Studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics, and lifestyle constitute a routine task of each cadre and soldier of the armed forces of Military Region 3. In the Determined to Win Emulation Movement, the study and following of Uncle Ho’s moral example have been regularly maintained as an incentive for the Military Region’s improved performance of military and defence tasks.

A survey on the execution of the Determined to Win Emulation Movement of 2023 within the Provincial Military Command of Quang Ninh (photo: qdnd.vn)

Being imbued with Uncle Ho’s teachings on patriotic emulation, grasping and strictly implementing resolutions, directives, and guidance on reviewing and enhancing emulation - commendation work and the Determined to Win Emulation Movement, over the years, Military Region 3 has focused its leadership and direction on conducting the Determined to Win Emulation Movement in an active, proactive, flexible, innovative, creative, comprehensive, synchronous manner. Emulation activities have been extensively, regularly, continuously carried out and closely combined with the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics, and lifestyle, the patriotic emulation movement, and other drives launched by all-level authorities and sectors, truly becoming a source of encouragement for all organisations and individuals to surmount difficulties and play a vanguard role in performing tasks. Notably, against complex situational developments and hostile forces’ increasing sabotage, cadres and soldiers of Military Region 3 have always heightened their political zeal and resolve, readily undertaking and successfully fulfilling all assigned tasks, deserving to be an absolutely loyal, reliable combat and political force of the Party and a strong fulcrum of local party committees, authorities, and people. The Determined to Win Emulation Movement has been centred on building strong party organisations in terms of politics, ideology, morality, organisation, and personnel in parallel with the building of “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong units and excellently strong mass organisations as a solid foundation for building a politically strong Military Region with great synergy, combat power, and capability to successfully fulfil all assigned tasks. Via emulation activities, there have been many typical examples of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” in the new period. Between 2019 and 2024, 238 typical examples have been honoured from grass-roots to Military Region levels; 6 collectives and 10 individuals from the Military Region have been commended by the Ministry of National Defence, forming a source of inspiration for cadres and soldiers’ self-improvement and determination to achieve more feats in the task performance process.

Currently, the situation on regional and global scales has complex, unpredictable developments; hostile forces continue to step up their sabotage strategy against our country, promote “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”, and plot to “depoliticise” our Military. New, higher requirements are being imposed on the task of Fatherland construction and protection amid the Military Region’s organisational adjustments under the 13^th Politburo’s Resolution 05-NQ/TW and the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 230-NQ/QUTW dated 2 April 2022, with a view to building an “adept, compact, strong” Military Region. In order to successfully fulfil its tasks in the new situation and especially bring into play advantages of the Military Region as a key flat plain for the country’s construction, development, and international integration, the Military Region’s Party Committee and Command advocates comprehensive leadership and direction over the Determined to Win Emulation Movement following Uncle Ho’s teachings to give a new incentive to cadres and soldiers’ excellent task performance, via several main measures as follows.

First, enhancing all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction over the Determined to Win Emulation Movement. This measure serves as a deciding factor in the quality, effectiveness, and sustainable development of the emulation movement. Hence, the Military Region will require its offices and units to grasp Uncle Ho’s teachings: “there should be sound leadership over emulation” as well as higher echelons’ directives, resolutions, and guidance in order to create a basic, solid positive change in all-level party committees and key cadres’ awareness of the importance of emulation - commendation work and the Determined to Win Emulation Movement. While enhancing their party committees and commands’ leadership and direction, offices and units within the Military Region should promote a sense of responsibility among cadres and party members, raise the quality and effectiveness of staff work by political bodies, well perform the advisory role of emulation - commendation councils, and encourage the vanguard role of mass organisations in emulation activities. Moreover, it is necessary to promote the role of political commissars and junior political commissars as heads of emulation - commendation councils in directing and organising the Determined to Win Emulation Movement. At the same time, the emulation movement should be closely linked with the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics, and lifestyle, party building and rectification, the fight against degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle, “self-evolution”, and “self-transformation” as well as the Campaign titled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers in the new period”. It is important to proactively work with local party committees and authorities to integrate the Determined to Win Emulation Movement into the Patriotic Emulation Movement to create synergy for extensively, sustainably developing emulation activities within offices and units.

