As a unit mainly staffed by cadres, the Division 7 under the Army Corps 4 is tasked with managing and training the reserve force and readily mobilising this force when necessary. Being fully aware of the importance of this task, over the years, the Division has closely cooperated with localities in registering, managing, inspecting, and re-examining the mobilisation of the reserve force and ensuring sufficient policies and entitlements for reservists under legal documents. In the process, it has actively renewed the training work and raised the reserve force’s synergy and mobilisation capacity. As a result, it has always successfully fulfilled the assigned task; the reserve force in its stationed area has been built in a powerful, qualitative manner and ready to be mobilised for all missions. Via inspections of the reserve force by the Ministry of National Defence and the Army Corps 4, the Division’s task performance has been highly appreciated. When building, managing, and training the reserve force, the Division has drawn several lessons as follows.

1. Concentrate on the work of propagation and education to raise cadres and soldiers’ awareness and responsibility for the building of the reserve force. The Division’s Party Committee and Command have always regarded this work as a measure of top priority to achieving a consensus amongst cadres and soldiers and creating the politico-spiritual strength for their task performance. It should be noted that the Division has been confronted with changes in the number of its cadres as they have believed that they would have no chance for their future development in a unit tasked with managing and training the reserve force. Against that backdrop, the Division has frequently educated its cadres and soldiers on the Party’s guidelines, the State’s law and policy, and higher echelons’ directives and resolutions relating to the building of the reserve force. Emphasis has been placed on the 13th National Party Congress Resolution and the Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.8 (9th and 11th tenure) on the strategy to defend the Homeland in the new situation so as to clarify the role of the reserve force in the military build-up, national defence consolidation, and the Homeland protection. The Division has directed its affiliates to diversify the contents and methods of propagation and education relevant to each group of troops. Due attention has been paid to effectively executing the 12th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW and the Central Military Commission Standing Board’s Directive 87-CT/QUTW on studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, the Campaign entitled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new period, and the Determination to Win Emulation Movement. Besides, the Division has collaborated with local party committees, authorities, and military offices in educating and encouraging the reserve force right at grass-roots levels. Consequently, all cadres and soldiers of the Division and all reservists have always determined to successfully fulfil their assigned task.

Receiving the reserve force for training courses of 2020

2. Proactively cooperate with localities in building and managing reservist resources. There is a fact that the Division is managing and training a large number of reservists in a large area with a lot of changes as many of them are working at industrial zones far from their home. Therefore, on a quarterly basis, the Division has worked with localities to examine and re-examine the mobilisation of reservists, while well implementing policies for this force. Doing so has enabled the Division to grasp changes and closely manage the quantity and quality of reservists. Moreover, the Division has reached an agreement with localities on flexibly arranging reservists with military specialities in a proper way. Via re-examinations and evaluations of reservist officers and frame-B cadres, the Division has recommended localities to dismiss and replace the reservists who had been absent from their residential areas, politically or physically ineligible, or out of the service age. Prior to each mobilisation and training season, the Division has cooperated with local party committees, authorities, and military agencies in encouraging each reservist right in their family and help them overcome difficulties to take part in training courses with a sense of responsibility. At the same time, it has given advice to local military agencies on planning and preparing reservist resources synchronously right in the period of military call-up and the training of reservists to ensure considerable reservist resources with properly military specialities, thereby meeting the requirements set by the building of reservist units under the assigned targets. Up to now, the Division has collaborated with localities in staffing all reservist units under regulations. A contingent of frame-B cadres has been regularly consolidated both quantitatively and qualitatively. The strength of reservist units has always reached the targets with the increasingly improved political quality, while the rate of young non-commissioned officers and soldiers has been raised.

3. Make elaborate preparations and actively renew the contents and methods of training in accordance with each group of troops and each area’s particularities. In preparation for training, the Division has directed its staff offices to develop scientific training plans in line with localities’ production condition and COVID-19 prevention and control. Such plans have been delivered to localities promptly so that they would get prepared. At the same time, great value has been attached to consolidating a pool of cadres in charge of managing and training the reserve force (frame-A cadres); more importantly, the Division has improved those cadres’ professional knowledge, experience, enthusiasm, and responsibility. Affiliates of the Division have organised refresher courses for cadres so that they would be capable of managing and training their units. During such courses, emphasis has been placed on the method of organising training courses and exercises and new points for all cadres, particularly for the new, young ones. The Division has created a favourable condition for cadres’ self-study so that they would improve their pedagogy and social knowledge for training and managing their units. 5 to 7 days before the mobilisation of the reserve force, the Division would organise refresher courses for frame-B cadres on military specialities and troop management. Together with frame-A cadres, they would be able to manage and train detachments under plans. With those efforts and measures, up to now, all frame-A cadres have been able to take charge of the training work at their levels, 70% of frame-B cadres at company and battalion levels have been capable of organising training courses, and basically cadres at platoon and squad levels have well managed and maintained their units’ training.

In order that reservists would be on a par with standing troops, the Division has standardised its training programmes under the motto of “basics, practicality, and thorough grasp” and in a comprehensive, focalised, intensive manner. It has reviewed all training contents and programmes for each group of troops, while proactively adjusting, supplementing, and making them relevant to units’ practical condition and each area’s particularities. As reservists have differences in qualifications, military speciality, age, and fitness, the quality of a training programme for all of them will be limited. Hence, in addition to training all troops, the Division has directed its units to focus on training groups of troops, organising practice and study in overtime, and requiring good persons to help bad ones. Great value has been attached to closely combining theory with practice, with the latter acting as the main one, and organising rehearsals properly. For a short period of training, the Division has directed its affiliates to concentrate on training cadres and technical employees. Importance has been attached to organising command and office exercises and live-firing field exercises, taking part in defensive zone exercises, and inspecting the mobilisation and combat readiness work so as to improve troops’ skills, commanding and tactical capability, and joint combat coordination. After each training part, units have been required to closely hold examinations, objectively, substantively assess the training results, multiply creative, effective approaches, and fight against any sign of subjectivity, laziness, and merit-driven disease in the training process. As a result, the Division has always successfully fulfilled the training task and exercises for the reserve force, and the quality of training has been considerably improved. In 2020, it accomplished all training contents, 100% of its troops passed examinations, 68% of them achieved merit or distinction, and exercises for the reserve force and live-firing exercises by the Division were all well organised with the absolute safety.

4. Closely combine training with military standard order building and discipline management. Right in the beginning of a training season, the Division has stringently maintained regulations on study and military etiquette, while heightening the role model-setting responsibility of cadres in work and daily life. Cadres of the Division have been asked to “eat with, live with, study with, work with, and share with” cadres and soldiers of the reserve force. Doing so has allowed the Division to grasp reservists’ ideological developments, opportunely settle ideological issues, and build a sense of unity within itself. Moreover, the Division has always ensured facilities, environmental hygiene, epidemic prevention and control, medical treatment and care as well as policies and entitlements for the reserve force so that reservists would keep their mind on their work, overcome all difficulties, and successfully fulfil all assigned missions.

Those above-mentioned lessons provide an important foundation for the Division 7 to keep raising the quality of managing and training reservists, building a powerful reserve force with its great synergy, and making contributions to firmly protecting the Homeland.

Sr. Col. MAI CHI KHANH, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the Division