“Command from the heart”

Natural disasters and COVID-19 pandemic as “double catastrophes” have been causing severe human and material losses for our State, economic-social organisations, and people. Air Defence Division 375 is stationed in the Central Coast - Central Highlands Region where natural disasters frequently occur. Being tasked with training, combat readiness, and management and defence of the region’s airspace, the Division has brought into play its tradition of “resilience, unity, and compassion” and well performed its function as “an army ready for work” to help the people with natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control, while considering this as “a combat mission in peacetime” and “a command from the heart.” During its mass mobilisation work or its sudden manoeuvres to assist the people against storms and floods, the Division has always proactively ensured personnel and means in the shortest period of time to fulfil its assigned missions.

To perform those heavy but extremely glorious missions, first of all, the Division has focused its leadership and direction on mass mobilisation. The Division Party Committee has issued a specialised Resolution on “enhancing and renewing the Division’s mass mobilisation work in the new period” and Regulations on leadership over mass mobilisation. At the same time, it has directed all-level party committees and commands to release their own resolutions and action plans together with specific contents and measures to raise the effectiveness of mass mobilisation in accordance with each area’s particularities and each affiliate’s task requirements. Emphasis has been placed on improving the effectiveness of building political bases, facilitating socio-economic development, eradicating hunger, reducing poverty, and helping the people with natural disaster prevention and control. Besides, due attention has been paid to actively encouraging the people to observe the Party’s guidelines and the State’s laws and policies and fighting against “peaceful evolution,” “self-evolution,” and “self-transformation.” In the process, the Division has actively renewed contents, forms, and methods of mass mobilisation in a flexible, effective manner. It has stepped up the emulation movement of “clever mass mobilisation” and focused on building typical examples, overcoming weaknesses and shortcomings, and promoting synergy created by organisations and forces in the work of mass mobilisation. It has closely combined mass mobilisation with policy work and actively taken part in movements and campaigns, such as “day for the poor,” “gratitude,” and “the whole country joins hands in new-style countryside construction” launched by the Party, the State, and localities. It has maintained close coordination with local party committees, authorities, sectors, and unions in providing support for one another’s task performance and establishing models of mass mobilisation properly.

Taking the people to a quarantine zone established by the Division

Furthermore, all-level party committees and commands within the Division have well carried out the work of propagation and education to raise their cadres and soldiers’ awareness and responsibility for mass mobilisation. The Division has proactively integrated contents of higher echelons’ resolutions, directives, and guiding documents on mass mobilisation into its political education programmes for troops. It is worth noting that the Division has concentrated on carefully introducing tasks to its affiliates prior to their field training marches combined with mass mobilisation and their natural disaster and COVID-19 prevention and control operations. Offices and units of the Division have attached great value to building up a sense of responsibility amongst their staff members and opportunely handling ideological deviations or violations of mass mobilisation discipline. As a result, all cadres and soldiers have been fully aware of the importance of mass mobilisation, while their responsibility and capacity to carry out this work have been considerably improved.

To well perform its function as “an army ready for work,” the Division has promoted the core, vanguard, exemplary role of its cadres and party members, particularly the key ones. All cadres and soldiers of the Division have always regarded the work of mass mobilisation as their sentiment and political duty, heightened self-consciousness and proactiveness, and shown no fear of hardships to perform this work. They have always “respected the people, maintained a close-knit bond with the people, understood the people, learnt from the people, listened to the people’s opinions, and acted responsibly to the people.” Moreover, the Division has required its key cadres to successfully fulfil their assigned task, play a vanguard, exemplary role in mass mobilisation, and match their words with action, while asking superiors set good examples for inferiors to follow. Monthly, quarterly action plans and programmes for mass mobilisation have been formulated in line with each unit’s central political mission. Cadres, party members, and heads of offices and units have been required to be on the front line to help the people against difficulties and hardships. The outcome of mass mobilisation has been seen as an important criterion for the Division’s personnel evaluations. More importantly, this work is a command from the heart of each cadre and soldier and it stems from the close-knit bond between the Military and the people.

