Grasping and executing Directive 855-CT/QUTW, dated 12 August 2019, by the Central Military Commission (CMC) Standing Board on stepping up the Campaign “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers in the new period”, the Party Committee and Command of Division 320, Army Corps 34, have focused their leadership and direction on realising this Campaign, thereby making contributions to building an “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong Division capable of successfully accomplishing all assigned tasks.

Resolve in exercising leadership and direction

Believing that it is a good opportunity to create an incentive for cadres and soldiers to promote the tradition of a Heroic Unit and the virtues of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”, improve their morality and expertise, and successfully fulfil all assigned tasks, the Division’s Party Committee and Command have taken synchronised measures to effectively implement the Campaign “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers in the new period” (hereinafter referred to as the Campaign). The Division has aligned the Campaign with Conclusion 01-KL/TW, dated 18 May 2021, by the 13^th Politburo on stepping up the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, the CMC’s Resolution 847-NQ/QUTW, dated 28 December 2021, on promoting the virtues of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”, resolutely combating individualism in the new situation. The content of those documents have been concretised into goals, targets, central pieces of work, lines, and measures in yearly, quarterly, monthly resolutions and work plans relevant to the Division’s particularities and task requirements.

Bolstering comradeship across the Division

To turn the Campaign into part of all activities of troops, on a yearly basis, all-level political agencies have given directing and guiding documents to offices and units. All-level party committees and commands have adhered to higher echelons’ directives, strengthening education work to raise troops’ awareness of the importance of the Campaign, organising wide and deep political movements in diverse forms. Grounded on the standards and targets of the Campaign in line with the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, the Division’s Party Committee and Command have required all-level party committees and commands to identify targets relevant to the functions and tasks of offices, units, cadres, party members, and the masses and launch emulation movements; cadres, party members, and the masses have been asked to write their commitment to executing the Campaign in a close, uniform manner. In the process, great value has been attached to promoting a sense of responsibility and vanguard, exemplary, creative role among cadres, party members, key leaders, and the masses. At the same time, preliminary and final reviews have been regularly carried out to draw lessons, opportunely supplement measures, and improve the execution of the Campaign.

Effectiveness of the Campaign

First of all, the Campaign has brought about effectiveness in building human factors as a breakthrough in the performance of the Division’s central political tasks.

Accordingly, the Division has considered the building of human factors as a matter of principle and the key to making all-level organisations strong and improving its task performance, with significance attached to building up cadres and soldiers’ political steadfastness and responsibility, morality, lifestyle, and working styles and methods. Following the standards and content of the Campaign as well as their task requirements and particularities, offices and units have well carried out political and ideological education work to heighten troops’ political steadfastness, render troops fully aware of Marxism - Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, the Party’s lines, and the State’s laws and policies, cement troops’ faith in the country’s renewal cause and the path towards socialism, and enable cadres and soldiers to readily undertake and accomplish all assigned tasks. Doing so has contributed to defending the ideological foundation, encouraging cadres and soldiers to overcome difficulties, establishing “filters” to remove negative, backward ideological signs, and forming “immunity” against wrong, hostile viewpoints. While strictly maintaining political education work under regulations, the Division has paid due attention to traditional history education and considered this as the “source” for its cadres and soldiers to keep preserving and improving their political steadfastness, morality, lifestyle, and working style, and devoting their talent and knowledge to building an “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong Division.

Additionally, the Division has taken measures drastically, synchronously to raise the quality of its contingent of cadres under the “seven dares” spirit, in a scientific, democratic, close manner. Consideration has been given to managing, educating, and training cadres, improving political zeal and working methods and styles of cadres at all levels, particularly young cadres and new graduates, heightening role model setting, self-study, and self-improvement among cadres, proactively providing instructions for cadres and soldiers on performing their tasks in tandem with moral development according to Uncle Ho’s example. At the same time, various measures have been adopted to manage troops’ social relationships, grasp and handle ideological developments among cadres and soldiers to achieve a strong consensus within the Division.

