The book, titled “Some Issues on Military Doctrine, National Defence Strategy in the Cause of Building and Safeguarding the Socialist Motherland of Vietnam in the New Era” by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, addresses many new, important, and urgent issues reflecting a strategic mindset; among them is the content on the military cultural values of Vietnam. These are highly important directions that need to be thoroughly grasped, understood, and preserved, and should be promoted to meet the requirements of building the Military and strengthening national defence in the new era.

The history of nation-building and national defence of our people has forged a unique and distinctive set of Vietnamese military cultural values. These values encompass fundamental aspects of patriotism, humanity, and compassion, as well as the unique military artistry and the “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers" culture. Inheriting these military cultural values of the nation, the book on military doctrine and national defence strategy in the cause of building and safeguarding the Motherland by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong demonstrates a continuation, supplementation, and deeper exploration of Vietnam’s military cultural values. With strategic thinking, visionary leadership, profound understanding, sharp political insight, and a wealth of practical revolutionary experience, the book’s language is precise, comprehensible, shedding light on the Party’s evolving theoretical thinking on military culture in the new era. It strongly contributes to disseminating the core values of Vietnam’s military culture throughout the entire Party, Military, and People.

First and foremost, the value of the tradition of patriotism in military activities is vividly demonstrated in both wartime and peacetime. During resistance wars against invaders our officers and soldiers always firmly grasped the revolutionary offensive mentality, overcoming hardships, enduring difficulties, sacrificing, taking initiative, using strategic thinking, and demonstrating courage in battle to defeat the enemy for the independence, freedom, and unification of our Motherland. This ensures the enduring existence of our nation and the people’s long-lasting peaceful and happy life. In the face of complex international developments, the entire Military still “unites wholeheartedly and is absolutely loyal to the Party, the Motherland, and the People, upholding the determination to fight and win, deserving the love and trust of the Party, the State, and the People.” They effectively carry out strategic advisory functions with the Party and the State in military and defence matters and maintain a peaceful and stable environment for the nation’s development. Patriotism is evident in the dedication of officers and soldiers in the entire Military to studying, training, cultivating virtues, ethics, lifestyles, methods and working styles, and proactively and creatively participating in achieving new zeniths in learning, training, combat readiness, scientific research, production, discipline, and standardisation building. Many comrades have performed outstanding feats and mad the ultimate sacrifice, exemplifying the dynamic expression of revolutionary heroism.

Humanity and compassion in military activities are evident from the very essence of the combat objectives of the Military: “The combat objective of the Military is the goal and ideal of the Communist Party of Vietnam - for national independence and socialism, for the well-off, free, and happy life of the people”. The General Secretary emphasises that the Military is always the core and leading force in disaster prevention, disease control, search and rescue, disaster relief, and environmental crisis mitigation. Images of military officers and soldiers throwing themselves into storms and floods, bringing food and medicine to the people in need, have become vivid symbols of courage in peacetime. They are also dedicated in assisting the people to eradicate hunger and reduce poverty to establish strong local political foundations and to win “people’s hearts and minds” and developing cultural life and new countryside, especially in remote, border, island, and challenging areas.

The values of humanity and compassion are also dynamically demonstrated in the international proletarian spirit when our Military rescued the Cambodian people from genocide, leaving a positive image of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” - the army of Buddha’s disciples in the hearts of the Cambodian people. In the new era, the values of humanity and compassion are widely spread through international military cooperation activities, becoming a pillar of the Party’s foreign affairs, the State’s international relations, and people’s diplomacy, contributing to work of safeguarding the Motherland early and from afar. The United Nations and international partners highly appreciate Vietnam’s participation in international peacekeeping, with significant positive contributions in missions in the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and other areas.

The sound, distinctive and innovative political and military strategies, revolutionary methods, and military art of our nation. The uniqueness, unprecedented in history, of our national history and revolution during the period from July 1954 to May 1975 was the implementation of an independent and self-reliant political and military approach, in which we simultaneously conducted a national democratic revolution in the South, and a socialist revolution in the North with the common goal of achieving independence and unification for the Motherland and leading the entire nation towards socialism. At the same time, there was a steadfast commitment to the combined revolutionary method involving both political forces of the masses and the armed forces and the close integration of armed and political struggles, along with the persistent application of the strategic offensive mentality characterised by a step-by-step approach, dismantling enemy forces part by part, forcing the enemy to gradually de-escalate, and eventually completely defeating the enemy. Furthermore, our military art and the art of people warfare reached its pinnacle, with the armed forces comprising three main elements: the regular army, local forces, and guerrilla-militia contingents, all well-established and widely deployed. The combination of “strength, posture, time, and tactics” in each battle and campaign was highly flexible. The General Secretary pointed out that we must master and flexibly apply enduring lessons from our forefathers, particularly the principles of “building the nation along with defending the nation” and “safeguarding the nation before it is threatened”. This involves having preventive plans, eliminating the risks of war and conflicts early and from afar. In essence, it means ensuring economic stability, establising a strong national defence, strengthening capabilities, and maintaining political and social stability. Also, the unity of the entire nation is crucial; hence, there must be a close connection between economic and social development, a reinforcement and enhancement of defence, security, and foreign affairs, and a combination between national strength of nation and the strength of the time. Furthermore, it is critical to improve the overall quality, strength, skills, and combat readiness of the entire Military.

