Over the years, Nam Dinh’s Provincial Military Party Committee and Command have grasped and stringently executed directives and decisions by the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence on the building of comprehensively strong units, and obtained the encouraging results. In 2019, the Provincial Military Command (PMC) of Nam Dinh has been selected as a comprehensively strong, typical, exemplary model by the Military Region 3’s Party Committee and Command. Being fully aware of the task and considering it as a chance to raise the task performance and overcome weaknesses, the PMC and its Party Committee have focused their leadership and direction on carrying out this work. Grounded on the Military Region’s plan and guidance, the PMC has developed its own plan and directed its affiliates to issue guiding documents on the building of comprehensively strong, typical, exemplary units in accordance with the province’s particularities. At the same time, it has introduced this work to all offices and units. Under the mottos of “offices first, units later,” “superiors first, inferiors later,” and “cadres first, soldiers later,” the PMC has directed the building of comprehensively strong units in all fields, with a focus on selecting several offices and units to draw lessons. Emphasis has been placed on making the provincial armed forces politically strong and typical as well as exemplary in terms of standard order building and discipline management, achieving a breakthrough in the quality of training and combat readiness, and well carrying out the logistics and technical support.

Martial art performance at the opening ceremony of the training season

1. On the building of politically strong and typical units

To make the provincial armed forces really strong and typical comprehensively, the PMC has directed its affiliates to enhance the work of political and ideological education to render their cadres and soldiers fully aware of the Party’s guidelines, the State’s law and policy, and higher echelons’ directives on the military-defence task. They have been asked to well execute the Project on “renewing political education at military units in the new situation,” strictly maintain the order for political study, and combine political education with education of the State’s law and the provincial armed forces’ tradition. At the same time, offices and units have well implemented the Grass-Roots Level Democratic Regulations, organized Political and Spiritual Days, and ensured sufficient policies for troops. As a result, offices and units have always maintained a sense of unity while all cadres and soldiers have been politically strong, kept their mind on their work, readily undertaken and accomplished all assigned missions.

Besides, the PMC has attached importance to strengthening all-level party committees and organizations’ leadership and combativeness and accelerating the implementation of the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum on the Party building and rectification in line with the Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW on studying and emulating Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle and the Campaign entitled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho soldiers.” Consideration has been given to consolidating party cells, raising their leadership and combativeness, and promoting the model-setting role of cadres and party members, especially the key ones in study, work, and self-improvement. With the “progressive and modest spirit to opportunely settle the weaknesses,” the PMC and its Party Committee have required key cadres at all levels to set good examples, dare to think, dare to do, and dare to take responsibility before their unit, party committee, and superiors for their unit’s task performance.

2. On the building of exemplary units in terms of standard order building and discipline management

The PMC and its Party Committee have directed offices and units to frequently educate cadres and soldiers to well perform their function and task and strictly implement the daily and weekly regulations. At the same time, they have been asked to study and formulate the procedures, forms, content, and duration for meetings. Notably, the PMC has designed and allocated the “handbook for building a model unit” to all cadres and soldiers as the basis for their study, work, and self-improvement.

In addition, the PMC has actively mobilized resources to repair and build barracks, yards, inner roads, and flower and bonsai gardens, ensure environmental hygiene in a bright, green, clean, scenic fashion, construct a new system of panels and slogans, and organize car and motorbike garages and offices in a tidy and scientific manner. To improve the quality and effectiveness of standard order building, the PMC has directed several offices and units to conduct this work as examples for other ones to study, draw lessons, settle their shortcomings, and follow. Besides, the PMC has required offices and units to effectively implement measures for managing troops, weapons, technical equipment, and vehicles, to well perform and stringently maintain military patrols for controlling soldiers’ manners outside their barracks, to organize patrol and guard under the regulations to protect the targets and proactively detect and prevent the signs of discipline violations. Consequently, since the beginning of 2019, the provincial armed forces have made a significant positive change in the work standard order building and the observance of military discipline. Cadres and soldiers have always conformed to the military manners and mode of address, the State’s law, and the Military’s discipline. There has been no serious violation of discipline while the number of trivial violations of discipline has decreased. Cadres and soldiers in several offices and units have managed to completely overcome weaknesses in materiel maintenance, physical training, and training march.

3. A breakthrough in raising the quality of training and combat readiness

In order to enhance the quality of military training, the PMC has proactively, elaborately made preparations, developing the training plans and programs, organizing refresher courses for cadres, designing lesson plans, repairing and upgrading facilities, training grounds, and training aids. In this regard, great value has been attached to holding training courses to improve the commanding capacity, professional competence, and training method of cadres at platoon and company levels and those who are in charge of the training work. The PMC has asked key cadres at all levels to speak and write in a short way and directed offices to make training courses and guiding documents short and easy to understand, remember, and follow, with a focus on surmounting weaknesses in the previous years and updating new points and knowledge.

In the training process, the PMC has adhered to the motto of “basics, practicality, and thorough grasp,” flexibly applied viewpoints and principles on the training work, and attached significance to overcoming shortcomings, such as physical training, shooting, line formation regulations, and troop management regulations. To make the training work really effective, the PMC has required units to combine military training with the work of standard order building and discipline management. At the same time, all-level cadres have been asked to step up the work of inspection and supervision. To settle the weaknesses in previous contests, the PMC has attached great value to selecting participants, developing the plans, organizing training closely and carefully, giving material and mental support to cadres and soldiers to encourage their spirit and determination. In 2019, the training results have met the requirements, 75.2% of them have been rated as credit and distinction. It should be noted that the PMC has directed offices and units to hold the defensive zone exercise for the districts of Y Yen, Vu Ban and My Loc simultaneously in one combat direction of the defensive zone and the maps-based one-side, one-level command and office exercise as well as take part in competitions organized by the Military Region 3, which has proved the provincial armed forces’ enhanced quality of training work.

While raising the quality of training, the PMC has strictly maintained the order and regulations for combat readiness, proactively formulated, supplemented, and completed the combat plans and projects in accordance with reality. It has frequently practised those combat projects to ensure the combat readiness of personnel and equipment when necessary. In the General Staff’s inspection of manoeuvrability, all units of the provincial armed forces had sufficient strength, weapons, ammunition, equipment, and vehicles.

4. Well performing the logistics and technical work

Executing the emulation movement entitled “the Military Logistics Branch follows Uncle Ho’s teachings,” the PMC has directed offices and units to step up on-spot animal and crop husbandry, construct the system of orchard, fish pond, and barn, improve the quality of troop meals, ensure food safety and hygiene, epidemic prevention and control, and soldiers’ fitness. At the same time, importance has been attached to managing and using the budget under the principles and regulations in an open, democratic manner, effectively taking measures for saving electricity, water, and petroleum, and opportunely providing logistics and financial support for the provincial armed forces’ missions. Regarding the technical work, the PMC has stepped up the implementation of the Campaign entitled “managing and exploiting weapons and technical equipment in an effective, sustainable, safe, economical fashion and traffic safety” and maintaining the technical coefficient of weapons, equipment, and means for the task of combat readiness at 0.98-1.0. It has closely managed and ensured safety of the system of depots and stations to prevent fire, explosion, and loss of weapons and equipment.

With the resolve and synchronous, drastic measures, the armed forces of Nam Dinh province has initially gained significant achievements in the building of comprehensively strong, typical, exemplary units. This has provided a solid foundation for the provincial armed forces to continue acting as a model for other units of the Military Region 3 to follow and raising the quality of the provincial defence-military work in the new period.

Sr. Col. Luong Van Kiem

Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the PMC