Following Uncle Ho’s teachings: “Emulation is patriotic, those who are patriotic must emulate”, the Military Party Committee and Command of Ho Chi Minh City have frequently exercised their leadership and direction over the implementation of the Determined to Win Emulation Movement to create an incentive for each office, unit, and individual to proactively overcome difficulties and successfully fulfil all tasks.

Giving encouragement to newly conscripted soldiers

Grasping and seriously effectively implementing resolutions and directives by the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the Ministry of National Defence (MND), guiding documents by the General Department of Politics, directives by Military Region 7 as well as directives and resolutions by Ho Chi Minh Municipal Party Committee and People’s Committee on renewing and stepping up the Patriotic Emulation Movement and the Determined to Win Emulation Movement, the Municipal Military Party Committee Standing Board has issued a resolution, the Municipal Command has released a directive, and the Political Bureau has developed a plan on directing offices and units within the municipal armed forces (MAF) to enhance the Determined to Win Emulation Movement, aimed at successfully fulfilling military-defence tasks in line with socio-economic development. Grounded on those documents, offices and units have proactively formulated their own resolutions and action plans in each quarter and month with the objectives of emulation appropriate to their particularities. All-level emulation councils within the MAF have been consolidated both qualitatively and quantitatively under their operating regulations. The content of emulation has been closely associated with major political events of the country and localities, major campaigns within the entire Party, Army, and people, and offices and units’ political tasks. Thus, the Determined to Win Emulation Movement by the MAF has been unceasingly renewed and developed, with new, effective models and approaches, such as “building exemplarily, typically comprehensively strong units”, “reaching three peaks of Determination to Win”, “military logistics branch follows Uncle Ho’s teachings”, “military youth improve morality, develop talent, remain pioneering, creative, and determined to win” as well as the Campaign “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers in the new era” as a great spiritual motivation for collectives and individuals to surmount difficulties and successfully fulfil all assigned tasks.

It should be noted that the MAF’ Determined to Win Emulation Movement has been closely combined with the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, Resolutions of the Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum (11^th, 12^th, 13^th tenure) on Party building and rectification, and the CMC’s Resolution 847 on promoting the virtues of Uncle Ho’s soldiers, resolutely combating individualism in the new situation. Besides, the MAF have given sound advice to the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal People’s Committee on military-defence work, well carried out forecast work, opportunely proposed proper strategies to deal with incidents and avoid falling into passivity, and proactively cooperated with other forces in maintaining political security and social order and safety. The work of defence diplomacy has been conducted proactively, actively, flexibly with a lot of innovations, thereby gaining comprehensive achievements. Logistics and technical work has seen all-round developments; the living and physical conditions of cadres and soldiers have been ensured; weapons and technical equipment have been synchronised. Due attention has been paid to effectively carrying out mass mobilisation and policy work, helping the people with hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and new-style counstryside building, and cementing the close-knit bond between the Military and people. In the process, weekly, monthly, yearly emulation has been marked in a serious, honest, objective, practical fashion. Units within the MAF have closely carried out preliminary and final reviews and commendation work to select really typical examples for collectives and individuals to study and follow. Those results mentioned above prove the vitality and effectiveness of the Determined to Win Emulation Movement and contribute to making the MAF always strong, capable of successfully fulfilling all assigned tasks, worthy of a loyal, reliable political and combat army of the City’s party committees, authorities, and people.

The Municipal Command inspects its Tank – Armoured Battalion

In the upcoming years, new task requirements will be imposed on the MAF; therefore, all-level party committees and commands must always maintain and improve their task performance, especially the Determined to Win Emulation Movement. To that end, the Municipal Military Party Committee and Command will focus on several basic solutions as follows.

First, continuing to grasp the Party’s guidelines and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, raising cadres and soldiers’ awareness and responsibility for the Determined to Win Emulation Movement. Patriotic emulation in general and the Determined to Win Emulation Movement in particular require consistency, connectivity, and consensus between perception and action. Thus, in the process, offices and units should concentrate on renewing forms and methods of propagation and education, ensuring diversity, liveliness, flexibility, and creativity in this work, including propagation and education in meetings, conferences, and ceremonies for traditional days, and conducting propagation and education via internal information systems, panels, and photo boards. Doing so will help render all members of the MAF and militia and self-defence force fully aware of the purpose and significance of the Determined to Win Emulation Movement, enable them to build great incentive and determination for emulation, and heighten their self-awareness, enthusiasm, and creativity in realising objectives of emulation, improving their task performance, and building strong offices and units.

