Artillery Brigade 454 is a main ground fire unit of Military Region 3, tasked with training, combat readiness, natural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue, and other contingency missions. When performing its tasks, in addition to advantages, the Brigade has been faced with a lot of difficulties. More specifically, it has been managing a large number of weapons and technical equipment, many of them have been in use for ages. Meanwhile, its cadres’ capacity and hands-on experience, particularly at grass-roots level have been rather limited. It is worth noting that since 2020, the Brigade’s stationed area has been frequently hit by COVID-19 pandemic, which has greatly negatively impacted on troops’ health and sentiment and the Brigade’s task performance as well. Against such a backdrop, the Brigade has been adopting “three breakthroughs” in line with safe, flexible adaptation to and effective control over COVID-19 pandemic so as to make a solid positive change in its task performance, the building of an “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong Brigade, and its synergy and combat strength to meet its task requirements in the new situation.

Enhancing all-level party organisations’ leadership capacity and combativeness

There is a fact that the principal reason for the poor task performance of a number of individuals and tactical-level units within the Brigade is their party organisations’ limited leadership capacity and combativeness. Another reason is that the role of all-level cadres has yet to be fully promoted. Hence, the Brigade has attached special importance to building strong party organisations and bringing into play the role of cadres and party members, particularly the key ones at its offices and units. To that end, the Brigade Party Committee Standing Board has recently issued a specialised Resolution on “enhancing grass-roots level party organisations’ leadership capacity and combativeness and raising the quality of party members in the new period.” Emphasis has been placed on building strong party organisations in terms of politics, ideology, morality, organisation, and personnel, grasping and concretising higher echelons’ resolutions in accordance with offices and units’ particularities and task requirements, and raising the quality of issuing and realising monthly, quarterly, and yearly resolutions and work plans. Besides, the Brigade Party Committee has reviewed and supplemented work and leadership regulations of all-level party committees, drastically implemented measures to overcome weaknesses, and improved all-level party committees’ capacity to introduce and realise resolutions. At the same time, due regard has been paid to building a contingent of cadres and party members, especially party committee members, commanders, and commissars as the core of leadership and unity. The Brigade Party Committee has required all affiliated party committees and party cells to develop action plans for resolutions and considered offices and units’ task performance as the main criterion for evaluating all-level cadres’ task performance. Prior to each training course for new soldiers, each live-fire exercise, and each contingency mission, the Brigade has asked all-level party committees and commanders to promote democracy and collective knowledge to design resolutions and action plans.

Furthermore, the Brigade has stepped up its Action Programme for the Party Central Committee’s Resolutions No.4 (12^th and 13^th tenure) on the Party building and rectification in tandem with the 13^th Politburo’s Conclusion 01-KL/TW, dated May 18^th, 2021 on continuing 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. Due attention has been paid to fighting against wrong viewpoints and the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” and well managing relationships between leaderships and commands as well as between superiors and subordinates to maintain a sense of unity within the Brigade.

Battalion 1 practising shooting at National Shooting Rage TB-1

Raising the quality of training and combat readiness

This is a central breakthrough and a determinant to the Brigade’s combat readiness. Grasping and seriously executing higher echelons’ resolutions and directives on training work, particularly the Central Military Commission’s Conclusion 60-KL/QUTW, dated January 18^th, 2019 on continuing realising the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW and the Military Region Party Committee’s Resolution 80-NQ/ĐU, dated April 10^th, 2013 on “raising the quality of training in the period of 2013-2021 and beyond,” the Brigade has drastically, synchronously taken measures to improve the quality of training. In addition to preparing personnel and training facilities, the Brigade has focused on enhancing all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction over training task, renewing mechanisms of training management and operation, and decentralising training work. It has strictly maintained refresher courses for all-level cadres, with importance attached to cadres at company and platoon levels and new graduates. Against the complex developments of COVID-19, the Brigade has proactively, drastically adopted measures to prevent the pandemic from penetrating into itself, while adjusting programmes, plans, and methods of training in accordance with each degree of COVID-19. In the training process, it has directed its offices and units to train their troops to master weapons and technical equipment, especially new-generation materiel. Significance has been attached to organising training courses under combat projects, taking tactical training as the mainstay, considering specialised training as the basis, and regarding the training of cadres as a key step. In addition to improving its cadres’ command and staff capacity and knowledge of political theory and military art, the Brigade has concentrated on bettering its cadres’ methods of organising specialised training courses and exercises of various types and applying new technologies and modern equipment to training work.

With reference to its tactical-level units, the Brigade has directed its affiliates to take the criteria for a “good training artillery unit” as their goal of training. The Brigade’s tactical-level units have trained their troops to master artillery tactics and techniques, independent and joint operations, and methods of camouflage under complex terrain and weather conditions and in hi-tech warfare.

In 2021, following directions from the Military Region Command and guiding documents by higher echelons and the Artillery Corps on realising “the year for raising the quality of exercises and military contests,” the Brigade has proactively reviewed, adjusted, and supplemented goals and requirements of each exercise and military contest. Grounded on those reviews and adjustments, it has developed plans, with a focus on central contents, new issues, and the fight against merit-driven practices during its exercises and military contests. Offices and units of the Brigade have well carried out the work of propagation and education to render all troops fully aware of the significance of exercises and military contests and build up their determination to perform this task. The Brigade’s affiliates have carefully organised refresher courses for participants in exercises and military contests. Due attention has been paid to drawing lessons on the organisation of exercises and military contests and opportunely rewarding collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements in this work. Thanks to drastic, synchronous measures, in 2021, the Brigade was given the good training unit flag; it won the first place in the sports contest held by the Military Region, with 3 gold medals, 3 silver medals, and 1 bronze medal.

Boosting the quality of military standard order building and discipline management

To realise this breakthrough, the Brigade has focused on raising troops’ awareness and responsibility for military standard order building and discipline management. At the same time, great value has been attached to making cadres and soldiers fully aware of directives, guiding documents, and regulations by higher echelons and the Brigade on military standard order building and discipline management. Besides, the Brigade has designed and included specialised topics about traffic culture, the Penal Code of Vietnam, and discipline management regulations in its law education programmes. Doing so has enabled the Brigade to equip its cadres and soldiers with necessary knowledge of law and prevent violations of discipline and safety regulations.

The Brigade has required its all-level cadres to play an exemplary role in improving their morality and lifestyle and their observance of the State’s law, the Military’s discipline, and regulations. Cadres at all levels have been asked to match their words with action and develop specific programmes for their role model-setting responsibility. In the process, importance has been attached to bringing into play staff and political offices’ role in inspecting and evaluating all-level cadres’ role model-setting responsibility. Mass organisations’ vanguard role in maintaining regulations has also been promoted. The Brigade has closely combined military standard order building and discipline management with the Determination to Win Emulation Movement via specific, effective, practical models, such as “youth union branch without violation of discipline” and “unit without smoking” in order to encourage its cadres and soldiers’ “self-education” and “self-improvement.” Moreover, the Brigade has actively promoted its internal strength, stepped up animal/crop husbandry, and built “bright, green, clean, beautiful” barracks so as to improve cadres and soldiers’ material and mental life.

Thanks to practical, effective measures, the Brigade has achieved a positive change in military standard order building and discipline management. For many consecutive years, it has witnessed no serious violation of discipline, while the rate of normal violations has been below 0.2%. The Brigade Party Organisation has been rated pure and strong, and the Brigade has been recognised to be an “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong unit.

Sr. Col. TRAN XUAN CHIEN, Commander of the Brigade