The Infantry Division 5 under the Military Region 7 was one of the first main units established on the Southeastern battlefield to meet the requirements set by the war against the U.S. in the fierce period. Over the past 55 years of construction, combat and development, generations of the Division’s cadres and soldiers took part in the battles of Vo Su, Long Tan, Suoi Ram, Loc Ninh, Trang Bang, Ampil, and Sisophon and the Border Campaign in the dry season of 1984-1985 and achieved land-slide victories. In more than a half of a century, tens of thousands of the Division’s cadres and soldiers sacrificed their lives to liberate the nation, unify the country, defend the Homeland, perform the noble international mission, and build up the tradition of “unity, courage, manoeuvre, and self-reliance against all enemies.” With those outstanding achievements, the Division was twice given the title of “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” by the State. The Cambodian State presented it with the Angkor Medal, while the Ministry of National Defence and the Provincial People’s Committee of Tay Ninh gave it many other noble rewards.

In the new period, the Division has always successfully fulfilled its task as a typical example of the Military Region 7. That honour is the result of many factors in which political education aimed at building cadres and soldiers’ political zeal and determination to overcome all difficulties and successfully fulfil all assigned missions plays a core role.

To meet the increasingly demanding task requirements, the Division’s Party Committee has promoted the role of party committees and organisations in leading and effectively carrying out the work of political education. On a yearly basis, grasping higher echelons’ resolutions and directives on political education, particularly the Project on “renewing political education at military units in the new period” by the Ministry of National Defence, the Division’s Party Committee issues a special resolution on political education. Besides, it directs party organisations, offices, and units to develop their resolutions which include specific targets, tasks, requirements, and measures for this work in accordance with their central political task. In this regard, importance has been attached to renewing party committees’ leadership and commissars and commanders’ management, while the responsibility of key cadres for organising, managing and taking part in political education has been raised. Political offices have promoted their role in advising party committees to propose leadership measures, opportunely detect and deal with weaknesses, and ensure that the work of political education would be conducted in a synchronous, uniformed manner. Offices and units have seriously implemented the political education programme, actively inspected and supervised the learning results, organised reviews to draw lessons, and used the results of political education as a criterion for assessing the task performance of individuals and organisations. With its numerous efforts, the Division has made a new, solid positive change in political education.

Cooperating with the Museum of Tay Ninh in conducting the work of propagation

Furthermore, the Division has focused on comprehensively, synchronously renewing the contents, forms and methods of political education. Based on the compulsory political education programme, the Division has reviewed and adjusted the contents of the programme appropriately to reality and each group of troops. Offices and units have proactively prepared documents and lesson plans, combined basic education with introduction of their tradition and task, and conducted the work of propagation relating to major events, seas, islands, new regulations, and current issues both at home and abroad. Moreover, they have supplemented new topics of public concern greatly impacting on the country’s politics and socio-economic development and the armed forces to opportunely orientate their staff members’ awareness and action.

In addition to education and propagation under the regulations set by the General Political Department, the Division has flexibly employed various forms of education in accordance with cadres and soldiers’ task and educational background. Significance has been attached to organising specialised meetings, news briefings, politico-ideological meetings, newspaper reading and radio listening sessions, forums, dialogues and artistic programmes as well as carrying out propagation via the internal radio system. At the same time, offices and units have effectively used the models, such “one political question and answer in the evening,” “one historical story on a weekly basis,” and “cadres and party members help the masses and their inferiors,” while maintaining the force 47’s operations against wrong, hostile viewpoints and evil information on social networks. Doing so has enabled political education to be more attractive to learners. Concerning the methods of political education, offices and units have combined basic education with regular education and task introduction. It should be noted that the Division has institutionalised political education. To be more specific, offices and units have cooperated with local authorities and soldiers’ families in grasping their staff members’ circumstance to adopt methods of education properly. In addition, offices and units have provided political education via training, combat readiness, mass mobilisation, and major campaigns launched by the Party, the State, the Military, and localities, especially the studying and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics and lifestyle in order to improve troops’ knowledge and comradeship, cement the unity between the people and the Military, and spread the image of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers.”

Besides, the Division has attached great value to improving the quality of cadres in charge of political education. Due regard has been paid to consolidating this force both qualitatively and quantitatively and improving their political zeal and competence. Consideration has been given to selecting cadres with comprehensive qualifications, good teaching method, and enthusiasm for political education. Advocating that “offices will train units, superiors will train their inferiors, and weaknesses will be settled,” offices and units have regularly organised refresher courses at each level. All political lectures must be approved by key cadres at all levels. On an annual basis, the Division holds training courses for all political cadres in order to reach an agreement on the contents and methods of political education. On a monthly basis, regimental-level political offices inspect at least one battalion’s political lesson plans. On a quarterly basis, the Division’s Commissar directly attends at least one unit’s political education exam. The Division has also actively organised teaching competitions to improve detachment-level cadres’ knowledge and skills in political education. Offices and units have created a favourable condition for political instructors to broaden their political, economic, legal, cultural, social and scientific knowledge. As they are also managers of units, the Division has required them to regularly improve their qualities, morality and lifestyle and to set good examples for troops to follow. Moreover, they have been asked to grasp troops’ ideological developments and apply their knowledge to deal with ideological issues right at grass-roots level. Up to now, all political instructors at grass-roots level have been expert in designing electronic lesson plans or delivering lectures with projectors, while well performing the task of political education at their level. 80% of them have been rated good or excellent.

Due attention has been paid to building the military standard order, maintaining discipline, constructing a healthy military cultural environment, and improving troops’ material and mental life. In fact, the work of political education becomes effective only in a favourable environment. Thus, offices and units have strictly maintained the military standard order and discipline, while raising their troops’ observance of the State’s law, the Military’s discipline, and their regulations. At the same time, great weight has been added to constructing a healthy military cultural environment, stringently executing the Regulation on Democracy at grass-roots level, maintaining the Political and Spiritual Day and the Legal Study Day, ensuring sufficient policies for staff members and their families. Doing so has given an incentive to the education process, helped train soldiers’ revolutionary morality, and enabled them to keep their mind on their work.

Those impressive achievements in renewing and improving political education have contributed to raising revolutionary soldiers’ qualities, ethics and lifestyle and cementing cadres and soldiers’ absolute faith in the Party, the Homeland, and the people. That has laid a solid foundation for the Division to build a pure, strong Party Organisation, make itself comprehensively strong, “exemplary, and typical,” and enhance its synergy and combat strength to satisfy the requirements set by the Military build-up and the Homeland protection in the new situation.

Sr. Col. PHAM ANH TUAN, MA, Commissar of the Division