The work of propagation and education should be centred around the Party’s guidelines and Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, particularly the Politburo’s Directive 34-CT/TW, dated 7^th April 2014 on “continuing to renew emulation and commendation work”, resolutions, directives, and guiding documents by the CMC, the MND, the General Department of Politics, and Military Region 7 on enhancing the Determined to Win Emulation Movement and emulation - commendation work as well as advantages, difficulties, and requirements in Army building, national defence consolidation, and Fatherland protection in the new situation. Great value should be attached to raising troops’ political steadfastness, vigilance, combat readiness, attitude, awareness, and responsibility and proactively effectively combating all plots and artifices of sabotage, particularly in cyber space.

Second, strengthening all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction, promoting the role of cadres and party members, especially political offices and officers in conducting the Determined to Win Emulation Movement. This solution is crucial to the quality and efficiency of the Movement. Therefore, all-level party committees should enhance their leadership and direction over the realisation of the content and targets of the Determined to Win Emulation Movement and combine the Movement with other movements and campaigns launched by organisations and sectors towards the performance of their central political tasks. All-level emulation – commendation councils should give sound advice to party committees and commands on emulation – commendation work and the Determined to Win Emulation Movement. Proactively grasping higher echelons’ directives and guidance and the MAF’s operations, political offices and officers should perform their role as standing agencies in suggesting measures to step up the Movement to party committees and commands of offices and units. At the same time, they should assist leaderships and commands in guiding and inspecting the Movement and opportunely settling difficulties and barriers to guarantee the continuity of the Movement. In the process, it is necessary to heighten the role of cadres and party members, particularly the key ones and consider the implementation of the Movement as a criterion for yearly personnel assessment.

Third, focusing emulation on combat readiness, training, regularity building, discipline management, and administrative reform to contribute to raising the MAF’s synergy and combat power. Regarding combat readiness, training, and education, offices and units should continue combining the Determined to Win Emulation with their improved task performance, organising synchronous, specialised, practical training courses in accordance with training mottos, viewpoints, principles, and connections, and raising the quality of exercises, contests, and examinations at all levels. At the same time, they should drastically, synchronously implement measures of emulation to improve their combat readiness level and capacity, proactively supplement and perfect plans and projects against traditional and non-traditional security challenges, and play a pioneering role in incident and disaster combat, search, and rescue to avoid falling into passivity in any circumstance. Moreover, there should be innovations in the building of “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong offices and units in line with the building of typically pure, strong party organisations and excellently strong mass organisations. Importance should be attached to enhancing administrative reform, building e-Government, facilitating digital transformation, and raising the effectiveness and efficiency of giving advice to the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal People’s Committee on military-defence issues in the new situation.

Fourth, frequently renewing and making the content and forms of emulation relevant to units and offices’ political tasks in a comprehensive but focalised manner, achieving a breakthrough in dealing with weaknesses and new, hard tasks. To that end, it is essential to step up and bring into play emulation movements launched by mass organisations, especially promote the pioneering role of youth union members. In the process, it is important to regularly maintain inspection work to opportunely detect and rectify shortcomings and deviations. Significance should be attached to conducting reviews and drawing lessons after each phase of emulation, rewarding collectives and individuals with great achievements and feats of arms, multiplying typical examples to enable the Determined to Win Emulation Movement to be continuous and reach more peaks in the performance of all tasks.

Bringing into play their achievements and bolstering the tradition of “infinite loyalty, tenacity, unity, discipline, dynamism, creativity, determination to fight, determination to win”, cadres and soldiers of the MAF will determinedly step up emulation, build “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong offices and units, and successfully fulfil all assigned tasks.

Maj. Gen. PHAN VAN XUNG

Commissar of the Municipal Command