Amidst the requirements set by the fight for protecting the Northern border, on March 14^th 1979, the Artillery Brigade 454 under the Special Zone of Quang Ninh (which now belongs to the Military Region 3) was founded on the basis of the Artillery Regiment 572 (the Military Region 5). Over the past 40 years of building, fighting and maturing, the Brigade’s generations of staff members have always upheld a sense of unity, self-reliance, initiative, and creativity to overcome difficulties, successfully fulfil the task, building up the Brigade’s tradition of “Unity - Fast Movement - Good Practice - Good Shooting”, making contributions to the glorious achievements of the Military Region 3’s armed forces. Acknowledging those achievements, the Brigade was given the Third-Class and Second-Class Feat of Arm Orders and the Third-Class Fatherland Protection Order by the State as well as many certificates of merits and noble awards by the Government and the Ministry of National Defence.

A training course on the BM-21 artillery

In the current period, to fulfil its task, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have synchronously taken various measures to build itself strong comprehensively and enhance its synergy and combat strength, thereby ensuring that the Brigade has been among top units in the Military Region’s Determined to Win Emulation Movement  for many consecutive years, its Party Committee has been rated pure, strong, and it has been given the Emulation Flag by the Military Region and the Ministry of National Defence. Notably in 2018, it was presented the Third-Class Fatherland Protection Order by the State.

To record those results, initially, the Brigade has focused on building itself politically strong as a top measure to raise its synergy and combat strength and combat readiness capacity. In this regard, the Brigade has regularly grasped directives and resolutions by higher echelons, particularly the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum on the Party building and rectification. Grounded on those documents, it has consolidated and made all-level party committees and organizations pure and strong as well as built strong units comprehensively, and combined the building of party committees with that of key cadres, thereby maintaining and strengthening the comprehensive, focalized, uniformed leadership of party committees over its operations. Taking proper measures, the Brigade’s Party Committee has effectively implemented the Action Program for the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum, making positive changes in the leadership and combativeness of party committees and organizations, especially in grass-roots units; many weaknesses have been pointed out and opportunely overcome while “self-review” and “self-correction” have been stepped up. Besides, the Brigade has promoted the work of political education and ideological management, built up troops’ political will, and maintained their vigilance and readiness for undertaking and fulfilling the task. In recent years, to maintain the political, ideological base against the negative impacts by the market economy and evil information on the social networks, it has encouraged the implementation of the Project on “renewing units’ political education in the new period”, enhanced the effectiveness of party and political work during its operations. At the same time, it has proactively conducted the work of internal political protection and ideological management, combined political education with discipline management closely, executed the Grass-Roots Democracy Regulations, and maintained the order for the Political and Spiritual Day. As a result, it has grasped troops’ social relationships, thought, and aspirations and dealt with the arising issues opportunely. At the same time, it has stepped up the Determined to Win Emulation Movement in line with the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW and the Campaign “promote tradition, devote talent, deserve to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” via specific models and actions. Over the past 5 years, 100% of its party organizations have been rated pure and strong, over 86.5% of its party members have fulfilled and successfully fulfilled the task, and its Party Committee have been recognized as a typical pure, strong party organization.

