The Flight Division 372 under the Air Defence - Air Force Service is tasked with conducting combat training, with a focus on flight training and flight safety assurance, and cooperating with other forces in firmly protecting the airspace and the sea, island and border areas in the Central and Central Highlands regions. Thoroughly understanding the mission requirements, over the past years, the Division’s Party Committee and commanders have concentrated on promoting the synergy of all organizations and forces, overcoming difficulties, improving the quality of combat readiness, flight training and flight safety assurance, and successfully fulfilling all assigned tasks.

The Division’s pilots after a training flight

To meet the requirements set by the improvement in the overall quality, flight skills and combat readiness, the work of training and flight safety assurance has been seen as the main and regular political mission of the leaders and commanders at all levels as well as of all officers and soldiers of the Division. Along with combat readiness and flight training, the Division also undertakes combat flight training for cadets of the Air Force Officer College. As the Division is equipped with modern aircraft, the requirements for flight training and flight safety assurance are very high and strict. Hence, the Party Committee Standing Board and commanders of the Division have focused on raising the awareness and responsibility of officers and soldiers towards the flight safety measures. Attention has been paid to thoroughly grasping and strictly maintaining the regulations, work procedures and curricula for flight training and flight safety assurance as well as training flight commanders, flight instructors, and air combat tactics at sea and on land, in complicated day-time and night-time weather conditions.

Thoroughly understanding the tasks, characteristics of weapons, technical equipment, and qualifications of each pilot, the Division has placed emphasis on making annual, quarterly, monthly and daily fight plans in a detailed, reasonable, scientific manner, for different meteorological conditions. At the same time, importance has been attached to seriously maintaining the disciplines and intensifying inspection of pilots, officers, and technicians’ management, exploitation and mastery of aircraft, weapons, and available technical equipment. Units within the Division have been ordered to strictly maintain the disciplines, 3 flight stages, 4 technical assurance stages, the party and political work in each flight phase, and particularly the regulations on pilots and flight crews’ aviation physical training and ration. The Division’s Party Committee has clearly assigned responsibilities to each member and directed agencies and units to successfully implement the guidelines on "renewing working style, improving training quality, upholding discipline, setting good examples, ensuring safe, and determining to win.”

In addition to enhancing the quality of flight training, attention has been paid to minimizing factors that could endanger flight safety, attaching the improved training quality to the prevention of flight accidents, strictly implementing the preventive measures, striving to avoid accidents, and successfully handling any unexpected incidents. Therefore, since 2016, the Division has been evaluated as a typical unit in flight safety assurance by the Service’s Party Committee Standing Board and Command. It is worth noting that with the achievement in maintaining flight safety for the last 20 years, the Regiment 929 was awarded the Emulation Flag of "Unit with the assurance of flight safety" by the Service.

At present, the Service and the Division are being modernized with the high comprehensive quality and great combat strength so that they could play the core role on the air-to-air front in the people’s war to protect the Fatherland. Therefore, the Division attaches special importance to improving the training quality, ensuring flight safety, and maintaining readiness to undertake and successfully fulfill all missions. To that end, in the time to come, the Division will well implement several basic measures as follows.

Firstly, raising the awareness and responsibility of officers and soldiers towards the position, role and importance of flight training and flight safety assurance. Importance will be attached to regularly educating cadres and soldiers on the role, position, and importance of improving training quality and ensuring flight safety to make contributions to the building of a politically strong Division and Service as well as introducing higher echelons’ directives and orders on flight training and flight safety assurance to all officers and soldiers as the basis for improving the overall quality and combat strength of the Division. Accordingly, emphasis will be placed on providing political and ideological education for officers and soldiers, raising their knowledge of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh's ideology, the Party's guidelines, the State's policies and laws as well as the flight and flight safety regulations, introducing the Division's tasks in each period to them, incessantly upholding the spirit of revolutionary vigilance, and heightening their responsibility for combat readiness to firmly defend the Fatherland’s airspace, seas and territory.

