The building of the all-people national defence in each area is a strategic policy of our Party and State. Well implementing this policy is of importance to Ha Nam province as the southern gateway of Hanoi. Therefore, the provincial armed forces have always promoted their core role in realising this policy over the past 75 years.

Following directives by the Government and the Ministry of National Defence, on March 18^th, 1947, the provincial resistance committee of Ha Nam announced its decision to establish the National Army and Militia and Self-Defence Command of Ha Nam as the forerunner of the present-day Provincial Military Command (PMC). Over the past 75 years of construction, combat, and development, the provincial armed forces of Ha Nam have always grasped and strictly implemented the Party’s military-defence guidelines, while maintaining a sense of unity to successfully fulfil all assigned missions in national liberation, construction, and protection.

In the resistance war against French colonialists, the provincial armed forces organised and took part in thousands of battles, annihilated more than 40,000 enemy troops, destroyed and captured a large number of enemy weapons and equipment. In the resistance war against the U.S., for national salvation, the province’s armed forces and people engaged in hundreds of battles to contribute to completely liberating the South and unifying the country. In the two resistance wars and the Homeland protection wars, 17,000 citizens from Ha Nam province courageously sacrificed themselves, while tens of thousands of war invalids and sick soldiers left their blood and parts of their bodies on battlefields for the sake of the country’s peace.

In the period of national construction and protection, bringing into play the tradition of “unity, proactiveness, creativity, determination to win,” the provincial armed forces have kept giving sound advice to the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Committee on military-defence work. At the same time, they have been active in training and combat readiness, maintained cooperation with other forces, and promoted their core role in building the all-people national defence, the posture of all-people national defence associated with the people’s security and the posture of people’s security, and all-level defensive zones as the basis for the province’s defence-security consolidation, social order and safety, and rapid, sustainable development. With those remarkable achievements, the provincial armed forces, 55 collectives, and 41 individuals have been given the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces and many other noble rewards by our Party and State.

The armed forces of Duy Tien district during an exercise

In the upcoming years, the Homeland construction and protection will impose more task requirements on each region and locality, including Ha Nam province. Thus, the provincial armed forces of Ha Nam will continue comprehensively successfully implementing military-defence work and especially promoting their core role in building a strong all-people national defence via synchronous measures, with a focus on the following.

First, give advice on building a solid all-people national defence. Grasping higher echelons’ resolutions and directives, the PMC will focus on assisting the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People’s Council, and the Provincial People’s Committee in issuing resolutions, directives, and plans on defence-security work in the period of 2021-2025. Emphasis will be placed on projects, namely “raising the operational quality of the Reconnaissance Intelligence Force and the People’s Intelligence Force in the period of 2021-2025,” “Ha Nam provincial defensive zone exercises between 2021 and 2025,” “building the military posture within provincial and district-level defensive zones in the period of 2021-2025,” and “organising and training the militia and self-defence force and ensuring policies for this force in the period of 2021-2025.” At the same time, due attention will be paid to disseminating and seriously implementing those documents, plans, and projects at all levels. On a yearly basis, the PMC will closely cooperate with the province’s departments, committees, and sectors in concretising the building of the all-people national defence into resolutions and plans of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Committee. Based on those resolutions and plans, it will release guiding documents relevant to each locality’ particularities. It will organise refresher courses to improve party committees’ leadership capacity and authorities and competent offices’ state management efficiency towards this important work. Due regard will be paid to consolidating steering boards and councils on defence, security, and the building of all-level defensive zones to meet the task requirements in the new situation.

Second, enhance the work of propagation and education to raise the awareness and responsibility of cadres, party members, the entire political system, and all people towards the building of the all-people national defence. Performing its function as the Standing Agency of the Provincial Defence and Security Education Council, the PMC will continue advising the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Committee to step up the work of propagation and education concerning military-defence task and the Homeland protection for the province’s Party Organisation, authorities, armed forces, and people, with a focus on providing defence and security education for all citizens, particularly for key cadres, religious dignitaries, and enterprise owners. It will maintain coordination to strictly execute defence and security education programmes for pupils and students. Moreover, due attention will be paid to disseminating legal normative documents on defence and security and raising the quality of “all-people national defence” columns and pages of press agencies to provide positive information, fight against distortions, and unmask hostile forces’ plots of “depoliticising” our Military and undermining our national great unity block. Doing so will help raise the awareness and responsibility of cadres, party members, young citizens, and all people for the Homeland protection in general, the building of a strong all-people national defence and a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” in particular.

Third, focus on building increasingly strong defensive zones. This measure plays an important role in building a strong all-people national defence. Thoroughly grasping the Party’s guidelines, the State’s laws and policies, and higher echelons’ resolutions and directives on defensive zones, the Provincial Military Party Committee and the PMC will proactively give advice to the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Committee on making provincial and district-level defensive zones increasingly solid. Significance will be attached to seriously executing socio-economic development programmes in line with the planning of the provincial defensive zone’s military posture, formulating a plan on the use of defence land in the period of 2021-2030, with a vision towards 2050, and integrating the provincial master plan for defence disposition into the planning systems of the country and the Capital Zone. In the medium term, based on Ha Nam’s Master Plan for Socio-Economic Development towards 2020, with a vision towards 2030 approved by Prime Minister, the PMC will cooperate with the province’s sectors, committees, and departments in appraising projects of socio-economic development and realising plans on building provincial and district-level defensive zones’ military posture in the period of 2021-2025. At the same time, due attention will be paid to actively mobilising resources to construct headquarters, logistics-technical bases, military rear bases, and shooting ranges at provincial and district levels under the Resolutions of Military Region 3’s Party Congress and Ha Nam Provincial Party Congress for the 2020-2025 tenure.

Fourth, build politically, ideologically, organisationally, and morally strong provincial armed forces and increase their synergy and combat readiness capacity to avoid falling into passivity in any situation. To that end, in addition to the work of political and ideological education to improve cadres and soldiers’ political zeal and the building of “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong offices and units, the provincial armed forces will enhance the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle in tandem with the 13^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.4 on building and rectifying the Party and the political system and the Campaign titled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new period. Emphasis will be placed on consolidating the organisational structure of the provincial armed forces according to Resolutions of the Politburo and the Military Central Commission towards 2025, with a vision towards 2030 in the “revolutionary, regular, elite, modern” direction. Importance will be attached to building the standing force, the militia and self-defence force, and the reserve force with proper structure and high quality and keeping raising main units’ synergy and combat readiness capacity. Consideration will be given to raising the quality of training for the standing force under the motto of “basics, practicality, solidity” and improving the quality of exercises and military contests for all forces. Due attention will be paid to maintaining cooperation between the Military and the Public Security Force under the Government’s Decree 03/2019/NĐ-CP, dated September 5^th, 2019 to ensure political security and social order and safety within the province. Great value will be attached to providing facilities and means for the provincial armed forces to play a vanguard role in natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control as well as in search and rescue.

Bringing into play their 75-year tradition of construction, combat, and development, the provincial armed forces will continue successfully fulfilling military-defence work to create a favourable condition for the province’s rapid, sustainable socio-economic development.

Sr. Col. LUONG VAN THANG, Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Board, Commander of the PMC