Together with building itself politically strong, the Brigade has renewed and raised the quality of training and combat readiness, considering this a direct measure to improve its combat capacity, ensuring that it deserves to be a key land firepower unit of the Military Region. Adhering to the directions by the Military Region’s Party Committee and Command and the guidance by the Artillery Corps, the Brigade has focused its leadership and direction over the training and combat readiness task and adopted breakthrough measures to raise the training quality and build itself into a “good training unit”. Grasping and executing the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW and the Resolution 280-NQ/ĐU by the Military Region’s Party Committee, dated April 10^th 2013, on “raising the training quality in the 2013-2020 period and beyond”, the Brigade has renewed the training contents, forms, and methods, improved the quality of managing, operating and developing the training plans in accord with its combat task and projects, object of struggle, structure, and materiel. Its affiliates have strictly maintained the training programs and process for commands, offices, and units. As for commands and offices, it has focused on training the arts of artillery operations during the war for Homeland defence and the methods for organizing specialist training, gun firing on the model, command-office exercises on the field, and tactical exercises as well as for making lesson plans. Concerning its detachment-level units, as they have many components (artillerymen, reconnaissance, accounting, measurement, etc.) with different tasks, the Brigade has ordered these units to closely follow the criteria for a “good training unit” as the basis for their training and evaluation of training results. Under the motto of “basics, practicality, thorough grasp”, it has organized focalized training, attached great value to training combat projects, improved manoeuvrability and coordination within units and in defensive zone operations and defensive operations at sea and on islands, and trained troops on complex terrains and in harsh weather in hi-tech warfare. To make training effective, it has given consideration to making elaborate training preparations, strictly maintained the ratified training plan, combined training and exercises with practice of shift of combat readiness states according to the projects and many types of operations and at various levels, such as cooperation with infantry regiments in coastal defensive exercises and cooperation with provinces in defensive zone exercises in its area. At the same time, due attention has been paid to carrying out the work of inspection, direction, and operation and maintaining the order for competitions as the motivation for the improved quality of training. As a result, the Brigade’s training results have been raised; its staff’s capability in command and operation and its units’ manoeuvrability and coordination have been improved; it has achieved the criteria for a good training unit for many consecutive years. Since 2009, it has been given the flag of “good training unit” by the Ministry of National Defence and the Military Region 3’s Command for 8 times.

Live-firing exercise in 2018

To meet the requirements for a campaign-level mobile firepower unit of the Military Region 3, the Brigade has been active in consolidating its organizational structure, given priority to staffing its combat readiness units, and stringently maintained the order for and the system of combat readiness duty at all levels as well as the synchronicity in terms of personnel, materiel, and vehicles for movement. It has regularly completed the system of combat documents, closely cooperated with localities in preparing battle grounds, such as the areas for deploying artillery, roads, and crossings under the combat projects, ensuring that it is always ready to cooperate with other units of the Military Region in protecting the area in all situations.

Regularity building and discipline management is seen as an important measure for building a strong unit. In this regard, the Brigade has concentrated on political education, strictly maintained the order for this work on a daily, weekly basis, and raised the self-awareness of all cadres and soldiers. Executing the movements, such “All troops act under the military regulations” and “Pursuing standard lifestyle, closely managing discipline”, all staff members of the Brigade have worked under the regulations, superiors set examples for inferiors to follow. The Brigade has promoted the role of mass organizations in cooperating with local youth unions in organizing sports, cultural, artistic movements, particularly on weekend, national holiday, and Tet holiday, thereby contributing to closely managing troops and creating the pleasant atmosphere within the units. At the same time, it has resolutely prevented and strictly handled violations of discipline and signs of degradation in political ideology, morality and lifestyle as well as “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”. Consequently, its work of standardization and discipline management has made progress; it has witnessed no serious violation of discipline for many consecutive years.

To make itself strong in terms of logistics and technical work, the Brigade has accelerated the movement entitled “the military logistic branch follows Uncle Ho’s teachings”, actively boosted agricultural production, made its barracks green, clean, and beautiful, and paid due regard to preventing epidemics and ensuring food hygiene and safety. Thus, it has frequently been self-sufficient in 100% of vegetables of all types and 80% of fish and meat; 6/6 messes of the Brigade fulfil the criteria for a good logistics unit; it has maintained and increased troops’ physical fitness.

Besides, it has well carried out the Campaign entitled “managing, exploiting and using weapons and technical equipment effectively, sustainably, safely, economically, and traffic safety”, while raising troops’ professional competence and sense of responsibility. Its affiliates have strictly maintained the order for repairing, maintaining and extending the lifespan of materiel and frequently grasped the quantity, quality, and synchronicity of materiel. Prior to each training season, the Brigade carefully checks vehicles and equipment to ensure their technical conditions. As a result, its weapons and technical equipment have always met the requirements for training, combat readiness, and other tasks and contingencies, such as natural disaster prevention and mitigation, search and rescue.

Encouraging its 40-year-long tradition and obtained results, the Artillery Brigade 454 will continue striving to improve its task performance comprehensively, diversifying and synchronously adopting the measures, while bringing into play its organizations and forces to the utmost in order to further enhance its synergy and combat strength and capacity, successfully fulfil all assigned missions, and satisfy the requirements for the Homeland protection in the new situation.

Sr. Col. Tran Quoc Phan, Commander of the Brigade