Secondly, implementing and following the work process and flight training curriculum in accordance with higher echelons’ instructions and regulations. Grounded on the real situation, party committees at all levels will plan special leadership resolutions in accordance with each stage of flight training and flight safety assurance, while focusing on improving the skills and capabilities of flight commanders and instructors. Commanders at all levels are required to quarterly and monthly build their units’ flight training and flight safety assurance plans, consistent with the flight charter and the flight safety charter, the fighting tactics, each pilot's capabilities, the situation, and the provision of modern aircraft, weapons, and technical equipment, ensuring sufficient flight time and absolute flight safety. In the training process, the units shall regularly uphold and follow the viewpoints on regarding flight training as the focal point, staff training as the key, the training of flight components and command as an important factor, with greater importance attached to synchronous and intensive training relevant to the combat situations, plans, and objects as well as their functions, tasks and operational areas. Consideration should be given to organizing seminars for commentary and opportunely, seriously drawing lessons after each flight and flight week. At the same time, attention should be paid to directing the pilots and technical staff to develop their own study plan to enhance their skills and capacity to manage, exploit and master aircraft, weapons, and technical equipment.

Thirdly, improving the skills of pilots and flight components. The flight squadrons and agencies are required to regularly renew the training content and methods and focus on improving their cadres’ flight techniques, navigation skills and combat tactics as well as involving them in exercises to protect the assigned targets. Different flight lessons, such as day-time, night-time, and sea flights will be applied in accordance with the flight training documents, with priority given to enhancing cadres’ capacity to manage unexpected situations. Significance will be attached to maintaining a combat force in readiness to respond to any contingency.

Besides, importance will be attached to strictly maintaining the order for inspections. In this regard, squadron commanders shall inspect their pilots, flight commanders shall inspect squadron commanders, and regiment commanders shall inspect crews and flight instructors. Pilots are asked to be active in learning and thoroughly understanding the content and characteristics of each flight lesson, possible situations and countermeasures as well as making elaborate preparations for their flights. For young pilots, there will be plans to help them to improve their flight skills. More specifically, experienced pilots are assigned to fly with and train young ones. Experienced and young pilots will “eat, live, and fly with one another.” It is vital to ensure that after a certain period of training, these young pilots will have significant progress and get excellent marks, and then they are allowed to fly by themselves and practise other flight tactics.

Fourthly, ensuring technical support for both in the air and on the ground. Acknowledging the fact that aircraft, weapons and technical equipment have been degraded, commanders of the Division and its units will pay due regard to carrying out the inspection work and preparing aircraft, communications systems, navigation equipment and radars. Consideration will be given to assessing the flying mission and the quality of the aviation equipment to make preparations and enhance the inspection work at all levels, with a view to promptly detecting and fixing failures of aviation equipment, making sure that there will be no technical failure before each flight and the reliability of technical specifications for weapons, technical equipment, and especially aircraft will be maintained.

Following the motto: "All victories in the air derived from the ground," units at all levels are requested to grasp the flight qualifications and capability improvement of each pilot and master the technical work to develop detailed and relevant training plans and run flying schedules scientifically, flexibly, calmly, and professionally. It is important that they should not be subjective, impatient, or forced in taking flight. Meanwhile, they have to prepare options, anticipate possible situations, and assist the pilots in successfully handling incidents during flight. To that end, the Division will maintain closely cooperation with higher echelons and the Regional Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting so as to firmly understand the weather condition as the basis for planning reasonable and safe flights. At the same time, it will carry out close inspection and opportunely fix all errors of the communications equipment and the light system, including the backup ones to serve the purpose of night-time training.

Fifthly, well implementing the remuneration policies to ensure troops’ material and spiritual life. The remuneration policies for pilots and service forces in flight units have profound effects on the thinking and emotion of pilots and act as an important motivation for them to successfully fulfill all assigned tasks. Being aware of that, the Division will place emphasis on ensuring material and spiritual life of its officers, soldiers, and employees. Doing so will provide a solid foundation for the work of education and training to improve good qualities and task performance of its personnel, help promote their activeness and self-awareness and enable them to be more responsible for their work.

Amidst the higher requirements set by the defence of the Fatherland, officers and soldiers of the Flight Division 372 will maintain a sense of unity and devote efforts to overcoming difficulties, fulfilling the task of training and flight safety assurance, and contributing to improving the Division’s comprehensive quality and fighting strength, firmly protecting the airspace and the sea, island and border areas of the Central Coast and Central Highlands in any situation.

Sr. Col. Vu Hong Son, Commander of the Division