Lao Cai is a mountainous, border province that holds a position of strategic importance in socio-economic and defence-security terms to the Military Region 2 and the country. Over the past years, with regard paid by the Party and the State as well as the efforts made by the Provincial Party Committee, authority, armed forces and people, the province’s economy has developed rather rapidly; defence, security and diplomacy have been strengthened; people’s material and mental life has gradually improved. However, due to historical causes and various others, Lao Cai is still a poor province with the uneven economic development; many bad customs still remain; living standard of ethnic minorities, particularly in remote, isolated, border area is low. Taking advantage of those difficulties, hostile forces have been stepping up their sabotage, distorting the Party’s guidelines on ethnicity and religion, carrying out illegal missionary work, undermining the national great unity block with a view to destabilizing political security and social order in the area. Besides, the issues on rural security, crime, social evils, and particularly in the border area are on the increase and complex; natural disasters, floods and storms regularly take place, thereby greatly impacting on the province’s socio-economic development and defence-security. Thus, building strong local armed forces to play the core role in consolidating defence-security and facilitate the province’s rapid, sustainable economic development represents a matter of paramount importance. This is also a prime target set by the 6^th Provincial Military Party Congress (2015-2020 tenure). As a result, in recent years, the province’s security situation has always been stable while the all-people national defence and the all-people national defence posture associated with the people’s security posture have been made increasingly strong.

The province has drawn several lessons from its process of building the local armed forces, which are also measures that should be employed effectively in the upcoming time.

First, attaching importance to making the province’s armed forces politically strong as the basis for improving the synergy and combat strength. Having the position of strategic importance, over the past years, Lao Cai has always been at the forefront of the hostile forces’ sabotage strategy to divide the national great unity block and undermine the people’s faith in the Party and State. More dangerously, they have employed all possible artifices to spread doubts in order to make the province’s armed forces lose the faith in the Party, State and socialist regime, to weaken the military-civilian unity and combat morale within each force. Therefore, due attention has been paid to building strong provincial armed forces politically by the Provincial Military Party Committee (PMPC) and the Provincial Military Command (PMC) via various strong, synchronous measures. To do so, the province has decided to enhance the work of political, ideological education for cadres and troops in each office and unit in accordance with each area and group of cadres and troops, particularly those who are performing the task in border area and ethnics. Basing on the Project to renew political education in units in the new period and the area’s condition, the PMPC and PMC have directed offices, units and localities to strictly implement programs and contents on political, ideological education for objects. Focuses have been placed on grasping and raising the awareness of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s thought, the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law, the tasks of the Military and units, the provincial armed forces’ heroic tradition as well as the “peaceful evolution” strategy and artifices of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” by hostile forces in the area. During the course of education, the province has employed creative methods and forms, such as basic, regular education and self-education, while combining political education with legal education, political, cultural and spiritual day, and news briefing. Significance has been attached to orientating cadres and troops’ ideology, particularly against complex changes in social life; to proactively preventing and fighting against the degradation in political ideology, morality and lifestyle as well as the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” right at grass-roots level.

Besides, the PMPC and PMC have paid due regard to building, consolidating and improving leadership and combativeness of party organizations and members under the Resolution of the Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum on the Party building and rectification; to studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality and lifestyle as well as to implementing the Campaign “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving Uncle Ho’s soldiers”. The Grass-Roots Level Democratic Regulations have been strictly implemented and combined with discipline management and the Determined to Win emulation movement, which has been seen as a breakthrough in building strong provincial armed forces politically. Consequently, the provincial armed forces have always strongly determined and highly responsible for all tasks. This has laid an important foundation for the PMPC to be assessed as pure, strong, and for the PMC to be assessed as comprehensively strong for the past 5 consecutive years; 53 collectives have been acknowledged as Determined to Win Units; 215 collectives have gained the title of Advanced Unit; 168 ordinary people have been initiated into the Party.

