Being fully aware of the guidelines on Military build-up, national defence consolidation, and Homeland protection set by the 13th National Party Congress and the 11th Military Party Congress, Army Corps 1’s Party Committee and Command have been focusing their leadership and direction on raising the Corps’ synergy and combat strength to allow the Corps to readily undertake and successfully fulfil all assigned missions.

The increasingly demanding requirements of Military build-up, national defence consolidation, and Homeland protection have necessitated the Corps regularly raising its synergy and combat power, bettering its training, military standard order building, and discipline management, and developing itself in a “compact, strong” manner. To that end, the Corps has frequently rendered its cadres and soldiers to grasp the Party’s guidelines and higher echelons’ resolutions and directives on military-defence work, Homeland protection, and its task in the new situation. As a result, all cadres and soldiers have shown their political zeal, determination, and revolutionary vigilance, clearly understood hostile forces’ plots and artifices, and kept their faith in weapons, equipment, people’s warfare, and glorious traditions of the Corps, the Military, and the nation.

Commander of the Corps inspecting a factory of the Corps’ Technical Department

In the training and combat readiness process, the Corps has directed its affiliates to develop and implement their training plans closely, scientifically, with importance attached to renewing training contents and methods and closely organising the training of cadres to opportunely settle weaknesses and update new issues; as a result, all-level cadres’ training capacity has been considerably improved. The Corps has required its offices and units to strictly maintain regulations on combat readiness duty and practice. It should be noted that the Corps’ performance in the strategic combat exercise on the Northern battlefield (MB-17), the counter-offensive campaign exercise in South Hanoi (PC-19), and COVID-19 prevention and control drills has been highly appreciated by higher echelons.

Performing its function as “an army ready for work,” the Corps has organised field training marches associated with mass mobilisation and cooperated with local party committees and authorities in its stationed areas in helping the people with hunger eradication, poverty reduction, new-style countryside construction, natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control, and search and rescue. Since 2020, it has deployed thousands of cadres and soldiers to prevent and fight against fires and explosions in forests, markets, and production facilities located in the districts of Soc Son, Quoc Oai, and Chuong My (Hanoi) as well as Bim Son town (Thanh Hoa). In the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, it has directed its affiliates to well prepare personnel and means to reinforce Binh Duong province’s COVID-19 treatment and Hanoi city’s widespread testing, while establishing and organising quarantine zones for more than 9,000 citizens at its Division 390, Division 308, Military School, and Brigade 241.

It could be said that drastic, effective, timely measures set by the Corps’ Party Committee and Command have contributed to building a pure, strong Party Organisation and an “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong Corps with a high level of synergy and combat power, thereby meeting the requirements of national protection in the new situation. In the upcoming time, the task of Military build-up, national defence consolidation, and Homeland protection will impose more requirements on the building of a strong Corps in terms of politics, ideology, morality, organisation, and personnel. Greater importance will be attached to building a politically strong Corps as basis for raising its synergy and combat strength. Therefore, the Corps’ Party Committee and Command will keep directing party committees and commands of its offices and units to strengthen political education and ideological management to render cadres and soldiers fully aware of the Party’s guidelines and higher echelons’ directives on the military-defence work and the Homeland protection under Resolutions of the 13th National Party Congress, the 11th Military Party Congress, and the Corps’ 10th Party Congress. In response to today’s complex issues, political education must be enhanced to make troops clearly understand our partners and opponents, unmask the hostile forces’ plots and artifices, build up troops’ political zeal and absolute loyalty to the Homeland, the Party, the State, and the people, and improve military staff’s responsibility, morality, and lifestyle with “industriousness, thrift, integrity, uprightness, public-spiritedness, and selflessness” as the criteria. Cadres and soldiers must have good military and scientific knowledge, an efficient working method, good health, a sense of discipline, pure internationalism, and a close-knit bond with the people to readily undertake and successfully fulfil all assigned missions. The Corps’ Party Committee will place special emphasis on realising Resolution No.4 of the Party Central Committee (11th, 12th, 13th tenure) on the Party building and rectification in tandem with the 13th Politburo’s Conclusion 01-KL/TW on continuing to implement the 12th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW on studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle and the Campaign titled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new period. On a yearly basis, over 95% of party organisations must be rated pure and strong, more than 85% of party members shall successfully or excellently fuflil their task, and all offices and units of the Corps shall ensure absolute safety.

