President Ho Chi Minh ever said that “supply is as important as direct fighting against enemies on the front; only when being sufficiently provided with weapons and food could troops win victories.” Those words have always been remembered by generations of cadres, employees and soldiers within the General Department of Logistics (GDL) as an incentive for their successful fulfillment of all assigned tasks.

Being imbued with Uncle Ho’s teachings, over the past 70 years of construction, combat and development, generations of cadres, employees and soldiers within the Military Logistics Branch (MLB) have sacrificed their blood and life to ensure logistics support for the Military’s combat and victories in the wars for national liberation and today’s national construction and protection. They have made contributions to building up the tradition of “remaining self-reliant, overcoming difficulties, heartily serving troops, being industrious, thrifty, upright, honest, and public-spirited, leading a pure, healthy lifestyle, unceasingly studying to improve and master professional and scientific knowledge, maintaining a close-knit bond with the people, and promoting the people’s strength in the logistics work.” With those achievements, the MLB was given the Gold Star Order (2004), the Order of Ho Chi Minh (1979 and 1985), the First-Class Fatherland Protection Order (2019, and the First-Class Independence Order (2000) by the State.

Leader of the GDL inspecting the Division 5’s logistics materials for combat readiness (photo: qdnd.vn)

At present, the task of building a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern Vietnam People’s Army, with several forces moving forward to modernity and the Homeland defence are imposing more demanding requirements on the MLB. To complete the assigned task, the GDL’s Party Committee and Command have decided to synchronously adopt measures for leadership and direction, with the following of Uncle Ho’s teachings and the heightening of self-reliance, proactiveness, and creativity as a solution of central importance. Under that spirit, cadres, employees and soldiers of the MLB have followed Uncle Ho’s teachings on a daily basis with their specific, practical deeds and great determination, thereby contributing to ensuring logistics support for the entire Military.

First of all, the GDL’s Party Committee and Command have directed offices and units to enhance the work of propagation and education aimed at raising logistics cadres, employees and soldiers’ awareness, responsibility, and service spirit. This work has been carried out comprehensively but centred on clarifying the importance of logistics support to the whole Military’s task fulfillment, introducing the goal and requirements of logistics support in the new situation, and especially maintaining logistics cadres, employees and soldiers’ “diligence, thrift, honesty, and integrity.” Besides, the GDL’s Party Committee and Command have required offices and units to actively renew form and method of propagation and education, combine basic education with regular education, introduce the MLB’s task and educate troops on the MLB’s tradition. Due attention has been paid to managing and maintaining discipline and encouraging cadres and party members’ role model-setting responsibility in their task. At the same time, offices and units within the GDL have effectively, seriously executed the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW and the Emulation Movement entitled “the MLB follows Uncle Ho’s teachings” via specific deeds according to their duties and assigned tasks. Significance has been attached to propagating and disseminating valuable experience and typical examples in logistics support at offices and units within the Military. Doing so has enabled offices and units to make a positive, solid, comprehensive change in logistics cadres, employees and soldiers’ awareness and responsibility and build up their staff members’ political zeal, service attitude, determination, proactiveness, creativity and self-reliance in the assigned tasks.

It should be noted that units within the GDL have brought into fullest play their internal resources to ensure regular logistics support and improve troops’ life. They have proactively prepared sources of food, effectively maintained crop and animal husbandry and food processing to provide food on the spot for messes, better raised the quality of meals and ensured nutrition under the regulations. Due regard has been paid to the work of military medicine and it has achieved and even exceeded the targets, particularly the rate of healthy soldiers within the entire Military. Significance has been attached to preventing and fighting against epidemics, ensuring food hygiene and safety, well executing the programmes and targets set by the Barracks Sector, preparing and sufficiently providing petroleum for missions in all situations, and adjusting disposition to create a breakthrough in capacity of fuel. Transportation units at all levels have effectively exploited the existing vehicles and accomplished plans for transportation, especially transportation of new recruits, petroleum, ammunition and weapons.

The MLB’s military diplomacy work has been carried out closely under the Party and State’s foreign policy. Notably, the military medical force taking part at the UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan has been highly appreciated by the international community. Against the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the MLB has taken various measures effectively and prevented the disease from spreading within the Military. It has recommended the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence to give advice to the Government on adopting drastic measures and cooperated with the national system of centres for disease control and prevention in pushing back and preventing the COVID-19 from spreading across the country, which has been acknowledged and highly appreciated by the Party, the Government and the people.

With the requirements set by the building of a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern People’s Army in the conditions of market economy, a series of questions have been raised for the MLB, such as how collective finance and materials could serve the intended purpose, how to ensure sufficient policies and entitlements for soldiers, or what logistics cadres and soldiers should do amidst the Military’s difficulties. However, there is only one answer to those questions, which is to grasp and exercise “diligence, thrift, honesty and integrity,” to fight against all signs of corruption and wastefulness, and to build good service attitude. Logistics cadres must really care about and improve troops’ material and mental life as instructed by Uncle Ho that “supply cadres must be like mothers and sisters of privates.” To that end, it is necessary to build a contingent of “both red and expert” logistics cadres with political zeal and pure morality. Hence, the GDL’s Party Committee and Command have focused their leadership on training and enhancing logistics cadres’ qualities of “diligence, thrift, honesty, integrity, and public spirit.” Logistics cadres and soldiers have always been imbued with Uncle Ho’s teachings that “each logistics cadre in particular and the GDL in general must take responsibility before the people, the Party and the Government. The people are providing finance and materials for the Government so that you could deliver to troops… In order to fulfil the task, logistics cadres must surmount all difficulties to ensure troops’ food, weapons and fitness. Do not waste and embezzle any penny, bowl of rice or working day that the people have donated to troops.” As a result, logistics cadres and soldiers across the Military have been fully aware of their responsibility, devoted themselves to serving troops, and considered this as part of their study and following of Uncle Ho’s teachings, thereby greatly contributing to bolstering the MLB’s tradition.

Great value has attached to building and making the MLB comprehensively strong and capable of meeting the task requirements in both long and short terms. Implementing the project on adjusting the Military’s organisational structure, the GDL’s Party Committee and Command have directed logistics offices and units at all levels to streamline their structure and system of weapons and equipment under the Central Military Commission’s directives and the regulations by the Ministry of National Defence. A focus has been placed on leadership over the ideological work during the streamlining of units’ organisational structure. The GDL has directed its affiliates to opportunely deal with weaknesses in command and management as well as the imbalance and shortage of manpower. They have also been asked to well conduct the planning and training of logistics cadres, particularly in several specialities and at grass-roots level. The GDL has advised the Ministry of National Defence on gradually modernising logistics equipment and means, particularly for petroleum and transportation so as to satisfy the task requirements in the new situation. In addition, it has actively renewed training programmes, with emphasis placed on improving logistics cadres’ capabilities in the command and staff work and enhancing logistics forces’ manoeuvrability and logistics capacity according to combat projects and situations in a hi-tech war. Schools, institutes and competent offices within the GDL have actively studied and developed logistics theories, while applying science and technology to executing projects and solutions to respond to climate change in the logistics work to meet the requirements set by the Military build-up, national defence consolidation, and Homeland protection in the new situation.

Promoting the obtained results, the GDL’s Party Committee and Command would continue to strengthen their leadership and direction over the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics and lifestyle and encourage the synergy of forces to ensure logistics support for the military-defence task.

Maj. Gen. DO VAN THIEN, Commissar of the GDL