In response to the rapid development of information technology, the Internet, and social networks, cyber warfare operations and technology and information security assurance for military units require highly specialised expertise in all aspects, especially the professional competence of human resources. Recognising this need, over the years, the Party Committee and Command of Centre 386, under Command 86, have consistently focused on developing an elite, specialised cyber warfare force through a range of synchronous, effective solutions.

Firstly, the Centre has regularly prioritised political and ideological education to enhance political willpower and motivation among its personnel. As a newly established unit in the process of stabilising its infrastructures and organisation, its leadership has placed significant emphasis on instilling a proactive mindset to overcome challenges into troops. The Centre has been committed to providing its troops with a deep understanding of the role, position, and functions of the cyber warfare force, emphasising their responsibilities in the new era, turning their perception into specific action during the performance of their tasks.

Centre 368’s Command inspects information technology assurance work performed by one of its affiliates (photo: qdnd.vn)

Given the particularities of the Centre’s tasks, all staff members are required to remain proactive, acute, independent, and creative in addressing various situations, maintain a clear understanding of their duties, possess a solid theoretical foundation, and adhere to key principles for defending the Party’s viewpoints and the State’s laws in cyberspace, ensuring the absolute safety of military information. To that end, the Centre has rigorously implemented directives, resolutions, and guidance of its higher echelons, raising its troops’ awareness of adversaries in cyber operations and their vigilance against hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy in cyberspace. All cadres and employees have been trained to grasp higher echelons’ operational directives, fully understand each unit’s roles, and remain calm and steadfast in dealing with emerging challenges. Simultaneously, the Centre has directed its agencies and units to effectively conduct ideological work and cultivate a sense of pride and dedication to the profession among their members. As a result, although a majority of its cadres and employees are still young, and many of them were trained abroad or recruited from non-military institutions, they have always demonstrated their political steadfastness, ensuring uniformity in their awareness and action, matching their words with action, upholding revolutionary vigilance, remaining active, proactive, and creative in performing their tasks.

To ensure inheritance and solid development, the Centre’ Party Committee and Command have attached special importance to high-calibre personnel planning and development. Accordingly, the Centre has conducted the planning of both experienced cadres and young, dynamic personnel, meeting both immediate and long-term requirements. It has strictly adhered to principles, processes, and regulations in personnel work, ensuring transparency and openness. Each position has been planned with multiple candidates from different age groups, while each individual may be considered for multiple roles.

In line with Resolution 835-NQ/ĐU, dated 4 October 2023, by Command 86’s Party Committee on building an elite, specialised cyber warfare force towards 2030 and beyond, the Centre Party Committee has conducted a thorough review of its manpower, identifying drawbacks and imbalances according to each job title’s task requirements, allowing itself to remain proactive in human resource training and development under annual plans. All-level party committees have conformed to principles of leadership over personnel work in a democratic, transparent, procedural manner. Additionally, agencies and units have comprehensively, closely managed their personnel, ranging from political ideology, morality, lifestyle, professional capacity, health, social relationships, and aspirations to family background, effectively combining cadre management with party member management, organisations’ management, and self-management. This approach has enabled all-level party committees and commands to make accurate assessment of each cadre and employee, providing a solid foundation for personnel planning, placement, promotion, and appointment in accordance with their competence and speciality.

The building of an elite, specialised cyber warfare force requires all personnel to strive for excellence in political willpower, revolutionary ethics, and professional competence. Therefore, the Centre’s Party Committee and Command have always paid attention to training and cultivating human resources to better their expertise and make them stay abreast of new technologies and advancements. Over the years, the Centre has faced a consistent shortfall of about 30% of manpower compared to its authorised strength. To balance the needs for sending its staff for advanced training and maintaining forces for its operations, the Centre has excelled in selecting and deploying an appropriate number of its cadres and employees to institutions both inside and outside the Military for retraining and further education, while well conducting job rotations among its manpower to prevent disruptions in mission execution.

