Division 316 is the main unit of the Military Region 2 tasked with training, combat readiness and other contingency missions in a large and complex area. Over the past years, the Division has made great efforts to overcome difficulties and accomplish all assigned tasks. Being the vanguard of the Determine to Win emulation movement of the Military Region, the Division has been given many awards by the Ministry of National Defence and the Military Region. Among its achievements, discipline management and practice emerges as a bright spot.

Determination of commanders at all levels

In order to create rapid and stable change in the observance of discipline within the Division in the context of being surrounded by many unfavourable factors which directly affect the discipline management and practice, such as the lack of staff of officers, difficulties in life of some officers and soldiers’ families, impacts of the negative side of the market economy, social evils, and harmful information on cyberspace, the Division’s Party Committee and Commanders determined that improving the quality of discipline management and practice is a focal point that needs to be under both immediate and long-term leadership and direction. The Division’s Party Committee issued a specialised resolution on this task to ensure the unity in leadership and direction. Accordingly, commanders at all levels actively built up plans to strictly, closely direct the implementation of the task. In order to be effective, right from the phases of issuance of resolution and plan building, the Division’s Party Committee and Commanders required party committees and commanders of its agencies and units to correctly evaluate the observance of discipline within their own units so that they could set guidelines and measures to lead and direct this work. When precise guidelines and measures were set, leadership and direction must be focused on education work to raise awareness of the party committees and commanders at all levels, build up determination, change awareness into actions in leadership and direction over discipline management and practice within their own units. Inspection and supervision of officers and party members must be intensified while task performance should be attached to promoting exemplary role of officers and party members, especially the party committee members and key officers at all levels in their discipline observance and their unit’s discipline education, management and practice.

In order to avoid ineffectiveness, the Division determined to focus first and foremost the leadership and direction on discipline management towards young officers and party members, professional soldiers whose families were in difficult circumstances, new recruits, agencies and  units that lacked officers and those stationed independently, etc. to ensure the comprehensive, focalized, consistent, smooth, quick and effective leadership and direction.

Effectiveness from creative methods

The contest on legal propagation, dissemination and education by the Regiment 148

The Division had many proper and creative methods to concretize the above-mentioned determination of leadership and direction, bringing about practical effects. In order to create a firm change in consciousness and behavior of observing the State laws and the military discipline, the Division directed its agencies and units to regularly well perform the tasks of political and ideological education as well as legal and disciplinary dissemination and education with a focus on renewing contents, methods and forms for officers and soldiers. The Division demanded that the contents of dissemination and education must not only equip officers and soldiers with a firm understanding of directives and regulations by superiors, but more importantly clarify the role and significance of the discipline maintenance towards the political task fulfilment of the unit as well, thereby gradually forming and developing the need for disciplinary, responsible life and self-consciousness of discipline observance among cadres and troops. Agencies and units flexibly, diversely applied various forms and measures of dissemination and education in accord with each task and object. In particular, importance was attached to the forms such as: dramatization, knowledge contests, and game shows to “tenderize” the contents of propagation and increase the visibility, making it easy to understand and attracting the participation of soldiers. In order to change results of consciousness into action of self-conscious and strict discipline observance, officers at all levels showed their patience, determination and responsibility towards each soldier, and closely combined mass education with  individual education, education from families and localities with education of units, and “building” with “fighting”. This method was conducted in a persistent and resolute manner. Simultaneously, the following of “good people, good deeds” and progressive examples in disciplinary practice was also encouraged.

Along with that, the Division always actively grasped and well managed the ideological development and social relations of its officers and soldiers via troop information records, ideological surveys in order to take timely measures to solve or prevent acts of disciplinary violation, especially when units received new recruits, soldiers were about to be discharged from the military, and in the post-training periods. At the same time, the Division also grouped soldiers in ideological management and disciplinary practice, and regularly met and encouraged them, thereby, helping its units’ commanders opportunely grasp and completely handle with ideological development of their soldiers, making them keep their mind on their work and unit. Through various forms, the Party committees and commanders at all levels always maintained close contact with soldiers' families to cooperate with them in managing, educating and encouraging soldiers. The Division also took the initiative in closely cooperating with local Party committees and authorities in firmly grasping the situation of localities, actively preventing social evils such as: illegal lottery, gambling, narcotics, usury from penetrating into the unit, and combining the building of secure units with the building of secure areas.

It is showed from reality that timely and proper settlement of disciplinary violations has great impact on disciplinary education and maintenance within a unit. Recognizing the embarrassment of its staff in managing ideology and dealing with disciplinary violation cases, the Division focused on enhancing its officers’ capabilities and methods of management and command at all levels, especially at company level. The Division compiled and disseminated specialised documents and themes such as: “Some experience in managing soldiers’ ideology in grassroots-level units”, “Must-knows about crime and criminal behaviors”, “Some experience in managing and handling with popular disciplinary violations at division level”, “Preventive solutions for usury phenomenon within the Division at present”, etc. These were the guidebooks for the staff of officers at all levels, especially at division level to improve their capabilities of disciplinary management and practice. As a result, when an ideology-related matter or a disciplinary violation case occurred, officers at all levels well implemented the process of ideological settlement and strictly abided by the regulations of punishment, thereby ensuring the educational and deterrent nature.

The above-mentioned creative methods contributed to promoting the effectiveness of education and preventing disciplinary violations. The Division’s observance of discipline changed progressively as evidenced by no serious disciplinary violation case for the past many years.

The fulcrum of the faith of soldiers

It is drawn from experience that the strict and clear discipline is only achieved when democracy is promoted and soldiers are self-conscious, confident, and consider the unit as their home and comrades as their relatives. Therefore, the Party Committee and Commanders of the Division directed its agencies and units to promote the building of a regular, healthy, democratic and united cultural environment, in which the regular building was considered as a norm and criterion in building cultural environment. The contents of regular building and the building of a comprehensively strong unit were attached to improving the quality of the disciplinary management and practice, and creating a favorable military environment for soldiers to strive for good disciplinary observance and practice. The staff of officers promoted their exemplary role in speech and actions, and practised standard working style and daily activities, being really examples and fulcrum of faith for soldiers. At the same time, democracy and close, united comradeship were always upheld. Politico-ideological meetings and democratic dialogues were put in order while the quality of operation of mass organizations was improved. Besides, Party committees and commanders of agencies and units also paid attention to well ensuring soldiers’ material and spiritual life, and enhancing the operation of the system of cultural and democratic institutions, especially at grass-roots level. Many cultural and entertainment activities, such as the Club of propagandizing cultural beauty of the Northwestern ethnic groups, the Club of people’s dancing were effectively organized. Material facilities and physical training and sports equipment were invested for officers and soldiers to improve their health, creating a healthy cultural environment for the soldiers’ daily life and work. As a result, every officer and soldier of the Division felt comfortable and confident in executing the regulations, and no longer regarded the observance of discipline as a constraint and reluctance.

The above-mentioned achievements and experience are the premise for the Division 316 to continue to make positive, firm changes in the work of disciplinary management and practice, contributing to improving its combined quality, combat strength, and deserving the tradition of a Heroic Division.

 Col. Tran Dai Thang, Political Commissar of the Division