Paralleling the entire Party, military and people’s implementation of the Directive 05-CT/TW by the Politburo (12^th tenure) on acceleration of studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics and lifestyle, military colleges have actively executed the Directive via practical actions, thereby contributing to the improved quality of Party building, cadres training and educational task.

According to the strategy to develop education and training in the Army during the 2010 - 2020 period, training and cultivating military cadres and specialist staff must make them possess political zeal, absolute loyalty to the Party, Homeland and people, creative thinking, military, political, scientific, specialist knowledge to meet the requirements of hi-tech warfare, democratic and organized manners, sense of unity, pure ethics, healthy lifestyle, and fitness, and ready to fight and successfully fulfil the task of building the Army and safeguarding the Homeland. To reach that goal, military colleges have proposed content and measures in accordance with each school’s particularities; among which grasp and implementation of the Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW (12^th tenure) serve as a common measure to contribute to training a contingent of “red” and “expert” military cadres, meeting the mission requirements in the new situation.

Grounded in their function and assigned tasks, during the course of implementation, military colleges have concretized the Directive’s content into criteria relevant to characteristics and requirements of education and training missions in line with the implementation of the Resolution of the Central Party Committee’s 4^th Plenum on Party building and rectification, thereby making a fundamental change in awareness, moral improvement, living and working styles of military cadres, instructors and troops. 100% of party organizations and individuals have developed plans and registered content for studying and following Uncle Ho’s lifestyle in accordance with their function and assigned tasks. Therefore, that has helped gradually reduce violations of military discipline and educational regulations and overcome the signs of degradation in political ideology, ethics, lifestyle as well as “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” among cadres, party members and cadets. There have appeared increased typical examples in ethics, lifestyle, a sense of responsibility, and leadership, while the relationships between superiors and inferiors, instructors and cadets have been properly handled, and pedagogic environment has been made really pure and healthy to train military officers and specialist personnel.

However, the implementation of the Directive has been still formalist somewhere, and due regard has yet to be paid to the quality. A number of cadres, instructors and cadets have shown the signs of egalitarianism. Violations of training regulations, school statutes and traffic safety have yet to be eliminated completely, particularly those committed by cadets and young cadres, thereby negatively affecting the quality of education and prestige of military colleges. To overcome limitations mentioned above and ensure military colleges are really typical examples in studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics and lifestyle, it is necessary to adopt the following measures synchronously.

First, stepping up the study and development of core values of Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics and lifestyle. Military colleges represent an ideal environment for military and defence talents and scientists to develop and devote to the cause of national construction and protection. Thus, besides studying and developing military sciences, leadership and functional agencies of each college should accelerate the study, exploitation, development and affirmation of values of Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics and lifestyle during the process of teaching, studying and working. Accordingly, it is necessary to study, clarify and include his thought and viewpoints in education and training program on: national, class, and human liberation; national independence in association with socialism; combination of the strength of the nation and that of the times; all-people national defence; the building of the people’s armed forces; the whole people’s great unity; culture; Party building, etc. At the same time, emphasis should be placed on exploiting the system of moral theories on “industry, thrift, honesty and righteousness, public-mindedness” and his example in moral self-improvement and management of relationships “with yourself, with other people, and with work”; while focus should be on thoroughly, comprehensively researching his ways of thinking, expression, working, and living as well as his conduct. Grounded in those studies, it is important to establish criteria concerning thought, ethics and lifestyle relevant to each group of subjects. Grasp and study must be a task of routine and considered as an indispensable element of daily meetings. Also, it is vital to attach education of managerial cadres to the promotion of teaching staff’s role during their lecture, ensuring that Directive No.5 becomes a type of spiritual nourishment in military colleges.

