The 395th Infantry Division, 3rd Military Region is a regular division, which is tasked with combat training and readiness to defend the Northeast region as well as perform other missions as requested by the Ministry of National Defence and Military Region. During mission execution, apart from many advantages, the Division has encountered a number of difficulties, including diversified, complex garrison areas, scattered units, certain shortcomings in the level, ability, and experience of officers, especially commanding officers, and so on. Against such a backdrop, the Division Party Committee and Command have undertaken many synchronous measures to lead and direct the political mission and the building of the Division Party Committee. Discipline education and management, development of good order, and safety assurance are considered as major breakthroughs, thus contributing to making drastic changes in awareness and responsibility for complying with State law and military discipline, establishing good order, and minimizing violation of law and discipline, especially accidents resulting from subjectivism. Officers and soldiers’ adherence to law and discipline witnessed positive evolution in 2018. There were not any serious violations of discipline or accidents in training and traffic participation as a result of subjective mistakes. Those outcomes contributed to building a pure, robust Division Party Committee, a comprehensively strong Division, and increased integrated quality and combat strength, making the Division capable of undertaking and accomplishing successful every assigned mission. The Division was awarded the Emulation Flag of the Government.

Troops reading newspapers at break

There are lessons to be learned from its past practice of discipline education and management and safety assurance as follows.

First, bringing into play the leading role of party committees, commanders, commissars, and functional organizations at all levels. This is the pivotal solution, which decides the quality and effectiveness of discipline education and management and safety assurance in the unit. The Division Party Committee’s Standing Board and party committees at all levels issued special resolutions on “Strengthening the leadership of party committees at all levels in the promotion of military discipline and State law,” which focused on instructing the implementation of “five no’s” policy by means of synchronous, consistent measures close to characteristics and missions of each organization and unit. Annual and monthly resolutions or conclusions by the party committees and organizations at all levels identified discipline education and management, promotion of good order, and unit safety as the Division’s key task. At the same time, the performance of this task was an important criterion to assess officers, party members, and party organizations every year. In the process, commanders, commissars, and leading cadres at all levels concretized resolutions into daily and monthly working plans of their units and issues regulations to ensure unified actions. They also instructed mass organizations to hold meetings to work out implementation measures. Every military staff member had to register strict compliance with State law and military discipline, and safety assurance during their mission execution and traffic participation. Political offices at all levels brought into play their role in leading and coordinating activities, well fulfilling their advisory function. They also heightened their responsibility for instructing implementation and assessing performance in a close, unified manner. Functional offices defined their responsibility, overcame manifestations of formalism or entrustment of this task to political offices, and brought into play integrated strength of organizations and forces. Consequently, officers and soldiers were self-aware to abide by State law, military discipline, and unit regulations. The Division was absolutely safe in 2018. All of its three regiments were ranked as “good training units,” which had ensured safety of both people and weapons and completed every mission extremely well.

Second, selecting education content which was congruent with and relevant to features and missions of units. The Division Party Committee and Command regularly led and directed units to successfully complete training content and programs, political education, and legal education as may be prescribed; and thoroughly perceive and strictly implement the higher echelons’ directives, regulations, and instructions on discipline education and management and safety assurance of units, notably Directive No.04/CT-BQP on “Strengthening discipline education and management to prevent violation of law and serious violation of discipline in the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA),” Directive No.91/CT-BQP on “Strengthening management, education, and compliance with discipline in the VPA,” Directive No.92/CT-BQP on “Regulating the application of forms of disciplinary action, procedures, prescription, duration, and jurisdiction,” and other directives, resolutions, regulations issued by the Military Region and Division on promoting good order, discipline training, compliance with State law and military discipline, and so forth. Besides content as may be prescribed, the Division also compiled a collection of lessons on “Life skills for soldiers”; produced multifunctional cards which integrated knowledge of law and discipline; published over 2,000 flyers containing pieces of content close to practical life to propagandize, disseminate and educate soldiers on law and discipline. These activities aimed to provide officers and soldiers with comprehensive legal knowledge and bring about positive changes in awareness and responsibility, and high resolve to promote good order, compliance with law and discipline, and safety assurance in the whole unit.

