Regiment 230, under the Air Defence Division 367, is the first air defence unit equipped with the 57mm automated anti-aircraft artillery system. Founded on the early days of the resistance war against the US for national salvation in the extremely difficult conditions, the Regiment promoted a sense of self-reliance, proactiveness and creativity to quickly consolidate its organizational structure, gradually mature, and gain a lot of feats of arms, deserving its name “Unification Unit” – the flagship of the Air and Air Defence Force Service on all fronts, greatly contributing to the cause of liberating the country and protecting the Homeland’s sky.
During the historic clash with the US aggressors, the Regiment inherited the glorious traditions from the “Anti-aircraft Troops” in the resistance war against the French to build up resolution and seek for method of combat in a surprise, scientific manner to successfully fight against the enemy’s war of destruction in the North. It is worth noting that as the mobile force of the Service, the Regiment was assigned to protect the surface-to-air missile sites, transportation system and critical targets, and to directly take part in the combined arms combat formation. During the resistance war, the Regiment manoeuvred across tens of cities and provinces, engaged in thousands of battles, and shot down hundreds of the enemy’s aircraft of all types. Notably, the Regiment honourably involved in major campaigns, such as Route 9 – Southern Laos (1971), Tri – Thien (1972), and especially Ho Chi Minh Campaign (1975), greatly contributing to liberating the South and reunifying the country.
In the era of national construction and protection, besides the task of protecting the Homeland’s airspace, the Regiment has actively adjusted its force and posture, enhanced training, supplemented weapons and equipment, and ceaselessly improved its synergy and combat readiness level and capability. In recent years, to meet the development of the task of protecting the Homeland, the Regiment has always attached great importance to promoting its glorious traditions, consolidating unity, and overcoming its weaknesses for the sake of successful fulfilment of its assigned task. With impressive achievements, the Regiment was given the title “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” by the State and other noble rewards.
To achieve those achievements, the Regiment’s Party Committee and Command have focused on adopting synchronous, breakthrough measures with emphasis placed on building a comprehensively strong unit.
First, concentrating on building strong unit politically, considering it as a core, consistent element deciding the unit’s task performance. To this end, the Regiment has directed its affiliates to introduce the Party’s military and defence guidelines and the Military, Service, Division and Regiment’s tasks in the new situation to cadres and troops, thereby rendering them fully aware of advantages and difficulties, hostile forces’ plots and artifices, raising their determination and responsibility for protecting the Homeland’s airspace. Implementing the Project “Renewing political education in units in the new period”, significance has been attached to closely combining political education with the management and settlement of ideological issues in accordance with each group of troops; to promoting the system of cultural institutions and Ho Chi Minh’s halls; to opportunely orienting cadres and troops politically and building up their political stuff and determination in performing the task. A focus has been placed on building pure, strong party organizations, particularly on enhancing the leadership capability and combativeness of party organizations. The work of managing, inspecting and supervising party members and organizations as well as the work of developing new party members have been highly valued in a close, procedural manner. According to annual evaluation of party members, 100% of members of the Regiment’s Party Committee have fufilled their assigned task. Besides, units of the Regiment have been requested to improve the quality of the emulation and reward work and combine the implementation of the Determined to win emulation movement with the acceleration of studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics and lifestyle under the 12th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW, the Central Military Commission Standing Committee’s Directive 87-CT/QUTW, the Campaign “Promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers”, and other campaigns and movements. At the same time, units have been active in taking measures to fight against the signs of degradation in political ideology, morality and lifestyle as well as “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within; to avoid leaking information and military secrets; to closely cooperate with local party committees and authorities in managing and training cadres, party members and soldiers; and to build strong units and safe areas. As a result, cadres, party members and soldiers have political stuff, a sense of responsibility and unity as well as strong determination to fulfill the task.
To enhance the synergy and combat strength, the Regiment has focused on three breakthroughs, namely the improvements in the quality of training, regularity building, and discipline management. To that end, before each training season, the Regiment has directed offices and units to grasp the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW, higher echelons’ Training Order and their resolutions on the training work. Besides, units have been required to make preparations, such as teaching models and aids, lesson plans, training grounds, training courses for cadres, and so on. Quarterly, monthly training courses for cadres have been seriously organized. Focuses of training have been placed on studying the enemy’s plots and artifices of air attack; features of modern weapons; methods and arts of air defence operations in the new condition. To achieve the high effectiveness, the Regiment has requested the comprehensive training with a focus placed on new points and weaknesses, especially on improving commander manners, capability to quickly review and analyze the situation, soldiers’ technical movements, and capability to track and seize the targets in complex environments (night and foggy conditions, enemy's electronic suppression).
The Regiment has intensified military regulations, physical, night-time, task-based, situation-based training and joint and combined combat exercise training to enhance troops’ manoeuvrability. Due regard has been paid to encouraging cadres and troops’ research and technical innovation, and to associating training with the maintenance of combat readiness in offices and units. The Regiment’s annual results of training have always satisfied the requirements; it has been assessed as a top unit of good training by the Division and the Service.
Being tasked with protecting Ho Chi Minh city’s airspace, the Regiment has attached great importance to improving its affiliates’ level and capability of combat readiness. Annually, its offices and units have reviewed, adjusted and supplemented the system of combat documents and projects; seriously maintained the order for duty commander and officer, particularly the order for air defence guard; actively practised enhancing all-level cadres’ capability of organization, command and operation. The Regiment has grasped and strictly observed the Military Regulations and directives and regulations by the Service and the Division on regularity building and discipline management, while regularly conducting the work of legal dissemination and education to raise troops’ sense of observance of discipline. The orders for daily, monthly meetings and study have been stringently maintained. Moreover, it has resolutely settled and fought against the concealment of weaknesses and violations leading to bad consequences for the unit. As a result, cadres and troops’ awareness and observance of State’s law and Military regulations have considerably raised; there have been no serious violations of discipline and traffic safety.
Significance has been attached to improving the quality of the logistics and technical support. Units of the Regiment have been requested to use their budget in accordance with the regulations; to ensure regimes and entitlements for troops as well as hygiene practices. Units have been active in fostering production, building regular, green, clean, beautiful camps and healthy environment. As the Regiment’s weapons and military hardware have been used for ages, it has directed its units to attach great importance to the order for maintaining and repairing weapons and military hardware on a procedural process, ensuring the coefficient and synchronicity of weapons and equipment for both regular and contingency tasks. The Regiment has effectively implemented the Campaign “Managing, exploiting weapons and technical equipment effectively, durably, safely, economically, and Traffic Safety”, while heightening a sense of responsibility of cadres and troops for managing and using weapons and technical equipment. Therefore, it has always successfully fulfilled the task of technical maintenance for training, combat readiness, and airspace management.
In the upcoming time, the Regiment’s task is very demanding. Promoting the results and experience recorded for the past 60 years as well as the tradition of a Heroic Unit, cadres and troops of the Regiment 230 will continue to strive to uphold the title “Determined to Win Unit” to firmly protect the Homeland’s airspace in the new situation.
Colonel Tran Van Thuy, Commander of the Regiment