Fully aware of the position and role of the militia and self-defence forces in its military and defence work, over the past years, Binh Duong province has set store by building strong, extensive militia and self-defence forces.

Binh Duong is one of the flagship provinces in the Southeast key economic zone of Vietnam. The province has 28 industrial zones and 11 industrial clusters with nearly 900,000 workers from all over the country. It also takes the lead in the cause of national industrialization and modernization. In its economic structure, industry accounts for 60% of its GDP, services account for 37.3%, and agriculture accounts for 2.7%. In recent years, as urbanization and industrialization have taken place rapidly, security situation and social order and safety have witnessed complex developments. Besides, hostile forces have been enhancing their distortion and acts of sabotage via the “peaceful evolution” strategy and conversion while inciting the masses to join strikes to destabilize political security in the area and obstruct the province’s investment attraction and economic development. Against this backdrop, the Provincial Military Command (PMC) has advised the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee on adopting measures synchronously to successfully perform the province’s defence and military work, contributing to its rapid, sustainable economic development. One of the most important measures is to build strong, extensive militia and self-defence forces.

First, the province has encouraged the work of propagation and education to raise the militia and self-defence forces’ awareness and responsibility towards the Homeland protection. This is a matter of utmost importance as only by raising awareness and responsibility could operations be directed correctly, effectively. Perceiving that, over the past years, offices, committees and sectors have closely cooperated with the PMC in enhancing the work of propagation and education among the militia and self-defence forces. Focuses of this work have been placed on the Party’s military and defence line, basic points in the Law on the militia and self-defence forces (the Law), Vietnam’s military arts and tradition as well as the position and role of the militia and self-defence forces in developing economy, strengthening national defence, and maintaining political security and social order at grass-roots level.

Moreover, the province has ordered localities and units to actively renew the forms and methods of propagation and education in accordance with each group of objects and attach importance to the self-defence forces operating in industrial zones and vulnerable areas. Due regard has been paid to selecting cadres with sufficient virtues and capabilities to build a contingent of teachers in charge of political and ideological education among the militia and self-defence forces. At the same time, propagation and education has been closely combined with the work of fighting against wrong, hostile viewpoints, distortions and signs of degradation in political ideology, morality and lifestyle. Up to now, most of the cadres and soldiers in the province’s militia and self-defence forces have been fully aware of the task requirements and their responsibility, and active in self-improvement to play the core role in performing the military and defence work at grass-roots level.

To achieve a sense of unity in the building of the militia and self-defence forces, the province has advocated strengthening the leadership of party committees and the management of authorities at all levels towards this work. This acts as a principle and requirement of routine and urgency as well as a determinant to the quality and effectiveness of the military and defence work in general, the building of the militia and self-defence forces in particular. Thus, the province has directed party committees and authorities at all levels to grasp higher echelons’ directives, resolutions and guiding documents, with a focus on the Military Region 7’s High Command’s Project 1616/ĐA-BTL to build the militia and self-defence forces in the 2011-2015 period. To do so, the PMC has counselled the Provincial Party Committee to issue the resolution 203-NQ/TU, the Provincial People’s Committee to promulgate the Decision 945/QĐ-UBND on the Project to build the militia and self-defence forces in the 2011-2015 period and the Plan 4969/KH-UBND on continuing to build the militia and self-defence forces in the 2016-2020 period, thereby creating a considerable change in building the militia and self-defence forces.

To promote the leadership of grass-roots level party organizations, the Provincial Military Party Committee has directed party committees at all levels to enhance the work of recruiting new party members as the basis to build strong military party committees and cells in military commands. In this regard, priority has been given to establishing party teams in mobile militia and self-defence platoons and recruiting new party members in regular and arms militia and self-defence squads. In recent years, the province has attached special importance to the work of recruiting new party members in enterprises from industrial zones, particularly foreign ones. Also, it has gradually improved the authority’s capabilities in leadership, management and operation and promoted the role of military offices at all levels in the tasks related to the militia and self-defence forces, such as force organization, training, operation, policies and entitlements. At the same time, it has strictly conducted reviews to draw lessons and consolidated the system of offices that direct the militia and self-defence forces with emphasis placed on promoting the role of militia and self-defence commands and cadres in charge of military work at grass-roots level in recommending measures for leading and directing this work to party committees and authorities, thereby contributing to enhancing the quality and effectiveness of managing and operating the militia and self-defence forces.

Besides, the province has directed localities and units to review and dispose the militia and self-defence forces properly, to improve the quality of training and exercises, and to both build the core militia and self-defence forces and develop the forces extensively. To do so, the province has demanded that localities and units should rely on each area’s particularities to consolidate the organizational structure of each type of the militia and self-defence forces to make the forces “compact and strong” in accordance with the Law and reality. Priority has been given to ensuring quantity and quality of the militia and self-defence forces in the key area of defence and security, industrial zones and foreign-invested enterprises. In recent years, significance has been attached to building the regular militia and self-defence forces in the industrial zones, such as VSIP I (Thuan An town), VSIP II (Thu Dau Mot city), Song Than 1 and 2 (Di An town), and My Phuoc 1 (Ben Cat town). Most notably, the province has succeeded in building the self-defence forces in foreign enterprises which have initially operated effectively.

In addition to consolidating the organizational structure of the militia and self-defence forces, the province has directed localities and units to renew and enhance the quality of training and exercises among the forces. During the process of training, it has required localities and units to adhere to the motto of “basics, practicality, quality”, to closely combine military training with political and legal education, and to align cadre training with troop and detachment training. Focuses of training have been put on combat skills of infantry force and arms, tactical formation from personal to company level, on-the-spot combat projects, coordination with other forces in conducting patrols, dealing with the A2 situations, and maintaining security and order, skills in natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue as well as mass mobilization work.

It should be noted that the province has closely combined basic training with application of training to each area’s conditions. At the same time, it has aligned training with combat exercises on security maintenance and search and rescue while dispatching the militia and self-defence forces, particularly the arms militia and self-defence forces to join the defensive zone exercises at all levels. The militia and self-defence forces have closely cooperated with the Military, Public Security, Fire Fighting Police, Forest Ranger according to the Decrees 77/2010/NĐ-CP and 133/NĐ-CP in holding patrols, maintaining security and order, particularly in industrial zones; actively taken part in natural disaster, fire, explosion and forest fire prevention and mitigation, and search and rescue; persuaded the masses to follow the Party’s guidelines, the State’s law and policy, and local regulations; and participated in building cultural lifestyle, new-style rural area, and strong political bases. As a result, the synergy and task performance of the militia and self-defence forces have increasingly improved; the results of annual training by the militia and self-defence forces have been always good.

Those achievements in building the militia and self-defence forces have greatly contributed to maintaining political security and social order and safety, strengthening national defence and security, providing the basis for Binh Duong province to successfully fulfil the military and defence missions and sustain its socio-economic development.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Hoang Minh, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the PMC