Hoa Binh is a mountainous province, acting as the Western gateway of Hanoi capital city, having rich natural resources together with many key national economic, cultural, defence, and security constructions, holding a position of strategic importance to socio-economic development and defence-security consolidation of Military Region 3 and the entire country. Being fully aware of this, the Provincial Military Command (PMC) has always proactively given advice to local party committees and authorities and played a core role in building all-people national defence, postures of all-people national defence and people’s security, and provincial defensive zone as the basis for successfully fulfilling military-defence work and contributing to maintaining political security and facilitating rapid, sustainable socio-economic development. To that end, the province has focused on building “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong offices and units capable of well performing all assigned missions and raising the quality of training and combat readiness as a breakthrough which has been realised via a large number of drastic, synchronous measures.

First of all, grasping the Party’s military-defence guidelines and resolutions and directives of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the Ministry of National Defence on training, particularly the CMC’s Conclusion 60-KL/TW, dated January 18th, 2019 on continuing to realise the CMC’s Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW on raising the quality of training in the period of 2013-2020 and beyond, Military Region 3 Commander’s Order on military-defence work, and guiding documents by the Military Regions’ Staff on executing combat training plans, the Provincial Military Party Committee (PMPC) and the PMC have cooperated with relevant competent offices in helping the Provincial Party Committee Standing Board and the Provincial People’s Committee to issue documents on military-defence work. Typical examples include the Provincial Party Committee’s Directive 05-CT/TU, dated December 18th, 2020 on enhancing leadership over military-defence task, Plan 21/KH-UBND, dated January 22nd, 2021 by the Provincial People’s Committee on directing military-defence work, Decision 05/QĐ-UBND, dated January 7th, 2021 by the Provincial People’s Committee on targets of training, exercises, and inspection of mobilisation readiness, and the Project on “defensive zone exercises associated with socio-economic development and defence disposition between 2021 and 2025.” Grounded on those documents, the province has directed offices, units, and localities to develop resolutions and action plans of their party committees and commanders with specific targets and measures in accordance with COVID-19 prevention and control. In the process, in addition to raising leadership, direction, and responsibility of party committees, commanders, and commissars, the PMC has required offices and units to well carry out the work of political and ideological education, better the quality of party and political work, and step up the Determination to Win Emulation Movement and the movement of “building good training units.” At the same time, due attention has been paid to dealing with issues and the merit-driven disease in the training process. Doing so has enabled cadres and soldiers to fully understand the importance of training and heighten a sense of responsibility for training and combat readiness.

Commander of the PMC inspecting preparatory work for training

In order to raise the quality of training and combat readiness, the province has attached great value to designing training plans/programmes, organising refresher courses for cadres, developing and approving lesson plans, and preparing training facilities and grounds, while considering the training of cadres as a key step. Prior to each training season, the PMC has required its offices and units to hold refresher courses for their cadres at all levels. Focuses of those courses have been placed on weaknesses pointed out from previous years, sequence of shifts in combat readiness, cadres’ organisation and method of training, commanders and offices’ activities in combat preparations, method of designing lesson plans and lectures, basic contents of local military-defence work, and natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control. Offices, units, and localities have all concentrated on preparing training facilities, grounds, equipment, and records in a sufficient, unified, standard, and scientific manner. Recently, the PMC has cooperated with the province’s departments, sectors, and localities in developing a master plan for defence land in line with socio-economic development in the period of 2021-2030, with a vision towards 2050 and a project for the use of defence land between 2021 and 2025. Coordination has been maintained to conduct surveys and formulate projects on building headquarters within the province’s combat bases, logistics-technical bases, and defensive zone in phase 2. Moreover, due attention has been paid to completing projects on constructing defence works of military posture within Hoa Binh provincial defensive zone in the period of 2021-2030, thereby making significant contributions to raising the armed forces’ quality of training and exercises as well as combat readiness capacity of offices, units, and localities.

Amidst complex, dangerous developments of COVID-19 pandemic, in order to fulfil the goal of training, combat readiness, and pandemic prevention and control, the PMC has directed its offices and units to adjust their training plans, guarantee a balance between military, political, logistics, and technical knowledge, include COVID-19 prevention and control in training programmes, and organise practical training properly. In the process, units have provided training courses for each small section (no more than 20 staff members), maximised the capacity of training grounds and barracks, rotated training sessions to ensure distancing, and focused on central training contents. When COVID-19 has been under control, offices and units have quickly organised training courses for cadres and soldiers engaging in pandemic prevention and control. Thanks to well managing and taking care of troops’ health, the provincial armed forces have safely, effectively fulfilled all training programmes for officers and professional service men and women with the participation of 98.8% of the strength. In the training process, all officers and professional service men and women have passed tests, 85% of them have achieved merit or distinction, 75% of members of the militia and self-defence force have obtained merit or distinction, and the reserve force has reached its training targets.

It should be noted that adhering to the Military Regions’ direction and realising “the year of raising the quality of exercises and military contests,” the PMC has designed plans, established Steering Boards on Exercises and Steering Boards on Military Contests at all levels, conducted surveys, and identified scenarios. In the process, in addition to promulgating documents, the province has carefully prepared guiding documents on operating mechanisms, using troops, deploying field hospitals for receiving and treating COVID-19 patients, and practising projects to combat enemy infiltration and airborne operations. Thanks to effective measures, resolute, flexible, timely direction, and a sense of responsibility, the province has completed all plans for exercises at all levels, while directing Lac Thuy district, Cao Phong district, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to successfully organise defensive zone exercises and combat support exercises within the provincial defensive zone in line with projects on COVID-19 prevention and control. Via such exercises, regulations on operation of defensive zones have been supplemented and completed; meanwhile, all-level party committees and authorities’ leadership and management capacity and relevant forces’ capability in dealing with defence-situation situations have been improved as an important prerequisite for the province to achieve the “dual goal” of  COVID-19 control and socio-economic development.

In addition to those above-mentioned measures, the PMPC and the PMC have focused on building “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong offices and units and strictly maintaining regulations on combat readiness duty, study, work, patrol, and guard. Great value has been attached to ensuring technical support for weapons and technical equipment and providing logistics support for regular and irregular missions. Due attention has been paid to closely cooperating with the Public Security Force and others in giving advice to local party committees and authorities on opportunely handling incidents, thus contributing to maintaining political security and social order and safety, firmly protecting the province in any situation, and facilitating the province’s rapid, sustainable development.

Bringing into play those above-mentioned achievements, in the upcoming time, the provincial armed forces of Hoa Binh will continue grasping the Party’s guidelines on the Homeland protection and successfully fulfilling military-defence work. In this regard, importance will be attached to enhancing state management of national defence, well carrying out the work of defence and security education, and building strong political bases to strengthen the politico-spiritual potential within defensive zones. Emphasis will be placed on mobilising resources to implement the Project for the building of the provincial defensive zone between 2021 and 2025. Due attention will be paid to making the provincial armed forces strong in terms of politics, ideology, morality, organisation, and personnel with a high level of synergy and combat power. Besides, the province will well organise defensive zone exercises at all levels, combat support exercises, anti-terrorism exercises, and epidemic prevention and control exercises in order to better party committees and authorities’ leadership and management capacity for the sake of national construction and protection.

Sr. Col. NGUYEN QUOC TOAN, Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Board, Commander of the PMC