Second, regularly well carrying out education work to stimulate self-awareness and creativity among troops, promoting the roles of all forces and organisations in the emulation movement. To effectively implement this measure, all-level leaderships and commands should thoroughly grasp President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings on raising public awareness of the building of an extensive emulation movement to encourage organisations, cadres, and soldiers to devote more efforts, dare to think, dare to do, and dare to take responsibility, for the sake of new merits in the emulation process. Emphasis should be placed on the purposes, significance, content, and methods of emulation in accordance with offices and units’ central political tasks. Importance should be attached to educating troops on the traditional symbols and prides of Military Region 3’s armed forces and people, such as “Route No.5 Thunder”, “Cat Bi Victory”, “Heroic Route No.10” which inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, as well as “Plough on the one hand, gun on the other” and “Duyen Hai Wave” in a bid to encourage troops to surmount all difficulties via flexible, creative, effective approaches. By different channels, forms and methods of education should be diverse, continuous, and relevant to each group of troops to raise self-awareness of emulation among cadres and soldiers, particularly in hard jobs or sensitive moments.

Third, actively renewing the content, forms, and methods of the Determined to Win Emulation Movement following Uncle Ho’s teachings: “Emulation plans must be practical, clear, and moderate”. The Military Region will require its offices and units to adhere to their central political and contingency tasks. Offices and units should take their political tasks and the goals and targets of the Determined to Win Emulation Movement into account to identify forms and methods of emulation in accordance with their particularities. The goals and content of emulation must be practical, comprehensive, and centred on training, combat readiness, regularity building, discipline management, the building of robust all-people national defence and defensive zones, and especially the handling of weaknesses. Targets of emulation must be specific, reasonable, and unanimously supported by all cadres and soldiers. To that end, offices and units should actively renew and diversify forms and methods of emulation properly. Due attention should be paid to closely combining the emulation movement with the celebration of major events of offices, units, and the country; the emulation movement should also be integrated into campaigns and other specific movements of all levels and sectors to create synergy for fulfilling all goals and targets of emulation.

Fourth, closely combining emulation with commendation, well carrying out preliminary and final reviews to draw lessons, building, cultivating, and multiplying typical examples. Emulation must provide the basis for commendation, while commendation must be given to right persons and achievements; by doing so could the emulation movement unceasingly develop. Thus, it is vital to closely align emulation with commendation. In addition, commendation must be based on a correct, democratic, open evaluation of achievements to avoid rampant commendation and resolutely fight against the “merit-driven disease” in this work. Being imbued with President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings: “In the emulation process, it is necessary to urge and help each other to make progress. After each spell of emulation, it is important to conduct inspection and final review, disseminate lessons, reward role models, and provide assistance for incompetent persons”, party committees and commands should proactively design plans to build, cultivate, and multiply typical examples. Great value should be attached to disseminating and duplicating typical examples and “good people, good deed” examples as well as correctly evaluating each unit’s self-improvement as the basis for the sustained, extensive development of the emulation movement. At the same time, due regard should be paid to intensifying inspection and supervision work to opportunely detect and rectify ideological deviations and wrongdoings, while the results of the emulation movement should be seen as a criterion for evaluating the task performance of party committees and commands of offices and units.

Fully aware that “emulation is patriotic, those that are patriotic must emulate”, cadres and soldiers of Military Region 3 will continue to bring into play the obtained achievements and the tradition of “unity, proactiveness, creativity, sacrifice, victory”, uphold self-reliance and dynamism, and devote more efforts to contribute to building an “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong Military Region capable of successfully fulfilling all assigned tasks.

Maj. Gen. BUI CONG CHUC

Deputy Political Commissar of the Military Region