Being imbued with Uncle Ho’s teachings: “Emulation is patriotic, those who are patriotic must emulate”, the provincial armed forces of Ben Tre have been implementing “New General Uprising” Emulation Movement, contributing to building pure, strong party organisations and “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong offices and units.

As the banner-bearer in the national history of revolutionary struggle, the General Uprising Movement of 1960, conducted by troops and citizens of Ben Tre province, held a position of symbolic importance to the resistance war against US imperialists for national salvation. With the victories of the General Uprising Movement and the 1968 Tết General Offensive, Ben Tre was honoured with the title “Heroic in uprising, winning against the US, defeating the puppet regime”. With a view to promoting the tradition and spirit of “General Uprising”, arousing patriotism, unity, and aspirations for self-improvement and creativity in work, production, and combat among all cadres, party members, soldiers, and citizens, for the sake of the province’s rapid, sustainable development, the Provincial Party Committee Standing Board (2020 - 2025 tenure) has issued Directive 01-CT/TU on launching the “New General Uprising” Emulation Movement in the period of 2020 - 2025, with a vision towards 2030 under the motto of “two cornerstones - three spearheads”.

Program to build “Houses of Great Unity” co-organised by the Provincial Military Command and the Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank

Accordingly, the provincial armed forces have focused on concretising and strictly executing the Movement with targets relevant to the tasks of each office and unit. In the process, the Movement has been closely linked with the Determined to Win Emulation Movement under the theme “United, exemplary, disciplined, creative, determined to win”, the 13^th Politburo’s Conclusion 01-KL/TW dated 18 May 2021 on continuing to implement the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW on the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, as well as the Campaign on “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers in the new era”. Emphasis has been placed on studying and following Uncle Ho’s teachings in each aspect of work to build up motivation, resolve, and consensus among cadres, party members, and soldiers and encourage them to overcome all difficulties and successfully fulfil the Resolution of the Provincial Military Party Congress for the 2020 - 2025 tenure. Alongside “two cornerstones”, the Provincial Military Party Committee (PMPC) and the Provincial Military Command (PMC) have directed offices and units to make a breakthrough in realising “three spearheads” as follows.

1. Raising the quality of training. To that end, the PMPC has directed offices and units to thoroughly study Uncle Ho’ teachings: “it is necessary to strive to improve tactical, technical knowledge and step up ideological and political training”; simultaneously, offices and units have been required to grasp higher echelons’ resolutions, directives, and plans on training work, particularly the Military and Defence Work Order by Military Region 9’s Commander and yearly directives on local military - defence work by the Provincial People’s Committee via conferences to introduce resolutions and tasks and refresher training courses for cadres. Grounded on those documents, all-level party committees have issued their specialised resolutions on combat training work, with measures of comprehensive but focalised leadership and specific objectives and targets; importance has been attached to completely settling weaknesses in this work. Prior to each training season, the PMC has required offices and units to focus on raising the quality of a contingent of cadres in charge of training work, renewing the content and methods of cadre training, strictly, effectively maintaining regulations on approval of lesson plans at all levels, and carefully preparing training grounds, models, and equipment. In the training process, offices and units have adhered to the motto of “basics, practicality, solidity” for the regular force and the motto of “basics, practicality, quality” for the militia and self-defence force; due attention has been paid to stepping up a reform in the content, forms, and methods of training in accordance with each target group, each area’s particularities, and tasks of offices and units, particularly those in charge of combat readiness. As a result, the quality of training has been increasingly raised with absolute safety, thereby contributing to enhancing the provincial armed forces’ synergy and combat power.

Cadres and soldiers of the provincial armed forces help the people with rural road construction

2. Regularity building, discipline management, and safety assurance. Being imbued with Uncle Ho’s teachings: “The Army attributes its strength to decent education, effective policies, and strict discipline”, offices and units have grasped and seriously executed directives and resolutions by higher echelons and the PMPC on regularity building, discipline management, and safety assurance. In the process, the province has strictly ensured the political quality of its military staff and closely managed troops’ social relationships, with significance attached to sections stationed and working in independent or complex environments as well as those prone to commit violation of law, discipline, or safety regulations. Offices and units have proactively, flexibly employed and combined methods and forms of political education with legal education, regularity building, and discipline management. At the same time, they have stringently maintained the “Legal Study Day” and other models, such as “one legal question every day” and “learning one article of law on a weekly basis”. They have promoted the roles of youth unions, women’s unions, and soldiers’ councils in regularity building and discipline management, while directing activities of those organisations towards this work. Notably, the PMC has directed offices and units to integrate regularity building, discipline management, and safety assurance into the execution of emulation movements and campaigns launched by sectors. Offices and units have been required to give top priority to ensuring safety, particularly during training, exercises, and participation in traffic. Significance has been attached to grasping safety regulations and procedures, stepping up Campaign 50, and strictly maintaining the prohibition of drinking alcohol during operation of vehicles. As a result, a huge positive change in troops’ law-abiding awareness and action has been made; the rate of normal disciplinary violations has been below 0.3%; all offices and units have guaranteed absolute safety.

3. Raising competence, responsibility, and exemplary role of all-level cadres, especially the key ones. This is one of the three breakthroughs of utmost importance to realising the “New General Uprising” Movement. Hence, party committees, cadres, party members, and particularly key cadres have actively studied and followed Uncle Ho’s teachings: “A living example is worth more than a hundred propaganda speeches”. The PMPC has required the entire armed forces to continue to stringently implement Regulation 376-QĐ/ĐU dated 30 July 2012 by Military Region 9’s Party Committee Standing Board and Regulation 31-QĐ/TU dated 5 January 2019 by the Provincial Party Committee Standing Board on “example-setting responsibility of cadres and party members, particularly members of all-level party committees” as well as to follow the motto of “taking good, positive things against bad, negative ones” as a contribution to enhancing party organisations’ leadership capacity and combativeness. In the process, due attention has been paid to encouraging “enthusiasm, responsibility, and dedication” among cadres and party members and taking the outcome of example setting as an important criterion for annual task performance evaluation of each cadre and party member. At the same time, all-level party committees have required all cadres and party members to write self-improvement commitments in accordance with their tasks, while enhancing inspection and supervision work to prevent manifestations of degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle as well as  signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”, resolutely, strictly handling violations in this regard. As a result, heads of offices and units at all levels have displayed their exemplary role, political steadfastness, and pure lifestyle, upholding a sense of responsibility, democratic centralism, proactiveness, and creativity in all work, maintaining unity and discipline, actively taking part in building party organisations, authorities, and mass organisations, contributing to building an increasingly pure, strong Provincial Military Party Organisation and “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong offices and units capable of successfully accomplishing all assigned tasks.

After 3 years of execution of the “New General Uprising” Movement within the provincial armed forces of Ben Tre, 2 collectives and 26 individuals were recognised as typical examples; the PMC was given the Flag for the Unit Leading the Determined to Win Emulation Movement in 4 consecutive years (2019 - 2022) by the Ministry of National Defence. Those achievements will lay a solid foundation for cadres and soldiers of the provincial armed forces to keep studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle in tandem with the “New General Uprising” Movement, under the “United, Exemplary, Disciplined, Creative, Determined to Win” spirit, surmounting all hardships, heightening self-reliance, and devoting their efforts and knowledge to making the provincial armed forces of Ben Tre comprehensively strong and capable of successfully fulfilling all assigned tasks.

Sr. Col. LE VAN HUNG

Political Commissar of the PMC