Commune-level military command junior political commissars (hereinafter referred to as commissars) are in charge of carrying out party and political work in militia and reserve forces and during the performance of military and defence tasks, therefore making contributions to maintaining political stability, fostering socio-economic development, and strengthening defence and security in each locality. For that reason, there should be researches into practical, effective measures for raising those cadres’ capacity to conduct party and political work.

Commune-level military command commissars, who also are commune-level party committee secretaries, are responsible before their higher echelons and party committees and authorities at their level for party and political work during the performance of military and defence tasks at grass-roots level; at the same time, they are in charge of conducting this work in militia and reserve forces and during the performance of military and defence tasks at commune level. Being fully aware of their position, role, duties, and tasks, over the years, under senior military offices’ leadership, direction, and guidance, commune-level military command commissars in Thanh Hoa province have basically fulfilled their responsibility and proactively effectively carried out party and political work, thus contributing to making militia and reserve forces politically strong and capable of accomplishing all assigned tasks, strengthening defence and security, maintaining political security and social order and safety in localities.

However, in practice, several commissars’ awareness of the importance of party and political work during the performance of military and defence tasks has yet to be sufficient. Some commissars’ capacity and skills in conducting this work has been limited. Hence, the task performance of militia and reserve forces is still poor in a number of localities. Meanwhile, to well perform military and defence tasks in the new situation, local armed forces in general, those at commune level in particular, must be politically strong and in possession of great combat determination and immunity against hostile forces’ plots and sabotage activities. Therefore, improving commune-level military command commissars’ capacity to carry out party and political work is a matter of importance and urgency that should be elaborately researched to work out synchronous, effective measures. This article puts forward a number of initial measures as follows.

1. Raising commune-level military command commissars’ awareness and responsibility towards military and defence tasks and party and political work. This is the most important measure which provides a foundation for adopting the others; only by thoroughly grasping military and defence tasks and party and political work could commissars build up their determination and responsibility in the implementation process. Therefore, it is necessary to keep rendering commissars fully aware that military and defence work is responsibility of heads of local party committees and authorities, and the effectiveness of carrying out party and political work for militia and reserve forces determines the quality of performing military and defence tasks. To that end, via conferences and the performance of party and political work, it is important to continue grasping resolutions and directive on military and defence tasks. Emphasis should be placed on Resolution 28-NQ/TW, dated October 25^th, 2013 by the 11^th Party Central Committee on “the Strategy to defend the Fatherland in the new situation”, Resolution 28-NQ/TW, dated September 22^nd, 2008 by the 10^th Politburo on “continuing to build provinces and municipalities into solid defensive zones in the new situation”, and Directive 16-CT/TW, dated October 5^th, 2002 by the 9^th Party Central Committee Secretariat on “strengthening the Party’s leadership over the militia and self-defence force and the reserve force in the new situation”. Doing so will enable commune-level military command commissars to bring into play their role and responsibility to effectively conducting party and political work.

2. Improving commune-level military command commissars’ capacity to carry out party and political work during activities represents a measure of utmost importance. In fact, the quality and effectiveness of party and political work depend on various factors, but first and foremost it depends on capacity of the person who is in charge of this work. Therefore, it is essential to equip commune-level military command commissars with both comprehensive and specialised knowledge and enhance their capacity to combine forms and methods of carrying out party and political work. Due attention should be paid to improving commissar’s skill in applying the fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, and the Party’s viewpoints on local military and defence tasks and bettering commissars’ political, military, economic, cultural, social knowledge. Moreover, it is necessary to improve commissars’ persuasion and education skills, working style, and capabilities in developing and implementing party and political work plans on training, exercises, combat readiness, natural disaster, fire, and explosion prevention and control as well as search and rescue missions. To that end, commissars must self-consciously better themselves comprehensively, make study plans, set out criteria and measures for self-improvement, and frequently conduct self-inspection and self-assessment so that they could successfully fulfil all assigned functions and tasks.

3. Increasing commune-level military command commissars’ capability in political and ideological education for militia and reserve forces. Building an extensive, strong militia force and a powerful reserve force, with a focus on making them “politically strong” is an important part of military and defence work to readily mobilise those forces for defending the Fatherland in the event and for taking part in maintaining political security and social order and safety as well as performing other tasks. To that end, commissars should keep grasping and well implementing higher echelons’ decisions, projects, and guidance on “renewing political education at military units in the new period”, while improving their capability and skills in conducting political and ideological education work for those forces. The contents of education must be comprehensive but centred around higher echelons’ directives and resolutions, local armed forces’ tasks, the Law on Militia and Self-Defence Force, the Law on Reserve Force, and circulars and decrees on militia and self-defence work. Particularly, in border, mountainous communes, great value should be attached to foreign policies of our Party, State, and Military as well as decrees and joint circulars on cooperation with the Border Guard, the Public Security, and the Forest Protection Force in border management and protection, crime prevention and combat, forest protection, and forest fire prevention and control. Coastal localities should focus on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982), the Law of the Sea of Viet Nam, and decrees and joint circulars on coordination with the Border Guard, the Coast Guard, and the Fisheries Resources Surveillance in national border, sea, island protection, crime prevention and combat at sea, and search and rescue. Forms and methods of education must be diverse, easy to understand, easy to remember, and easy to realise. Education must be connected with emulation movements and programmes of localities and units. In the education process, significance should be attached to orientating ideology of members of militia and reserve forces, building up their resolve to overcome difficulties and successfully fulfil all assigned tasks, engaging them in the struggle on ideological and cultural fronts, enabling them to remain vigilance against hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy and plots of “depoliticising” our armed forces, and preventing them from committing degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle as well as “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”.

4. Enhancing commune-level military command commissars’ capability in guiding and directing militia and reserve forces to carry out propagation and mass mobilisation work. Mass mobilisation constitutes a function and task of local armed forces in all revolutionary periods. To produce good results in this work, commissars must give instructions to militia and reserve forces on studying and grasping forms and methods of mass mobilisation. Emphasis should be placed on encouraging the people to well implement the Party’s guidelines, the State’s laws and policies, and localities’ regulations and resolutions on economic development, the building of a cultural lifestyle, and the removal of depraved customs and superstitions. Importance should be attached to rendering the people fully aware of hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy and responsible for taking part in maintaining political security and social order and safety in localities. When disputes occur at grass-roots level, it is essential to proactively cooperate with local party committees and authorities to opportunely seek remedies in accordance with the Party’s guidelines, the State’s laws, and local customs. At the same time, due attention should be paid to making the people clearly understand the importance of defence and security tasks in the new situation so that they will contribute material and human resources to building postures of all-people national defence and people’s security at grass-roots level and constructing increasingly solid defensive zones.

Those above-mentioned measures for raising commune-level military command commissars’ capacity to conduct party and political work are just initial research findings based on reality in Thanh Hoa province, presented for further discussion.

LE ANH XUAN, Secretary of Thanh Hoa Municipal Party Committee