The culture of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” is a distinctive and unique aspect, vividly expressed through the activities of the armed forces, as summarised by the General Secretary: the image of soldiers labouring on training grounds, enduring storms, fighting against fire, coping hardship and danger, selflessly rescuing people, and protecting the property of fellow citizens during natural disasters and fires. These soldiers fight night and day, silently serving from remote and rugged villages to distant islands, dedicating their strength, intelligence, and blood to safeguard our borders, land, sky and seas. The sacrifices made by soldiers in carrying out their duties will be engraved forever in the minds of the people. The cultural value of “Uncle Ho's Soldiers” is also evident in their deep understanding of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology and ethics, their adherence to the creative implementation of the Party’s policies and directives, and their close connection with the people. They respect and protect the people, promote unity, compassion, and mutual assistance among comrades, emphasise responsibility and strict discipline, faithfully follow orders, and demonstrate creativity in fulfilling their missions.

Currently, the building of the Military and the consolidation of national defence to meet the requirements of protecting the Fatherland in the new situation are issues of great concern to the Party and the State. Building on the heroic traditions of the Vietnamese People’s Army and maximising the Vietnamese military cultural values in the new era, there is a need to continue to thoroughly grasp the spirit of the book “Some Issues on Military Doctrine, Defense Strategy in the Cause of Building and Safeguarding the Socialist Motherland of Vietnam in the New Era” by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

First, maintain the political orientation in preserving and promoting the military cultural values in the new era.  This is the fundamental and key issue closely linked to the continuous consolidation of the Party’s absolute and direct leadership in all aspects of the Military. This involves ensuring that the military “continues to become stronger with higher reputation and the qualities of “Uncle Ho”s Soldiers,” shining even brighter.” Simultaneously, attention should be given to building transparent and robust Party organisations within the military in terms of political, ideological, ethical, organisational, and personnel aspects. In addition, there should be a vigorous reform of leadership methods, strict adherence to the Party’s organisational and operational principles. Also, the Military Party Committee must serve as a role model in all aspects within the entire Party, being completely transparent and strong, with a high combat spirit, leading the entire Military to continue to uphold the glorious traditions of the Party, the nation, and the Military, and achieving new feats to live up to its reputation as the heroic military force of a heroic nation, capable of defeating every enemy in every battle.

Second, closely integrate the preservation and promotion of military cultural values with political education in the military. The General Secretary places special emphasis on political education to ensure that the military always steadfastly adheres to revolutionary ideals, serving as an absolutely loyal and trustworthy political and combat force of the Party, the State, and the People in defending the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the Motherland. Furthermore, General Secretary stresses the need to strengthen education on Marxist-Leninist ideology, Ho Chi Minh’s thoughts, the Party’s principles, viewpoints, the State’s policies and laws, national independence, socialism, the nation’s cultural traditions, class nature, and the mission of building the Military, constructing the whole people’s national defence, and the people’s defence posture. Additionally, there is a focus on cultivating the fundamental characteristics of “Uncle Ho's Soldiers,” fostering comradeship, close relations between the Military and the People, and the aspiration for the betterment of their life among the troops. Also, it is critical to enhance the quality of Party and political work, ensuring that officers and soldiers have matured understanding, clear thinking, strong determination, and effective methods in carrying out their tasks.

Third, diversify cultural activities to enrich and disseminate the values of military culture in the new era. This is a fundamental aspect highlighted by the General Secretary: emphasising the building of a healthy cultural environment, the effective organisation of cultural, artistic, physical, and sports activities, propaganda work in the media, and the Movement “Promote Tradition, Devote Talent, Earn the Title of ‘Uncle Ho’s Soldiers’” in the new era, creating positive changes in cultural and spiritual life and actively spreading the qualities of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers.” It is also crucial to direct the Military to actively engage in learning, training, innovation following the spirit of the “seven dares,” and promote research and application of modern scientific and technological achievements in the military domain.

Fourth, proactively identify, resolutely combat against, and effectively refute counter-cultural activities and schemes, preventing their intrusion into the military environment. Currently, hostile forces are intensifying their sabotaging activities against our revolution, with the military being a focal point. Therefore, the General Secretary demands that the military take the lead in combating and refuting wrongful viewpoints, thwarting plots and schemes related to “peaceful evolution,” “self-evolution,” “self-transformation,” “de-politicisation,” etc. within the Military. The military must combat “peaceful evolution” ideas in the fields of ideology and culture and resolutely safeguard the Party’s ideological foundation. Simultaneously, another matter of utmost importance is to resolutely confront and speak out about internal corruption and negative matters without fear or evasion, and decisively handle such violation. Furthermore, it is critical to strengthen inspection, supervision, and strictly maintain the military and Party discipline. Through these efforts, we will be able to build a revolutionary, standardised, and gradually modernised people’s army, capable of meeting the requirements and fulfilling the tasks of building and safeguarding the socialist Motherland of Vietnam.

Colonel, Dr. NGUYEN THANH HAI, Political Academy, Ministry of National Defence