Over the past years, while promoting socio-economic development, Nam Dinh province (here after the Province) has always focused on well performing national defense and military tasks. In particular, the recruitment work has been seriously directed, organized, and implemented by the party committees, authorities, agencies, and unions via many creative measures in line with local particularities, bringing about positive results.
In the cause of struggling for national liberation and Fatherland protection, Nam Dinh was one of the leading provinces within the area of Military Region 3 providing manpower and material support for the front line. Promoting that honourable tradition and grasping the position and importance of military recruitment work, the Provincial Military Command (PMC) has always actively advised the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee to direct and execute this task stringently and consistently with many reforms in accordance with the characteristics of locality. Annually, the Province has completed 100% of call-up targets with the increasingly high quality. In the process, besides the advantages, the Province has still exposed some limitations. Specifically, the awareness and responsibility of a number of cadres, party members and citizens have not been full; the management of citizens at the age of enlistment here and there has not been strict and synchronous; the realization of recruitment procedure has not been effective in certain steps, stages and localities; a large number of citizens at the age of enlistment has often worked far away from home for a long time, so the call-up has faced many difficulties, etc.
In order to well carry out the recruitment work, the PMC has counselled the Provincial Party Standing Committee to issue the Conclusion 22-KL/TU, dated April 16th, 2012 on “Solutions to strictly implement the Military Service Law”. According to the Conclusion, military recruitment is an important political task, and the performance of this task must be seen as a criterion for evaluating and classifying annual party committees and organizations, authorities, socio-political organizations, and party members. For localities where the recruitment targets are not fulfilled, the Party Committee Secretaries, People’s Committee Chairmen, and Military Commanders in such places must review and clarify their responsibility. If any locality fails to complete the conscription targets for two consecutive years, its task performance will be rated poor. Additionally, the Party Committee Secretaries and People’s Committee Chairmen in such a locality must consider and take certain disciplinary action against or even dismiss Commanders of the commune-level Military Commands. In the past years, Conclusion 22-KL/TU has been thoroughly grasped and seriously implemented from the Province to village party cells, and residential groups, thereby mobilizing the participation of entire political system. As a result, the role and responsibility of all-level authorities and agencies, especially local party committees and authorities for the recruitment task have been heightened.
On a yearly basis, grounded on the higher echelons’ targets, the PMC has counselled the Provincial People’s Committee to assign recruitment targets to localities. The Party committees at all levels have put forward special resolutions on leading the recruitment work in conformity with the characteristics and situation of each locality. At the same time, due regard has been paid to enhancing the work of propagation and education to raise awareness and responsibility of the people from all social strata towards executing the Military Service Law; thereby, making young generation have a thorough understanding of their honour, pride and responsibility for their Fatherland. In parallel with doing well the work of regular propaganda, the Province has organized focal propaganda periods during the call-up season and thoroughly introduced the content of the recruitment work to each party group, party cell, village, and residential ward. The propaganda work has been carried out in various forms and methods. Importance has been attached to promoting the effectiveness of mass media, especially radio systems at 03 levels, integrating the content of call-up work into the activities of organizations and social unions such as Fatherland Front, Youth Union, Women’s Union, and Veterans Association, and printing leaflets introducing basic points of the Military Service Law and citizens’ rights and obligations, etc. As a locality with a large number of Catholics, the Province has paid due attention to bolstering the role of priests in propagation to make Catholics abide by and strictly conduct military service, and fulfil “the promise of the youth to the country”. Besides, the PMC has also advised the Province to direct the Department of Justice to cooperate with departments, agencies and localities in strictly tackling violations of Military Service Law, thus improving the effectiveness of education and deterrence.
