As a border province located in Mekong river delta, Long An holds a position of importance to the Military Region 7 and the country in terms of socio-economy, defence and security, and diplomacy. Perceiving that, over the past years, in parallel with socio-economic development, the province has paid due attention to consolidating defence and security via synchronous measures. Great importance has been attached to the work of defence and security education with the participation of the whole political system and the local armed forces as the core, thereby making a considerable change in awareness and responsibility of organizations, localities and people towards the task of national protection. That has laid an important foundation for Long An to promote the combined strength to improve potential of the defensive zone, build strong “people’s hearts and minds posture”, effectively deal with defence and security situations and complex issues, maintain national sovereignty, border security, political stability, and social order in the area, create favourable conditions for socio-economic development and improvement of people’s material and spiritual life. With the achievements in conducting the military and defence tasks and the work of defence and security education, in 2017, the armed forces of Long An were given the Flag of “Unit takes the lead in the Determined to Win Emulation Movement” by the Ministry of National Defence.

The conference to review defence and security education in 2016 by the province

To obtain those achievements, first, the Provincial Military Command (PCM for short) and its Party Committee have actively advised the Provincial Party Committee, People’s Council and People’s Committee on consolidating the structure and improving the quality of operation of the Council for Defence and Security Education (hereafter the Council) at all levels. The Councils' staff at all levels have been ensured sufficient quantity and proper structure. They have also taken part in building the system of documents on defence and security education for the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee. In their capacity as the standing organ, the PMC and local military organs have excellently performed the work of consultative organs in giving sound advice to the Councils on maintaining the order for operations, promoting a sense of responsibility of each member, and actively renewing content, form and method of defence and security education. Annually military organs at all levels have conducted surveys and developed plans to provide defence and security education for objects, while cooperating with local functional organs in holding defence and security education courses for cadres and party members. To correctly assess the quality of this work, the PMC has counselled the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee to direct localities to maintain the order for preliminary review and review and enhance the work of inspection. As a result, the task performance has been correctly assessed, typical examples have been detected and multiplied, and limitations during the process of implementation have been rectified, thereby gradually improving the quality of defence and security education in the new situation.

Besides, the PMC and its Party Committee have proactively taken measures synchronously, practically, effectively to provide defence and security education for objects, particularly key cadres of offices and units. Military offices at all levels have carried out reviews to make a list of cadres for annual education plans. Apart from sending cadres of the groups 1 and 2 to attend defence and security education courses held by the Ministry and the Military Region, the province has actively organized courses for the groups 3 and 4. In recent years, great importance has been attached to providing defence and security education for the Military and Public Security according to the Circular 24 by the Ministry of National Defence and the Circular 05 by the Ministry of Public Security as those are the core forces in charge of giving advice to higher authorities and studying to provide defence and security education for objects. Besides the determined education program and content, the province has actively studied to supplement new elements in accordance with reality and objects of education. To attach theory to practice, the province has combined defence and security education with operations of sectors and organization, and included it in programs/plans for socio-economic development in association with defence and security consolidation and defensive zone exercises at all levels. In 2017, the province provided defence and security education for 500 key cadres, nearly 2,500 cadres of the group 4, 396 religious dignitaries and thousands of members of unions, teachers, heads of households in border areas, owners of vessels, and workers in industrial zones, etc.

Moreover, consideration has been given to providing defence and security education for students. To ensure a contingent of standard teachers of defence and security education, the province has seriously implemented the Government’s Decision 607/QĐ-TTg on approving the Project to train teachers of defence and security education for high schools and vocational schools in the 2014-2020 period. In short term, to deal with a dearth of teachers of defence and security education, the PMC has advised the province on opening training courses for managerial cadres and teachers in charge of this subject at the schools in the area. Besides building and standardizing those teachers, the PMC has proactively cooperated with the Provincial Department of Education and Training and schools in building and completing the program and content as well as the system of textbooks for defence and security education. Forms and methods of education have been renewed and supplemented each other with new points, i.e. education of local revolutionary tradition in association with visits to historical sites, defence and security competitions, “Enlistment Camp”, and “Military Semester”. In 2017, the province has provided defence and security education for more than 42,000 students. It is defence and security education that has built up the love for hometown and country and raise a sense of responsibility for doing military service and protecting the Homeland among young people. It could be said that defence and security education for students has greatly contributed to training comprehensive-quality human resources for the province’s cause of national construction and defence.

Furthermore, armed forces of the province have counselled the province to step up the work of propagating and disseminating knowledge of defence and security to people from all walks of life. Annually, the PMC has counselled the Provincial Council for Defence and Security Education to cooperate with the province’s Committee for Propaganda and Education, radio and television and the Military Region 7 in holding training courses for journalists and editors on the work of defence and security propagation.  The PMC has cooperated with the province’s Radio and Television in maintaining 4 radio programs every month, 2 columns of all-people’s national defence, 1 column of defence and security education every week, carrying thousands of news and articles on the mass media, thereby opportunely propagating the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and local operations related to the work of defence and security. The work of disseminating defence and security knowledge has also been combined with activities of organizations, cultural, artistic, sports activities, military call-up, national political events and festivals, and local traditional days, thereby contributing to deepening the people’s love for the Homeland, especially those in border areas, making them promote the revolutionary tradition “loyal and courageous, resilient, all people fight the enemy”, and effectively fighting against acts of sabotage via the “Peaceful Evolution” Strategy by hostile forces. Consequently, a sense of unity and consensus on the cause of Homeland building and safeguarding has been created. It should noted that in the recent military conscription, the province has fulfilled 100% of the targets.

In recent years, as industrial zones in the province’s area have been developing robustly with a large number of workers, military offices at all levels have actively cooperated with functional organs in propagating and disseminating defence and security knowledge to those objects via creative approaches. In the industrial zones in Tan An city and Duc Hoa, Ben Luc, Can Giuoc districts, after being persuaded, owners of private enterprises have included propagation and dissemination of defence and security knowledge in their meetings. Many enterprises have established self-defence forces.It has proved that when the authority successfully carries out the work of propagation, enterprises wil l support as it helps raise the workers’ sense of law observance and make them keep their mind on their work.

Grounded on experience and recorded results, in the time to come, the PMC and its Party Committee will continue to promote their core role in conducting the work of defence and security education in the area, ceaselessly enhancing politico-spiritual potential of the defensive zone, building strong all-people’s national defence and people’s security, meeting the requirements of building and protecting the Homeland in the new situation.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Tuan Bao

Commissar of Long An Provincial Military Command