Over the past two years, the Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) has made great strides in learning from and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality and lifestyle, contributing to enhancing its combat power to proceed directly into modernization.

As the core service in building the people’s war posture at sea, managing and firmly protecting the country’s sacred seas and islands, the VPN has always been imbued with Uncle Ho’s teaching that “Previously, our country was confined to darkness and forests. Now, we are endowed with lightness, skies and seas. Our coastline is long and beautiful, which is to be protected”. In the new situation, the VPN’s Party Committee and Command have synchronously taken multiple measures with the accelerated implementation of the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW as a common thread to contribute to enhancing its combat power. At the same time, this has also reflected the VPN’s great affection for our beloved Uncle Ho and been conducive to strengthening its organizations and personnel. The VPN has closely linked the implementation of Directive 05 with that of the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum on the Party building and rectification, of the Campaign “Promote traditions and devote talent to deserve to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers and naval forces”, the emulation movement “Determination to win” and many other movements launched by different sectors. It is full awareness, single-minded resolve and practical measures that have contributed to strengthening the VPN politically, ideologically, organizationally and morally, to unceasingly enhancing its combat power, to enabling it to successfully fulfil the task of  firmly protecting Vietnam’s sovereignty and sovereignty rights over seas and islands as well as to maintaining a peaceful environment at sea. The VPN has drawn a number of lessons from its implementation of the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05 as follows.

 First, enhancing Party organizations’ leadership as well as roles and sense of responsibility by political commissars, commanders, political agencies, mass organizations and councils of soldiers. This is a decisive factor in the quality and effectiveness of learning from and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality and lifestyle. Therefore, the VPN’s Party Committee and Command focus their leadership on fully and systematically implementing directives, plans and guidelines as soon as they are issued by the higher echelons. Accordingly, the VPN’s Party Committee and its affiliates have developed plans to learn from and follow Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality and lifestyle in the 2016-2021 period while directing mass organizations to formulate action plans in line with their conditions and tasks. Party sub-committees and mass organizations have been advised to focus their attention on breakthrough measures, which include time limits, direct responsibility devolved to individuals and collectives, and regularly-updated criteria for learning from and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality and lifestyle in line with their assigned tasks. At the same time, the VPN’s Party Committee and Command have managed to promote the role by and sense of responsibility among political commissars, commanders and political agencies for guiding their units and mass organizations through the concretization of criteria in accordance with their assigned tasks. Annually, 100% of the VPN’s cadres, Party members and servicemen commit themselves to learning from and follow Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality and lifestyle, and to combating manifestations of political, moral and lifestyle degradation, “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within.

Second, promoting education on the importance of learning from and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality and lifestyle. The VPN’s Party Committee and Command have requested their affiliates to learn from and follow Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality and lifestyle as directed. In the process, units across the VPN have closely associated formal education with self-education among their cadres and Party members, particularly commanders at all levels as role models. The VPN’s units and agencies, particularly those undertaking sea and island-related tasks, have actively adopted reforms in education and communication in line with their specific conditions. Importance has been attached to forums, panel discussions, cultural and artistic activities, sightseeing trips, knowledge contests, film screening, examples of “good person-good deed” and roles by cultural institutions at grassroots level. Every year, the VPN’s Command and its affiliates proactively and actively publish materials for political education and communication. Many of them produce pocket manuals for their servicemen’s self-education. Such columns as “Learning from and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality and lifestyle”, “Maritime flowers” have been regularly published in the Naval Newspaper and the Naval Journal. In 2018, the VPN has made remarkable progress in learning from and following “Uncle Ho’s teachings”, his Testament and 12 teachings on Party building, thereby kindling its cadres and soldiers’ pride in the Party and beloved Uncle Ho, promoting their comradeship, inspiring their deep attachment to seas and islands, as well as encouraging them to follow Uncle Ho’s exemplary morality as a matter of routine and responsibility for promoting qualities characterizing “Uncle Ho’s soldiers and naval forces”.

Third, closely linking the implementation of Directive 05 with that of the Party’s directives and resolutions, of the emulation movement “Determination to win” and many other campaigns launched by different sectors. To this end, the VPN has closely linked the implementation of Directive 05 with that of the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th plenum on Party building and rectification, the Campaign “Promote traditions and devote talent to deserve to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers and naval forces” while developing plans to multiply role models for the 2016-2020 period. Political agencies at all levels have succeeded in promoting their roles and sense of responsibility in advising Party sub-committees on appropriate and effective measures, particularly such models as “One concentration and three breakthroughs” (concentration on strengthening the VPN politically; breakthroughs in handling ideological issues among soldiers, in making pure and strong Party organizations, mass organizations and councils of soldiers, and in making cadres and Party members truly exemplary), “three buildings and three counterings” (building strong political will, building dogged resolve and building a great sense of responsibility; countering manifestations of “self-evolution”, countering manifestations of “mediocrity”, and countering letters of complaint against regulations), “three eradicatings” (eradicating gambling, illegal betting and insolvency; eradicating buying, selling, storing, transporting and illegally using narcotic substances; eradicating using alcoholic drinks against regulations), “3-representative units” (representative of successfully fulfilling political tasks, representative of maintaining discipline, and representative of ensuring complete safety); “Party members guide non-Party membership individuals”, etc. During its implementation of Directive 05, a lot of innovative and effective movements and models have emerged and spread VPN-wide, including emulation movements for mastery of advanced weaponry launched by Naval Region 4 and Naval Brigade 954, such models as “3-strong agencies” by departments under the VPN’s Command  (strong in terms of grasping situations, counselling and suggestions; strong in terms of command and direction; strong in terms of implementation); “exemplary young researchers and technicians” by the Naval Technical Institute; “Promoting traditions peculiar to submarine crew” and “exemplary ship crew” by Naval Brigade 189.

Fourth, tightening inspection and supervision and undertaking regular review to draw lessons, to honour role models and to opportunely redress shortcomings. The entire VPN has put great store by inspection and supervision in order to opportunely redress shortcomings. At the same time, the implementation of Directive 05 has been viewed as a yardstick of individuals and collectives’ performance across the VPN. Every year, the VPN’s Command directs its affiliates to undertake regular review in order to opportunely draw lessons and to honour role models, thus motivating cadres, Party members, Party organizations and servicemen to emulate their achievements. 243 collectives and 630 individuals as role models have been honoured and rewarded since the VPN started implementing Directive 05 two years ago.

In the time to come, the VPN commits itself to continuing to effectively implement Directive 05, thus contributing to making itself strong, pure, standardized, highly skilled and modernized enough to fulfil its role as the core force in protecting the country’s sovereignty over seas, islands and continental shelf, as well as to maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for national development.

Rear Admiral Pham Van Vung, Director of the VPN’s Political Bureau