In order to heighten the quality of recruitment and minimize limitations, before each drafting season, the Province has consolidated the Provincial Conscription Council and the Conscription Councils at district and commune levels, assigned specific responsibilities to each member of the Council. In the meantime, consideration has also been given to promoting the role of military offices at all levels in counselling, coordination and implementation. Every year, under the direction of the Province, the PMC has presided and cooperated with the Department of Justice and the Department of Health in organizing training courses for the contingent of cadres in the political system, members of all-level Conscription Councils, and officials in charge in troop recruitment to reach an agreement on the content, procedure of recruitment work and method of handling violations. Moreover, legal documents and instructions on recruitment procedure have been distributed to the grassroots for uniform implementation. The PMC has also advised the Province to direct localities to draw lessons on the recruitment work in the previous year, clarify pros and cons, roles and responsibilities of each agency and department in the performance. Especially for localities which have not completed the conscription targets or made mistakes in the recruitment work, the Province has directed district-level party committees, heads of departments and unions, military and police commanders, party secretaries and chairmen to seriously review and draw experience with the aim of identifying the causes and taking remedial measures opportunely.
There is a fact that most citizens at the age of enlistment often go to work far away from home and students who have finished their studies tend not to go back to their hometown; therefore, it is difficult to manage the human resources for military service. To overcome this problem, the PMC has ordered the military offices at all levels to advise the party committees and authorities and cooperate with the sectors of Public Security, Justice and Health in doing well the first-time registration for the sake of tightly controlling ready-to-enlist human resources. The troop pre-selection, consideration, and recruitment have been implemented under the motto being “democratic, public, fair and lawful”.
Learning from the experience of health examination in previous years, the PMC has counselled the Province to direct the Department of Public Health to provide sufficient doctors and modern medical equipment for localities to conduct intensive examination, ensuring accurate and objective health assessment and classification. All cases of doubtful expression have been examined, tested and checked many times to come to accurate conclusions without making any mistakes. On the basis of assigned targets and the number of candidates eligible for military enlistment, the Province has guided localities to organize a public and accurate selection and resolutely resist all negative manifestations in recruiting troops, creating high consensus among people. After the investigation, localities have made public announcement of those who are eligible for enlistment, or the temporary delayed enlistment or exemption from conscription, while assigning responsibility to villages, residential groups, and Conscription Council members to continue well managing the source for recruitment. In particular, great importance has been attached to strictly managing citizens who are selected for the enlistment to avoid violating health requirements according to the Circular 50/BQP-BCA.
In order to encourage young citizens to actively perform their military service, the PMC has advised the Provincial People’s Committee to direct localities to concentrate on mobilizing social resources for troop recruitment both materially and spiritually. Accordingly, the localities have undertaken diversified activities, providing financial support for medical examinations; visiting, giving gifts and granting savings books to families of draftees; improving excellent youths’ knowledge of the Party and initiating eligible citizens into the Party before enlistment. Meanwhile, significance has been attached to paying visits to Provincial Armed Forces Traditional Cultural House, organizing youth forums to educate tradition and raise awareness and responsibility, and holding cultural and musical exchanges and farewell ceremonies for draftees before the enlistment at the grassroots level. The Province has also guided enterprises within the locality to sign the commitment to receive discharged soldiers and cooperated with units receiving troops and vocational schools in providing vocational training and job placement for discharged soldiers in compliance with the Party’s guidelines. Thereby, it has promoted political and social significance and created a source of encouragement for citizens to perform their military duties. As a result, since 2013, the Province has accomplished 100% of higher echelon’s targets with high quality. Annually, the number of young people voluntarily filling in the enlistment form has been increasingly high.
Based on the practice of recruitment work, the Province has drawn some lessons as follows.
First, strengthening the leadership and direction of the party committees as well as the management and administration of the authorities at all levels over the task of recruiting troops; mobilizing the participation of both political system and entire people in the implementation process. Second, regularly doing well the work of propagation and education to raise awareness and responsibility of the entire people, first and foremost of the party committees, authorities, Conscription Council at all levels and citizens at enlistment age. Third, promoting the all-level military agencies’ core role as the centres for coordinating the recruitment work. Fourth, performing steps and stages in the recruitment procedure stringently and consistently, ensuring democracy, openness, and equality. Fifth, properly implementing the Army rear policies and opportunely encouraging draftees both materially and spiritually while strictly handling citizens violating the Military Service Law.
Nam Dinh province has been promoting the application of the afore-mentioned experiences, which are also the solutions, to well completing the recruitment task in 2019, practically contributing to making its armed forces strong.
Sr. Col. Luong Van Kiem, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of the PMC