Second, strengthening leadership and direction of all-level party committees and organizations and commanders, making qualitative changes in the implementation of the Directive No.5 among military colleges. This measure directly contributes to making party organizations politically, ideologically, organizationally, morally strong, preventing and repelling the degradation in political ideology, ethics, and lifestyle as well as the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within. At the same time, it decides the effectiveness of implementing the Directive No.5 and building advanced, exemplary colleges. Therefore, military colleges’ party committees and organizations at all levels should regularly review, adjust, complement criteria set in resolutions and action plans for the implementation of the Directive No.5, while continuing to concretize the Directive’s content into standards of ideology, ethics and living style for collectives and individuals to follow. It is necessary to attach the implementation of the Directive No.5 to that of the Resolution of the Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum (12^th tenure), the Resolution of the Party Central Resolution Committee’s 8^th Plenum (11^th tenure) on “fundamental, comprehensive renovation of education and training” as well as emulation movements and major campaigns, particularly the movement “good teaching, good learning, good researching” and the campaign “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” so that the study and follow of Uncle Ho become a task of daily routine in all agencies and units. Commanders and leadership at all levels should heighten a sense of responsibility and be examples in implementing the Directive No.5 via specific measures and approaches. During the process of leadership and direction, party committee secretaries, commanders, political cadres and offices should keep a close eye on grass-roots units, candidly point out strong and weak points, and seek for remedial measures, ensuring the close connection between the evaluation of task performance and the result of studying and following Uncle Ho.

Third, diversifying forms and methods to study and follow Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics and lifestyle among military colleges. This measure is aimed at making a transformation from resolutions and plans on implementing the Directive No.5, by all-level party committees and organizations and commanders, into actions. Thus, it requires uniform, synchronous collaboration of the system of organizations, offices and units in colleges. Grounded in their condition, tasks and characteristics, each office and unit employ proper forms and methods. As for offices and faculties, it requires that: individuals should register the study and following of Uncle Ho; concentrated introduction and studying courses should be organized; experts should be invited to deliver talks; slogans should be hung in proper places; emulation movements and competitions should include the Directive’s content. As for units of cadet management, a part from the forms and methods mentioned above, it is necessary to combine the study and following of Uncle Ho with intensification of emulation movements and campaigns. At the same time, it is important to work with faculties/departments of Ho Chi Minh Ideology to concretize and make Uncle Ho’s moral standards and style relevant to each group of cadres and each college’s goals and requirements of education; to apply to lectures about Ho Chi Minh’s ideology; to assign and encourage cadets to research into topics related to Ho Chi Minh. Moreover, due regard should be paid to reviewing, adjusting and completing the system of questions intended for Military Social Sciences and Humanities Olympic Contest, while importance should be attached to increasing the volume of content related to Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics, lifestyle and organizing the Contest at all levels in a close, serious manner. In addition, it is crucial to find out proper, effective models, such as “tell one deed of Uncle Ho on a daily basis”, “tell one story about Uncle Ho on a weekly basis”; to bring into play the system of propagation boards and internal radio broadcast to disseminate “good people did good deeds” examples; to include topics of the study and following of Uncle Ho in spiritual - cultural meetings in order to make his thought, ethics and lifestyle the qualities of each cadre, cadet and staff member of military colleges.

Fourth, successfully conducting inspection and review, and multiplying typical examples. Reality shows that leadership, direction and close implementation represent the deciding factor. However, if importance is not attached to inspection and review, the result will be hardly stable. Hence, due regard should be paid to opportunely adjusting targets and rectifying ideological deviations. The study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics, lifestyle must be among important criteria for assessing the task performance of collectives and individuals and classifying the quality of collectives, party organizations and members as well as cadres, instructors, cadets, employees and soldiers on an annual basis. Significance should be attached to carrying out the work of emulation and commendation. The process of reviewing the implementation of the Directive must be in a “democratic, accurate, timely, public” manner to detect and multiply typical examples, draw lessons and accelerate the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics and lifestyle among military colleges.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Huy Dong, PhD, Major Doan Hai Yen MA

Military Academy of Logistics