Realising the standards of the Campaign, the Division has always made a breakthrough in raising the performance of its central political tasks. In fact, together with the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, the Campaign has become a constant revolutionary action movement for cadres and soldiers to keep dedicating themselves, excellently fulfilling their tasks, and deserving to be “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” in the new period. The spillover effects of the Campaign have been demonstrated via specific activities of cadres and soldiers, such as training work on training grounds, mass mobilisation work, helping the people with hunger eradication, poverty reduction, socio-economic and cultural development, natural disaster prevention and control. All party organisations, commands, and mass organisations have devoted their efforts to accomplishing their political central tasks as evidenced by the Division’s brilliant task performance in all fields, especially in training, combat readiness, regularity building, and discipline management.

With the goal of “good training, high combat readiness, strict discipline, absolute safety”, over the years, the Division’s Party Committee and Command have always seen the raised quality of training and combat readiness as a central, routine task. Offices and units have proactively researched into terrain characteristics and hostile forces’ plots and artifices, designing and supplementing combat readiness documents and projects, seriously organising patrol and guard to protect their targets; as a result, their combat readiness capacity has been raised to meet their task requirements. In the training process, the Division has proactively, closely, effectively taken steps, ranging from preparation to organisation. To meet the requirements of a main mobile unit in the strategic area of Central Highlands, the Division has focused on completing its basic training program, with tactical training as the centre and skill training as the basis, ensuring that its troops would be good at both independent and joint operations. Units of the Division have closely followed and flexibly, effectively applied training viewpoints, principles, and connections, actively renewing their training courses relevant to each speciality and section. Under the motto of “basics, practicality, solidity”, the Division has attached significance to providing synchronous, specialised training, closely aligning theory with practice, taking practice as the main method, organising training courses from easy to complex levels, bringing into play the role of model teams, and increasing practical exercises to improve troops’ practical skills. As a result, on a yearly basis, all training sections have been rated good, with 80% of trainees achieving merit or distinction; the Division’s participation in all-level exercises has been highly appreciated in terms of combat skill, tactics, and safety assurance; cadres and soldiers’ skills and tactics have been improved considerably. Since 2019, many affiliates in charge of training new soldiers from the Division have been given the title of good training unit; the Division has always taken the lead in the emulation movement for training work.

All-level party committees and commands have paid due regard to exercising their leadership and direction over regularity building, discipline management, and safety assurance in a serious, close, focalised manner. All-level party committees and commands have concretised the Campaign’s content into targets of regularity building and discipline management within their offices and units, with a view to rendering cadres and soldiers fully aware of regularity building, discipline management, and safety assurance as a key requirement, encouraging troops’ self-training and self-improvement in daily life. In addition, the Division has well implemented Regulations on grass-roots Democracy, cemented internal unity, and fostered solidarity between the Military and the people. Offices and units have actively, proactively maintained coordination to carry out mass mobilisation work in diverse forms, organising field marches associated with mass mobilisation work, executing the signed mass mobilisation plans/programs, taking part in the emulation movements, namely “the Military joins hands to build new-style rural areas” and “the Military joins hands for the poor - Leaving no one behind” as well as exchange, twinning, volunteer, health care programs, and natural disaster prevention and control, thereby being highly appreciated by local party committees, authorities, and people, making contributions to developing a close-knit bond between the Military and the people and a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds”.

From realities of the Campaign across the Division, many effective, creative models and approaches have been formed and multiplied, such as “VND 100 house”, “moving forward together”, “saving expenses for the future”, and “sharing the love - bolstering comradeship”, thus creating spillover positive effects on troops’ task performance. Cadres and soldiers have always heightened a sense of responsibility for their jobs, remaining unity among themselves, successfully accomplishing all assigned tasks, promoting the tradition of “unity, seriousness, courage, victory” of the Delta Division which has been twice awarded the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces.

Sr. Col. VO SON ANH

Political Commissar of the Division