In order to raise its synergy and combat power, the Corps will direct its affiliates to achieve a breakthrough in the quality of training. Due attention will be paid to grasping and effectively realising the Central Military Commission’s Conclusion 60- KL/QUTW, dated January 18th, 2019 on continuing to implement the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW on “raising the quality of training in the period of 2013-2020 and beyond” as well as viewpoints, targets, principles, requirements, and measures relating to the training work. Units of the Corps shall actively, proactively prepare lesson plans, innovate their training equipment, and construct and upgrade their training grounds and shooting ranges. The Corps will attach great value to training its cadres at all levels, particularly those who are in charge of training. It will further renew the work of leading, directing, and managing training courses as well as contents, forms, and methods of training and exercises in accordance with the development of its task. In this regard, significance will be attached to organising synchronous, intensive combat training courses, intensifying tasks-based, situations-based training courses, making troops master the existing weapons and equipment, and increasing duration of practical, night-time, manoeuvrable, and diversionary training. Emphasis will be placed on training troops to prevent and fight back enemy air fire and cross complex terrains and watery obstacles. The Corps will concentrate on improving its troops’ tactics and ground combat skills and enhancing field training marches and training courses according to new methods of combat in a hi-tech war. At the same time, it will combine military training with physical training, particularly military and traditional sports in order to better its troops’ endurance and manoeuvrability in any circumstance. Moreover, it will well organise live-firing field exercises, raise the quality of general, combat, and reserve force exercises, and frequently renew the method of holding military contests, examinations, and re-examinations to correctly assess training outcome, completely handle the merit-driven disease, and develop models of good training and strict discipline. All cadres of the Corps shall be able to take charge of training at their levels; 90% of battalion-level cadres, 85% of company-level cadres, and 80% of platoon-level cadres shall achieve merit or distinction in the training process.

Participating in an exercise held at Artillery Brigade 368’s shooting range

In addition to the training work, the Corps will focus on raising its combat readiness capacity. To do so, it will regularly direct its offices and units to maintain regulations on combat readiness at all levels to ensure that their personnel, weapons, equipment, and vehicles will always in readiness for situations. While enhancing inspections of its offices and units’ combat readiness, it will proactively closely cooperate with relevant forces in exchanging information and grasping the situation to opportunely detect the hostile forces’ sabotage activities, make contributions to maintaining political security and social order and safety in its stationed areas, and avoid falling into passivity. Besides, all affiliates of the Corps shall proactively design, adjust, supplement, and complete combat readiness projects and documents, ensure weapons, technical equipment, and facilities for combat readiness and natural disaster prevention and mitigation, and practise their projects for on-the-spot combat and fire, explosion, and epidemic prevention and control to be ready for engaging in dealing with situations.

Additionally, the Corps will attach importance to building “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong offices and units. All-level party committees and commands shall further educate their troops on directives and regulations concerning discipline management, particularly Directive 103/CT-BQP, dated November 28th, 2019 by the Ministry of National Defence on “continuing to strengthen discipline education and management and ensure safety within the Vietnam People’s Army,” while building up their cadres and soldiers’ incentive for observing relevant regulations and directives. The Corps will regularly review and evaluate its offices and units’ task performance, completely handle violations, strictly maintain discipline and regulations on study and work, and intensify measures to manage and grasp troops’ ideological developments and social relationships to opportunely identify and settle issues. Great weight will be added to building a contingent of cadres at all levels with sufficient qualities and capabilities to well manage and educate their troops. The Corps will take disciplinary action against cadres who do not show their exemplary role or let serious violations of discipline happen within their offices and units. It will well maintain regulations on cadres and party members’ responsibility to set good examples in observance of the State’s law and the Military’s discipline.

To satisfy the new requirements set by the Homeland construction and protection, cadres and soldiers of Army Corps 1 will continue bringing into play the tradition of “lightning speed and determination to win,” surmount all difficulties, and maintain a sense of unity to successfully fulfil all assigned missions.

Maj. Gen., D.Sc DO MINH XUONG

Commander of the Corps