus on fulfilling its key political missions and difficult tasks, dealing with weaknesses, and so forth. Party committees and commanders of units have constantly brought into play their role and responsibility to opportunely instruct, examine, and encourage officers and soldiers to actively and proactively carry out the movement by means of practical, expedient actions. Thus, the Division has witnessed positive, robust transformation in all fields.

The “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement has made direct contribution to making the Division politically, ideologically, and organisationally strong. Political and ideological quality represents the core factor formulating the virtue of revolutionary military personnel and a criterion to assess whether or not units are strong. It is manifested in loyalty, political awareness, high responsibility, steadfastness in the face of difficulties, and task fulfillment of each individual and unit.

To attain that goal, the Division puts more effort into improving the quality of political, ideological education, especially the political education for objects as provided in regulations; and closely combines basic and continuous education, general and private education with a focus on propaganda and education of law and discipline by means of “political competition,” “one question a day,” “soldiers’ manual,” “military personnel’s psychological, legal consultancy team,” internal broadcast of programs in ethnic languages, and so on. Consequently, learners’ political test results are graded good and excellent. Facing difficult missions such as exercise, live firing, participation in helping people overcome consequences of natural disasters, etc., all of the officers and soldiers are prepared to undertake and successfully accomplish every task, and have no manifestations of ideological, political degradation, “self-evolution,” and “self-transformation” from within.

The “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement has made positive contribution to building pure, firm party organisations and robust mass organisations and councils of military personnel. As far as party building is concerned, content and criteria of the movement concentrate on strengthening leadership capabilities and combat power of party organisations at various levels, particularly in party cells. Due attention is paid to managing, educating, and training cadres and party members; bringing into play the exemplary role of leading cadres at all levels; and enhancing examination and supervision to opportunely prevent manifestations of legal, discipline violation. The Division Party Committee, therefore, is always graded comprehensively strong with over 88 per cent of party members and 85 per cent of party organisations fulfilling their tasks well and excellently. In operation of mass organisations and councils of military personnel, the “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement is maintained and developed through many creative, effective ways. Units’ general emulation movement is closely associated with emulation movements of each organisation with the aim of encouraging the participation of numerous Youth Union members and other members, which serves to create divers for recording high achievements during mission implementation, contributing to building strong mass organisations and councils of military personnel, promoting democracy, strengthening discipline, uniting officers and soldiers, and improving responsibility for building units.

The “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement is a vital catalyst for the Division’s successful fulfillment of its central political missions. Emulation in training and drills has drawn the attention of party committees and commanders at all levels over the years. On the basis of perceiving and strictly realising various levels’ Resolution on improving training quality for the period of 2013-2020 and beyond, and closely aligning with the motto of “Basics, practicality, thorough grasp” and the Army Corps’ “Three-intrinsicness” policy in training, the Division’s emulation content and criteria focus on improving training quality; enhancing night training and field training to ensure compatibility with reality, missions, operational terrain, and its traditional combat methods; and aligning military training with political education and promoting good order and discipline. On realising slogans such as “We train our strength, our virtue, our talent,” “The more sweat we drip with on the training ground, the less blood we shed on the theater,” etc., there are many practical, effective movements in the Division, including “Training well, training seriously, upholding ideological steadfastness, maintaining high readiness,” “Good training, high readiness, strict discipline, absolute safety,” “Following Uncle Ho’s teachings, vying with each other to achieve three firsts,” “Continuing to achieve feats of arms, cooperating with each other for determination to win,” etc., thereby motivating officers and soldiers to actively innovate training models and methods and promote their sense of self-management, self-training, self-study, and open-mindedness to attain high results in training and exercises. The movements for self-studying, bringing into play initiatives, and innovating technologies in support of training attract many officers and soldiers. Many initiatives and innovations are appreciated by the Army Corps and effectively applied, including simulated sound for the use in tactical training, political competition, soldiers’ manual, etc., thereby improving training quality and ensuring safety and good results in tabletop exercises, field exercises, and live fire exercises.

Additionally, party committees and commanders at all levels have perceived and strictly complied with orders, directives, and instruction on readiness; regularly increased soldiers’ awareness of missions, adversaries, partners, and schemes and tricks of the hostile forces; and taken initiative in developing and perfecting documents and practising operational plans. Thus, the Division’s readiness level and ability, and mobility are ceaselessly enhanced. The Division accomplished the task of modeling readiness transformation at battalion and company levels, dealing with A2 situations in 2018. The Division’s outcome of readiness training and exercise are appreciated by its higher echelon, which meets requirements of missions in the new situation and demonstrates officers and soldiers’ high responsibility and resolve.

Besides readiness training, the “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement contributes to bringing about positive changes in promoting good order and discipline. Party committees and commanders at different levels determine that emulation content and criteria should focus on promoting soldiers’ compliance with law and regulations, correcting military personnel’s working style, strictly maintaining good order and discipline, and strengthening inspection to closely manage the strength at any time, in anywhere, especially when soldiers undertake their tasks outside the barracks. Consequently, violation of law and discipline was reduced in the 2013-2018 timeframe.

Momentum of the “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement has been also seen in logistics and technical work. The Division has concretized the movement “The military logistics follows Uncle Ho’s teachings” into specific, practical emulation content and criteria for each period, every year, and each unit. Therefore, it has awakened officers and soldiers’ responsibility for well performing logistics support and getting over difficulty to increase production and improve soldiers’ living standard. It also brings into play the effectiveness of food processing stations and concentrated logistics support, and uses unit-grown products in soldiers’ meals, which not only helps to improve the quality of soldiers’ diet but also generates a source of income for building landscape of units.

The Division’s “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement has closely aligned technical work with the implementation of the 50th Campaign and other emulation movements such as “Making use of technical initiatives and innovations,” “Good maintenance, sustainable use, safety, thrift,” and building of “Exemplary units of the logistics,” thereby contributing to ensuring quantity, quality, and synchronicity of weapons and equipment used for regular and unplanned missions. The system of warehouses, gun cupboards, repair stations are built in a regular, synchronous manner. The Division also strengthens the management of weapons and equipment, clean storage, neatness, and registry, and ensures occupational safety and health, fire prevention and fighting, and traffic safety.

The Division’s “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement is also reflected through many meaningful, practical deeds, including “Gratitude,” taking care of Vietnamese heroic mothers, offering gratitude houses, companion houses, houses of great unity, and “100-VND houses,” and visiting, encouraging, and presenting gifts to families under preferential treatment policy and people who have rendered meritorious service to the revolution. Through “smart mass mobilisation,” with their sentiment and responsibility, the Division’s officers and soldiers have performed many manoeuvres in association with conducting mass mobilisation, participation in the building of strong political bases in localities, actively assisting people in economic development, hunger eradication and poverty alleviation, and effectively implementing movements: “The military joins hands for the poor, no one is left behind,” etc., making contribution to strengthening its close ties with the people, establishing the “posture of people’s hears and minds,” firmly upholding political security and social order and safety, and creating favourable conditions for the unit to successfully accomplish its missions. All units of the Division achieve the title: “Units of good mass mobilisation.” Many organisations and individuals are praised and rewarded by the Ministry of National Defence, the Army Corps, the Division, and party committees and authorities of the provinces of Kon Tum, Dak Lak, and Gia Lai.

Given comprehensive innovation and robust development, the “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement is truly a huge catalyst for encouraging officers and soldiers to overcome every difficulty to successfully accomplish their assigned tasks, making contributions to building a comprehensively strong unit and glorifying tradition of the 10th Division, which has been given the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces twice.

Senior Colonel Do Duc Dzung

Commissar of the 10th Division