Brigade 675 is a cadres-based unit (staffed by cadres mainly) under the Artillery Corps, tasked with building a contingent of artillery cadres and technicians, training the reserve forces, managing weapons and equipment, and maintaining readiness for other tasks. During the process of performing its tasks, in addition to advantages, the Brigade is confronted with numerous difficulties due to its small strength and a large number of weapons and equipment to be managed and maintained. Perceiving that, while carrying out the tasks, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Commanders have focused on making the Unit comprehensively strong, meeting the mission requirements in the new situation.

First, great value has been attached to building the Brigade politically strong as the determinant to its improved synergy and combat power. This element has become more important when the Brigade has been transformed from an active full-strength unit into a cadres-based unit, greatly affecting its cadres and party members’ thought and work motivation. Against this backdrop, the Brigade has enhanced the work of political, ideological education in an effort to build staff members’ political stuff, willpower, determination and responsibility for performing their task. It should be noted that the number of professional servicemen and technicians accounts for over 70% of its staff members. Therefore, grasping the Project on “Renewing the work of political education in units in the new period” by the General Department of Politics, the Brigade has directed its affiliates to actively renew the contents, forms and methods of education in accordance with each group of troops. Due regard has been paid to introducing the task to troops, combining basic education with regular education; traditional education with ideological education; and legal education with practical operations. The Brigade has also supplemented new contents of education according to its mission requirements especially when socio-political events in the world, the country and the local area have taken place. At the same time, it has enhanced the work of grasping and managing troops’ ideology; stringently maintained the Regulations on Grass-Roots Level Democracy; and successfully carried out the work of mass mobilization and policy. As a result, the political, ideological situation within the Brigade is always stable; all cadres and troops of the Brigade have political stuff, being absolutely loyal to the Party’s leadership, keeping their mind on their work, maintaining readiness to undertake and successfully fulfil the assigned task.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Song Hien gives awards to individuals having outstanding achievements in the Determined to Win Emulation Movement for the 2012-2017 period

Besides, the Brigade Party Committee has adopted proper measures to build pure, strong party organizations and comprehensively strong offices and units. Significance has been attached to renewing and improving the quality of party meetings; to seriously maintaining the principle of democratic centralism, collective leadership and individual accountability; to promoting the role of party committees and commanders at all levels in the work of training and managing cadres and party members; and to strengthening the work of inspection and supervision to opportunely detect and prevent violations of discipline. Over the past time, the Brigade Party Committee has stepped up the implementation of the Plan to overcome weaknesses after self-criticism and criticism according to the 12^th Party’s Central Resolution 4 on the Party building and rectification. To that end, the Brigade has asked collectives and individuals to attach importance to the step of “following” and to heighten the “exemplary” role of cadres and party members, particularly key ones. Consequently, in 2017, 100% of its party organizations were assessed as “pure” and “strong”; 87% of its party members successfully fulfilled the tasks; the Brigade’s Party Committee was recognized as a typically pure and strong party organization.

Adhering to the criteria for building a comprehensively strong unit, the Brigade has concentrated on consolidating its organizational structure and actively improving the quality of training and combat readiness. In recent years, as many of its cadres and technicians, particularly key cadres at all levels, have been seconded to other tasks, the Brigade has regularly reviewed, adjusted and consolidated its organizational structure according to the organizational chart set by the Ministry of National Defence and the Corps, with priority given to the units tasked with combat readiness, training the reserve forces, and stationed in key positions.

Grounded on the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW and the Artillery Corps’ Party Committee’s Resolution 395-NQ/ĐUBC on “enhancing the quality of combat training for the period 2013-2020 and beyond”, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have provided combat training courses for its troops in a comprehensive, sufficient manner in which training cadres has been seen as the centrepiece. As for frame-A cadres, it has maintained the order for training courses and weekly, monthly training plans for cadres at all levels, focusing on company and platoon commanders and inexperienced new graduate cadres. Focal points of training have been the methods to organize training courses on specialized arms technique, gun shooting on the model, command – organ exercise on the map, field exercise as well as the methods to draw up lesson plans and hold trial and sample lectures. Concerning frame-B cadres, following the guidelines on setting up an example of self-training in the reserve units for the Ministry of National Defence, the Brigade has directed its offices to closely cooperate with the Military Commands of Dong Anh, Gia Lam, and Soc Son districts in reviewing, assessing and grasping the number of frame-B cadres. On such basis, it has made recommendation to higher echelons about allowing localities to increase the number of reservist officers for training, while actively developing plans and holding combat training courses for cadres from battery to battalion commander and equivalent.

In training detachments, as the duration is short, objects of training is diverse (recce, accountant, surveyor, gunner, driver, etc.), reservists’ knowledge level, health and age are different, the Brigade face numerous difficulties. Against this backdrop, it has directed its affiliates to adhere to the criteria for a “good training artillery unit” to train each type of troops and monitor the results of training. During the process of training, it has closely combined theory with practice, focusing on practising using guns and military hardware and mastering movements of each person and battery as the basis for company-level joint training, while encouraging troops’ extra-curricular practice. Moreover, the Brigade has increased competitions and inspections of training results to assess the training results and task performance of each individual and unit, draw lessons, and overcome weaknesses. Adopting measures actively, synchronously, up to now, 100% of its frame-A cadres have been capable enough to provide training at their level; nearly 90% of its frame-B cadres have been capable enough to provide training at their level.

Fully aware that regularity building and discipline maintenance represent an important element deciding the task performance of a unit, the Brigade’s Party Committee has issued a special resolution on this important work. Accordingly, in addition to the work of propagation and education, the Brigade has enhanced the work of managing cadres at all levels, strictly maintained the order and regulations, and fought against the thought and manifestations of oversimplification of the work of regularity building and discipline maintenance. Being staffed by mainly cadres, the Brigade has requested superiors and cadres to set up examples of improvement of morality and lifestyle and observance of State’s law, Military regulations, and Unit’s regulations for inferiors to follow. To prevent social evils from penetrating into the Brigade, it has closely managed cadres’ ID cards of all types while promoting the role of the guard detachment and competent offices in maintaining and correcting troops’ manners and observance of regulations on traffic safety.

Despites of higher echelons’ limited budget for the Brigade, it has taken various measures to bring into play a sense of self-reliance to successfully carry out the work of technical and logistics support. Its units have stringently maintained the order for technical maintenance and support on a daily, weekly, monthly basis while stepping up the implementation of the Campaign “Managing and exploiting weapons and technical equipment effectively, durably, safely, economically, and Traffic Safety”. As a result, the technical coefficient of weapons and equipment has always maintained. In 2017, the Brigade synchronized and handed over 16 gun tractors and guns to friendly units; successfully hosted the Training Conference on Artillery Technical Work, which was highly appreciated by the Corps. Besides, due attention has been paid to improving cadres and troops’ material and spiritual life, repairing and building “bright, green, clean, scenic” camps and healthy, diverse cultural environment. In 2017, the Brigade was honourably given the Flag of Top Unit in the Determined to Win Emulation Movement. The initial results mentioned above will be the basis for the Artillery Brigade 675 to continue to build comprehensively strong Unit, readily undertake and successfully fulfil every assigned task, deserving the tradition of a twice-awarded Heroic Unit.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Song Hien, Political Commissar of the Brigade