The Naval Region 2 (the Region) serves as a core force in protecting the national sovereignty over the seas, islands and continental shelf in the South of Vietnam. This area plays a crucial role in the strategy of socio-economic development and defence and security consolidation designed by our Party and State. Besides the advantages, the Region has faced many difficulties as the maritime situation has witnessed complicated happenings, including infringements of national sovereignty and sovereign rights, illegal goods transportation and smuggling. Additionally, the Region’s units take charge of many ships, rigs, and stations far from the mainland and operate in severe weather conditions with complicated and dangerous situations. Although units within the Region have been equipped with modern materiel, a number of instructors directly in charge of the training work still lack combat experience.

Against that backdrop, the Region’s Party Committee and commanders have adopted solutions to direct and perform all pieces of the party and political work synchronously. A focus of this work has been placed on building politically, ideologically and organizationally strong units and agencies and regularly grasping the ideological situation of their troops. Doing so has contributed to rendering cadres and soldiers aware of their duties and tasks, improving their political stand, building collective consciousness, enhancing their determination to fight, and maintaining the qualities of Uncle Ho’s soldiers - Naval soldiers.

First of all, the Region’s Party Committee and Command have attached great importance to improving the effectiveness of political education and making cadres and soldiers absolutely loyal to the Party and the State and ready to sacrifice themselves for defending the national sovereignty over seas and islands. This is a basic and fundamental solution to increase the Region’s overall quality and combat power. Accordingly, units across the Region have renewed education forms, content and methods in a succinct, easy-to-remember, and easy-to-understand way. At the same time, attention has been paid to introducing the Party’s military and defence views and policies, especially the ones defined in the 10^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.4 on “Vietnam’s Marine Strategy up to 2020” and the tasks of the Navy and the Region to cadres and soldiers. The Region’s agencies and units have regularly provided education for soldiers so that they could fully understand the global and regional situation, especially new developments in the seas and on the islands under their management. In addition, great value has been attached to unmasking the hostile forces’ sabotage conspiracies and artifices as well as grasping our Party and State’s views and policies on settling disputes at sea. By doing so, units and agencies have managed to raise their troops’ awareness of friends and enemies and the individual and collective tasks, while situations have been properly handled in accordance with the guidance of the Navy.

Preserving weapons and technical equipment

The Region’s Party Committee has directed its affiliates to flexibly apply and diversify education forms in accordance with their characteristics and tasks and their troops’ psychology and educational level. In particular, due regard has been paid to the forms, including thematic learning, news briefing, political and ideological meeting, newspapers reading, radio listening, forum, and direct dialogue; moreover, the Political and Cultural Day and the Legal Study Day have been stringently maintained. Simultaneously, significance has been attached to combining education, persuasion, and encouragement with administrative measures and conducting twinning and exchange activities and mass mobilization, thereby making a huge change in cadres and soldiers’ thought and actions, improving their awareness, and building up their political bravery, determination, and willingness to undertake and fulfil all assigned tasks. In addition, consideration has been given to closely combining regular education with thematic education, aligning political education with military standard order building and discipline management, and encouraging cooperation between units and local party committees and authorities, mass organizations, and families in order to educate soldiers and grasp their thought.

The Region’s Party Committee and commanders have required agencies and units to strictly manage their soldiers’ ideological situation. The work of grasping, managing, reporting and handling troops’ ideological situation at all levels has been always well maintained. The all-level cadres have always upheld a sense of responsibility and kept a close eye on soldiers’ performance of duties, especially at sea, thereby detecting and opportunely settling arising issues. The management of troop ideology has always been comprehensive and centred on their political stand, responsibility for tasks, motivation for self-improvement, self-discipline, ethics, and lifestyle. Due regard has been paid to the soldiers whose families are in difficult circumstances and the ones with bad manners and discipline violations so as to adopt appropriate management and education measures. Besides, the ideological work, organizational work and policy work have been harmoniously combined with one another. Doing so has enabled units and agencies within the Region to closely and comprehensively manage their troops’ thought and create a sense of internal unity and allowed leaders and commanders at all levels to assess, forecast, and effectively handle ideological problems.