In parallel with that, the Centre has added great weight to organising refresher courses at each level. Annually, based on higher echelons’ directives, operational requirements, along with the quantity and quality of its personnel, party committees and commands at all levels have developed appropriate training programs and plans for different groups. Emphasis has been placed on enhancing professional expertise, advisory and commanding capabilities, cyber warfare tactics, information operations, and IT security. Due regard has been paid to training leadership and management styles, practising projects on dealing with situations, especially for combatants, operational officers, and information security officers, and completely rectifying any weaknesses in individual task performance.

During the training process, the Centre has employed a combined approach of both large-scale and on-the-spot training, emphasising senior staff mentorship, encouraging proactivity and self-improvement among its personnel. Adhering to the principle of “in and out, up and down”, on a yearly basis, the Centre has conducted inspections and evaluations, requiring its higher authorities to classify and recognise the degrees of adept and specialisation of the cyber warfare force as per regulations, ensuring thoroughness, transparency, and openness. Agencies and units have regularly carried out reviews to draw lessons from their training realities and address any shortcomings, ensuring that training would be aligned with their organisational structure, technical capabilities, and task requirements. They have also fostered a culture of self-study and self-improvement, motivating their personnel to take the initiative in enhancing their skills. Additionally, the Centre’s Party Committee and Command have consistently concentrated on training troops through two-side field drills in cooperation with local units, allowing cadres and employees to gain hands-on experience. As a result, the Centre’s cadres and employees have not only possessed excellent professional skills, but also actively, creatively cooperated effectively with other local forces to complete their assigned tasks. To date, all cadres of the Centre have undergone basic and standardised training, with 72.34% holding a bachelor’s degree, 20.22% holding a master’s degree, and 4.25% holding a doctorate. The qualifications of the Centre’s staff members have been increasingly standardised to meet their task requirements.

The Centre has ensured favourable working conditions, facilities, and environments, effectively implementing policy work for its cadres and employees. It has concentrated on building strong organisations and promoting these organisations’ roles in ideological management, education, and orientation as well as in encouraging and helping cadres and employees in their work. Emphasis has been placed on building strong party committees and organisations in terms of politics, ideology, morality, organisation, and personnel as the basis for making agencies and units “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong. Additionally, the Centre has established standards for “Cyber Warfare Soldiers”, together with criteria for “Combatants”, “Operational Officers”, and “Information Security Officers”. The study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle have been stepped up in accord with units’ realities and individual duties. Based on the overall requirements and specific duties of each unit and individual, party committees at all levels have formulated feasible action plans with specific targets for them. Special attention has been given to refining work practices and promoting scientific and efficient working methods. Agencies and units have strictly adhered to military regulations and their own operational rules, particularly regulations on command duty, workplace duty, combat readiness duty, and military network incident response duty. The Centre has also reinforced grass-roots democracy regulations and promoted the Determined to Win Emulation Movement, coupled with other movements and campaigns launched by the Party, State, and Military to create a vibrant emulation atmosphere and encourage continuous self-improvement among all staff members.

To enable its cadres and employees to keep their mind on their work, the Centre has paid due regard to improving their material and spiritual life, creating a supportive environment for their career development. In recent years, thanks to its higher echelons’ investment, the Centre has initiated the construction of a multifunctional training ground, acquiring equipment, tools, and weaponry for specialised training and operational activities of its elite cyber warfare force.

In addition, the Centre has attached significance to creating favourable conditions for its personnel to bring into full play their capacity and forte. The Centre has actively proposed mechanisms and policies to attract and retain high-quality human resources, stimulating advanced training to build a pool of top experts in cyber warfare. Efforts have also been made to help its cadres achieve family stability and gradually address housing needs among its officers, professional service men and women, and technical staff. Doing so has allowed the Centre to significantly improve its troops’ living conditions, promote a democratic work environment, make its cadres and employees keep their mind on their work, prevent the issue of “brain drain”, particularly among high-quality human resources, develop an elite, specialised cyber warfare force, and contribute to successfully fulfilling the task of national sovereignty protection in cyberspace in the new era.

Sr. Col. TRAN VIET HA

Political Commissar of the Centre