Spreading the virtues of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” - elite Air Defence - Air Force Soldiers

Over the years, within the Division’s stationed areas, natural disasters have been increasingly complex and caused loss of life and property damage in an extremely serious way. Besides, the complicated developments of COVID-19 have profoundly impacted on our economy and social life and led to negative public opinions and panics amongst the people. With its political responsibility and close-knit bond with the people within its stationed areas, while successfully fulfilling its tasks of training, combat readiness, and airspace management and protection, the Division has paid due regard to natural disaster prevention and mitigation and search and rescue. At the same time, it has joined local party committees, authorities, and citizens in the fight against COVID-19 via practical activities.

To well carry out the work of mass mobilisation across 7 Central Coast and Central Highlands provinces, the Division has frequently closely cooperated with local party committees and authorities in developing plans, assigning areas of responsibility, and deploying personnel and means for this work. Significance has been attached to proactively maintaining readiness of personnel and means to help and rescue the people in the event. It should be noted that during rounds of heavy rains and storms occurring in October and November 2020 in the provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai and Da Nang City, the Division deployed hundreds of cadres and soldiers to evacuate hundreds of households to safe places, opportunely supply food and medicine for citizens, and help the people quickly overcome the consequences of natural disasters and stabilise their life. In September 2021, Storm No.5 hit Central Coast provinces and produced heavy rainfall during our country’s fight against COVID-19; therefore, the Division proactively recommended its higher echelons to organise and deploy forces and means to opportunely assist Lien Chieu district’s party committees, authorities, and citizens (Da Nang City) in fastening houses, workplace, and schools, evacuating the people from dangerous places, and cleaning up the environment after the Storm.

“Putting the people at the forefront of their activities,” cadres and soldiers of the Division have always been on the front line to help the people surmount natural disasters and epidemics, while encouraging the people to conform to the Party’s guidelines and the State’s laws and policies via their own deeds, etiquette, and healthy lifestyle. During the 4th wave of COVID-19, in response to Da Nang City’s call, under the spirit of “fighting the pandemic like fighting enemies,” the Division has always heightened a sense of responsibility and compassion and proactively collaborated with local party committees and authorities in pandemic prevention and control via creative, effective, humanistic activities. In addition to deploying hundreds of cadres and soldiers to checkpoints and quarantine zones and providing food for citizens, offices and units of the Division have donated 3.2 tons of rice, more than 7 tons of farm produce, and nearly 500 boxes of instant noodles, participated in organising “zero dong markets,” and given food and necessaries to forces at checkpoints. They have cooperated with Thanh Khe district’s Health Centre (Da Nang City) in establishing a large-scale quarantine zone for more than 640 citizens.

Implementing the work of mass mobilisation under plans, offices and units have proactively, actively taken part in fostering socio-economic development, constructing new-style countryside, eradicating hunger, reducing poverty, forming civilised lifestyle within residential areas, and improving the quality of political bases, thereby making contributions to maintaining political security and social order and safety and building comprehensively strong localities. Twinning programmes between the Division’s affiliates and localities have been executed effectively. Between 2020 and 2021, during its field training marches associated with mass mobilisation in difficult communes of Hoa Vang district (Da Nang City) and Duy Xuyen district (Quang Nam province), the Division has assisted those localities in constructing rural roads, harvesting farm produce, visiting and giving presents to families in difficulty, and collecting thousands of tons of waste. It has worked with Da Nang Municipal Military Command to organise Military - Civilian Infirmaries to provide medical examination and treatment for thousands of citizens. At the same time, it has proactively raised the people’s vigilance against all plots and artifices of hostile forces. With its remarkable achievements in the emulation movement of “clever mass mobilisation and the building of “units with good mass mobilisation” in the period of 2016-2020, the Division was presented with a Certificate of Merit by the Ministry of National Defence.

Well performing the function as “an army ready for work” has helped cement solidarity between the Military and the people, maintain politico-social stability, strengthen politico-spiritual potential, build a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds,” improve cadres and soldiers’ awareness, responsibility, political zeal, revolutionary morality, and lifestyle, and spread the virtues of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” - Soldiers of Air Defence Division 375 in the new period.

Sr. Col. VU VAN TRAI, Commissar of the Division