The opening ceremony of the training season by the provincial armed forces

Second, focusing on consolidating the organizational structure, renewing and improving the quality of training the regular, reserve, and militia and self-defence forces. Grounded on the regulations by the Ministry of National Defence and the Military Region on the organizational structure and local conditions, the PMC has advised the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee on measures to consolidate the organizational structure of the regular, reserve, and militia and self-defence forces. Based on the Project to enhance the quality and effectiveness of building the provincial defensive zone’s military potential in the 2016-2020 period, the PMC has cooperated with competent offices of the Ministry of National Defence and the Military Region in reviewing, adjusting and supplementing the strength and materiel of its offices and units to make them “compact, strong, synchronized” with priority given to units tasked with combat readiness and those stationed in the key areas. Moreover, the province has regularly reviewed and grasped the situation of reservists in each area to consolidate the structure of reserve units as the basis to staff these units, making them “stay close to and compact in the area, standard in military profession term”. As for the militia and self-defence forces, the province has effectively implemented the Project to build the militia and self-defence forces of Lao Cai province in the 2016-2020 period, orientation towards 2030”. In addition to building “strong, extensive” militia and self-defence forces, importance has been attached to building strong mobile militia and self-defence forces in the key areas.

Furthermore, the PMC has directed offices and units to actively renew and improve the quality of combat training of forces and regarded this work as a determinant to the synergy and combat power of the provincial armed forces. On a yearly basis, grounded on higher echelons’ training order, the PMC has clearly identified the training contents and plans for each force, while directing offices, units and localities to make elaborate preparations, particularly training courses for cadres in charge of training work. During the process of training, the province has always followed the motto “basics, practicality, thorough grasp”, with emphasis placed on synchronous and specialist training to make it relevant to objects, tasks, projects and areas as well as on joint operations between forces in the defensive zone according to projects, particularly the project to protect central targets and border area. At the same time, great value has been attached to holding competitions, aligning training with discipline maintenance and regularity building, and to renewing the methods to examine the results of training in a “practical, comprehensive, effective” manner. In 2017, the provincial defensive zone exercise was rated as distinction by the Military Region and highly appreciated by local party committees, authorities and people.

Third, enhancing the quality and effectiveness of logistics and technical support for both regular and contingency missions. Over the past years, the PMC has focused on directing its offices and units to stringently implement higher echelons’ directives and plans on logistics and technical support; to opportunely supplement and adjust the plan for logistics and technical support for tasks on an annual and periodic basis. As far as the logistics work is concerned, on the one hand, the province has ensured the decentralized material reserve under the Military Region’s order, closely organized regular logistics operation, and sufficiently, opportunely provided all entitlements and policies for objects. It has exploited all resources and strengths of the area to both accelerate agricultural production for the sake of troops’ improved life and invest in building “bright, green, clean, scenic” barracks. On the other hand, it has directed offices and units to closely cooperate with local party committees and authorities in gradually building inter-connected, solid defensive zone logistics posture, particularly in planning logistics bases and rear bases at all levels, meeting the task requirements in both peacetime and wartime.

Furthermore, due attention has been paid to conducting the technical work. The PMC has directed units to ensure the quantity, quality and synchronicity of their materiel, particularly units tasked with combat readiness and exercise; to successfully implement the Campaign 50 on “managing, exploiting and using weapons and technical equipment effectively, sustainably, safely, economically, and traffic safety”. Military offices at all levels have paid due regard to maintaining materiel at their level and technical coefficient for combat readiness from 0.96 to 1. Moreover, consideration has been given to building and upgrading the system of technical depots and stations; strengthening education to make cadres and troops observe the regulations on management of materiel and depots to prevent fire, explosion, and loss of materiel, thereby contributing to making the provincial armed forces comprehensively strong, deserving to be the core in safeguarding the area and the Homeland in every situation.

Sr. Col. Thai Minh Duong, Standing Member of the Provincial Party Committee

Commander of the PMC