Cultural, artistic activities intended for troops

Third, actively innovating and diversifying forms and methods of discipline education and management and unit safety assurance. In order to make this work be of good quality, effective, and intrinsic, the Division Party Committee and Command directed organizations and units to successfully carry out political activities, including “Discussing measures to strictly abide by State law, military discipline, and unit regulations and ensure traffic safety”; “Bringing into play the virtues of love and compassion for comrades and military companions to build comprehensively strong units”; “Giving prominence to responsibility, renewing working style, well managing working relations”; and so on. Offices and units were also requested to develop and implement models such as “One rule a week” on the bulletin board, “Youth union branch without cadres and youth union members violating discipline, etc., while diversifying methodologies of discipline education through  theater zing; well hosting forums focusing on the themes of “Honour and responsibility of soldiers in Vietnam’s People’s Army,” “Homeland and soldiers,” “Improving steadfastness of junior officers in the new situation,” “Young officers’ constant belief in the Party, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers,” and so forth. Additionally, units organized meetings for soldiers to read law newspapers, propagandized legal knowledge by means of radio waves within units, had legal knowledge quizzes, maintained operations of legal bookcases and cultural institutions, improved the effectiveness of Political, Cultural Day and Legal Day at grass-roots level, and so on. In the process, units married these activities with the “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement and campaigns, especially the campaign “Promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho's Soldiers,” to generate widespread, effervescent competitions within units. The understanding, foresight, and guidance of soldiers’ thought were strictly maintained by organizations and units to opportunely detect and thoroughly handle emerging negative thought. Units also realized five concurrent tasks, including grasp, control, prediction, guidance, and settlement of thought. The grasp and control of soldiers’ thought were executed comprehensively under the five know’s motto and focused on perceiving soldiers’ feelings, aspirations, and relationships to control them. It was important to closely combine ideological work with organizational and policy work, units with local authorities, unions, and families to educate, understand, and control soldiers’ thought, thereby opportunely encouraging officers and soldiers to get over difficulties, be active and self-aware to perform their missions, and keep their minds on units.

Fourth, regularly and strictly maintaining good order and regulations and resolving violations thoroughly. The Division strictly maintained and promoted good order, discipline control, and safety assurance during mission execution and other activities; worked according to duties and military regulations; attached importance to fostering close, concrete, and meticulous working style; maintained the compliance with safety rules in training, installation safety, fire and explosion control, working, and traffic participation. It also well implemented the devolution of control, particularly over difficult, dangerous missions at sensitive time prone to discipline violation such as military exercise, construction of defense work, bomb and mine disposal, soldiers who were just recruited, finished basic training, prepared to be demobilized, rejoined units after leave, holidays and new year, important events, days off, and so forth. It was important for the Division to overcome the constraint; bring into play the self-awareness, self-education, self-training, and compliance with military regulations; and minimize use of the term “prohibition” to enhance soldiers’ self-cultivation, self-training, organization, and discipline. In addition, the Division strengthened its inspection and supervision and close collaboration between various functional organizations to address thoroughly violation without delay or cover-up. As for violations, the Division reviewed the cases, identified causes, defined responsibility of each concerning individual and organization, and strictly disciplined individuals and organizations which violated regulations according to devolved authority to ensure reasonableness, strictness, right people, right mistakes while creating favourable conditions for the violators to rectify themselves and make progress. Additionally, the Division paid constant attention to improving soldiers’ material and spiritual life; took initiative in preventing and opposing incorrect points of view, evil culture, etc., thereby building a healthy military cultural environment for officers and soldiers to enable them to be self-aware to execute missions, promote good order and discipline, and ensure safety in the whole unit.

Drawing upon achievements and experience, the 395th Division Party Committee and Command continue to lead and direct the enhancement of quality and effectiveness of discipline education and control and safety assurance, contributing to building a comprehensively robust Division, which possesses integrated quality and high combat strength and is capable of successfully accomplishing every assigned task.

Sr. Col. Doan Hoai Nam, Commissar of the Division