The operation of the Navy at sea is highly independent and often faces dangerous and complex situations. In order to successfully fulfil the tasks, the party committees and commanders, especially ship captains and political commissars, play an important role in opportunely handling arising problems. Therefore, the Region’s Party Committee has attached special importance to enhancing the leadership and commanding capacity of presiding cadres. Many measures have been executed to strengthen the building of pure and strong party organizations in association with that of comprehensively strong agencies and units. In this regard, emphasis has been placed on increasing the capacity to concretize higher echelon’s resolutions and directives and building a contingent of cadres and party members who are truly leadership nucleus and centre of the unity block within their units. All-level party committees have always paid attention to raising the quality of party meetings and intensifying the work of inspection and supervision to promptly detect and prevent the signs of discipline violation. The Region’s Party Committee has required all cadres and party members, especially presiding officers to set good examples in the observance of the Party’s Political Platform, Charter and resolutions, the State laws, and the Military’s discipline and regulations, to have a healthy lifestyle, to match their words with their action, and to demonstrate their sense of solidarity and love for their comrades. At the same time, the work of managing party members has been well conducted both quantitatively and qualitatively through individual dossiers, task assignment, daily activities, and studying. Particularly, great importance has been attached to managing party members in key units and maintaining close coordination between units and local party committees for the sake of party member management under the Regulation 76-QĐ/TW by the Politburo. In addition, the Region’s Party Committee has directed party committees and organizations at all levels to well implement the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW on studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle in association with the execution of the campaign entitled “Promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers - Naval soldiers” and consider this as a routine task of every cadre, party member, and soldier. Thanks to that, the all-level party committees have always understood the thoughts and aspirations of cadres and party members, while opportunely solving ideological problems.

Currently, cadres and party members within the Region’s Party Organization have steadfast political willpower, high sense of responsibility, pure ethics and lifestyle, and ample capability. There has been neither sign of degradation in political ideology nor expression of awareness contrary to the Party’s views and guidelines. 100% of cadres and party members are fully aware of their tasks and strictly abide by the task assignment of relevant agencies. Over 86.3% of party organizations under the Region’s Party Organization are rated pure and strong; over 87% of party members perform their tasks well and excellently. 100% party cells of the ships with party committees, captains, and political commissars complete their tasks well and excellently.

Giving medical aid to fishers at the DK1 Platform

In order to create synergy, the Region’s Party Committee and commanders have regularly focused their leadership, direction on strictly maintaining military standard order, managing discipline, promoting the Determined-to-Win Emulation Movement, and ensuring troops’ material and spiritual life. Units within the Region have strictly maintained the order for training, combat readiness, patrol, guard, and duty, while the daily, weekly and monthly regulations have also been stringently observed. Emulation activities of the Region have been intensified and become a momentum for collectives and individuals to fulfil their tasks. Performance assessment and commendation have been conducted in an accurate fashion, creating an excited spirit and self-consciousness of study and training among soldiers. Promotion, salary increase, appointment, commendation, and disciplining have been carried out in a serious, democratic, equal and transparent manner by the Region’s Party Committee and its affiliated party committees at all levels. Troops’ material and spiritual life, especially on national holidays and Lunar New Year vacations has always been ensured. The regimes and policies for military personnel and their families, especially for those in difficulty, have complied with the current regulations and units’ actual conditions. Units and agencies have carried out many practical, effective, and opportune activities to solve problems and ensure the rights of soldiers, while visiting, encouraging, and helping the families of military personnel in difficult circumstances, constructing houses of comradeship, supporting cadres and soldiers with life-threatening diseases, and donating money to support military families in disaster-stricken areas. Doing so has contributed to raising soldiers’ awareness, sense of responsibility, and comradeship. The Region has also focused on well conducting the mass mobilization work and practical, effective twinning and exchange programmes with local party committees, authorities, socio-political organizations and people within its area. Therefore, the unity and solidarity between its units and local people have been fostered as an incentive for its troops and units’ good task performance.

Clearly understanding the role of cadres and soldiers’ political stance and combat determination in the performance of its missions, in the coming time, the Region will keep improving the effectiveness of political and ideological education for its troops and building up their political will and combat morale. Moreover, it will continue to devote efforts to standardizing, modernizing, and making itself capable of firmly protecting the national sovereignty and security in the seas and on islands under its management.

Captain Do Van Yen, Secretary of the Region’s Party Committee, Political Commissar of the Region