Political and ideological education plays a role of paramount importance in the party and political work of units, directly making contributions to consolidating cadres and soldiers’ political stance and viewpoint, shaping and developing their virtues and personality, preventing the degrading of political ideology, morality and lifestyle, making them ready to undertake and successfully fulfil all the assigned tasks. Fully aware of this, over the past years, the Party Committee and the Command of the Army Corps 4 have adopted various measures to enhance the quality of this work, contributing to building a politically strong Corps and improving its synergy, combat readiness and combat strength.

A young officers’ talk

Thoroughly grasping the Directive 124-CT/TW, dated March 31st 2011, by the Central Military Commission Standing Committee on “Strengthening leadership and direction over the work of political education at units in the new situation” and the Project of Ministry of National Defence “Innovating the work of political education at units in the new situation”, the Corps has raised a sense of responsibility of party committees, political commissars, junior commissars, commanders, and political organs in carrying out the work of political education, seriously grasped and followed the Regulations on units’ political education. Party committees at all levels have based on the situation, tasks and characteristics of each group of troops to identify the content of leadership over the work of political education properly, directed political organs and cadres to draw up the plan on political education for each group of troops, concretized the contents and the standards of political education into the standards and the requirements of building the cadre, party member and youth union member staff close to the reality of units. During the process of political education, party committees, political commissars, junior commissars, commanders and political organs have frequently carried out inspections and reviews to clarify strong points, weak points, disadvantages and difficulties to draw lessons and ensure the duration, goals and requirements of the process.

The Party Committee and the Command of the Corps have directed its affiliated units and organs to focus on improving  the expertise and capability of the political cadre staff under the guideline “Organs train units, superiors train inferiors”. In this regard, organs and units have successfully held the frequent training work at units, attached great importance to on-spot training and training through contests and commentaries, teaching methodology, information and technology. Over the past 5 years, the Corps has held 235 training courses with 4,000 attendances of political cadres at regiment level and above. 100% of political cadres of the units have successfully fulfilled their training task according to various levels.

Moreover, the Corps has actively innovated the contents, forms and methods of political education to meet the requirements set by reality. To ensure the quality of education, the Department of Politics of the Corps has produced reference materials for affiliated organs and units to educate troops, such as: A number of ideological situations happening in command and management of a unit, and measures to handle; Old Days of Army Corps 4 in Cambodia ; History of Army Corps 4 Party Congresses; History of the Development of the South Vietnam; traditional documentaries and songs on the Corps. A part from the regular contents of education according to the Regulations, the Corps has made the content of law education a basic part of political education for all troops, seriously held the Law Day with 5 parts, namely specialized information, games of law, sketches, answering queries about law, and showing documentaries.

Organs and units of the Corps have closely combined traditional teaching methodology with the application of information technology, knowledge conveying with experience exchange, full-time education and self-study. Besides, they have flexibly applied methods of open education appropriately for cadres and troops’ characteristics, tasks, mindset and educational level. In this regard, they have focused on forms of education, such as research on specialized topics, news update, political-ideological meeting, newspapers reading, radio broadcast listening, internal radio broadcast propagation, forum, dialogue, political, cultural and spiritual day. They have organized visits and friend-making exchanges, carried out the work of mass mobilization, and implemented emulation movements and campaigns of the Party, the State and the Military , particularly the movement of studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality and lifestyle to raise cadres and troops’ awareness, improve their knowledge, build up their cultural lifestyle, personality, strong will and resolve, and encourage them to successfully fulfil all assigned tasks.

Also, all units of the Corps have actively enhanced the quality of meetings and dialogues with troops to inform the situation and orient troops’ awareness and ideology. They have absorbed and fulfilled cadres and troops’ legitimate desires and aspirations, making contributions to maintaining and strengthening internal solidarity and unity, preventing the degrading of political ideology, morality and lifestyle, and raising awareness of obeying the military’s discipline and the State’s law.

The Corps has directed its affiliated units to focus on promoting the role of mass organizations and soldiers’ councils create the combined strength in political education and management of ideology. Moreover, it has directed them to seriously maintain order, regulations, regular building and disciplining, build a pure and healthy military cultural environment, heighten solidarity and unity, and cordially manage the relationships between superiors and inferiors, cadres and troops to achieve consensus within organs and units. Organs and units of the Corps have attached great importance to improving material and spiritual life of the troops, practising thrift, combating corruption and wastefulness. Cadres and commanders at levels have been really good examples in morality and lifestyle, and the core for solidarity within units, with various measures to gather and encourage cadres and troops to build strong units and successfully fulfil all the assigned tasks.

Thanks to sound guideline and appropriate measures, over the past years, the work of political education of the Army Corps 4 has made considerable changes. Cadres and troops’ results of political knowledge test have been increasingly improved. The Corps’ training quality and combat readiness have been unceasingly enhanced. There have been “Excellent Training Units”, such as Division 9, Division 309, Air-Defence Brigade 71, Brigade 434, Brigade 550. However, the most important result of political education is to directly make contributions to raising awareness of the situation and task, building up political stance and strong will, strengthening the faith of cadres and troops of the Corps in the Party and the regime. Facing the complicated developments of the situation, all party members, cadres and troops of the Corps have always remained steadfast, heightened revolutionary vigilance, understood and correctly identified opponents, partners, situation and tasks of the military, the Corps and units. A sense of awareness of observing law and discipline has been relentlessly raised. The number of discipline violation and traffic accident has been decreasingly reduced. Those have made positive contributions to building pure and strong party organizations and comprehensively strong units.

In the upcoming time, the Party Committee and the Command of the Corps will continue to direct its affiliated units to bring into play the good results and overcome the limitations in political education and management of ideology to enhance the synergy and successfully fulfil the assigned tasks in all situations.

Senior Colonel Pham Tien Dung

Political Commissar of Corps 4