The Tank-Armoured Brigade 202 under the Army Corps 1, founded on October 5th, 1959, is mainly tasked with training and combat readiness. Besides, it is assigned to perform contingency missions. Over the years, grasping higher echelons’ resolutions and directives, the Brigade’s Party Committee has exercised its leadership over the synchronous, drastic implementation of various measures to raise the quality of training and combat readiness and build an “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong Brigade. Consequently, the Brigade has obtained many encouraging results; its training courses have always been closely organised with the absolute safety. Its annual exercises at all levels have exceeded the targets together with the absolute safety of personnel, weapons, and equipment. It has stringently maintained combat readiness and the safety of its targets on national holidays and in major political events of the Party, the country, and the Military. It has been given the Flag of “Good Training Unit” for 5 consecutive years by the Ministry of National Defence.

The Brigade is presented with the Flag of “Good Training Unit” for 5 consecutive years (2016-2020)

Currently, the Brigade’s task requirements are increasingly demanding, while COVID-19 pandemic has complex developments. Meanwhile, the Brigade’s facilities and technical equipment for training and combat readiness are limited. Many of cadres and soldiers’ families are confronted with a lot of difficulties in their daily life. All of those things greatly impact on the Brigade’s task performance. Grasping and executing the Resolution of the 11th Military Party Congress on completing the building of a compact, strong Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) by 2025 as the basis for building a revolutionary, regular, elite, modern VPA in 2030 as well as the Resolution of the Army Corps 1’s 10th Party Congress for the 2020-2025 tenure, the Brigade’s Party Committee has determined to raise the quality of training and combat readiness as a breakthrough amidst the outbreak of COVID-19, with a focus on synchronously taking several measures as follows.

First, frequently conduct the work of education and propagation to build up cadres and soldiers’ determination and responsibility for training and combat readiness. This measure is aimed at making a positive change in cadres and soldiers’ awareness and responsibility so that they will surmount all difficulties and successfully fulfil the task of training and combat readiness. To that end, due attention has been paid to comprehensively renewing and making the contents, forms, and methods of political education relevant to each group of troops. Emphasis has been placed on introducing higher echelons’ resolutions and directives on training and combat readiness to cadres and soldiers in order to render them fully aware of the importance of training to raising the Brigade’s synergy, manoeuvrability, and combat readiness. Doing so has also enabled cadres and soldiers to grasp the viewpoints, targets, and principles of training, helped them well prepare lesson plans and training equipment, heightened their responsibility for training preparations, and built up their determination to overcome difficulties and achieve the training targets set by the Brigade’s Party Congress for the 2020-2025 tenure. Great value has been attached to educating troops on the tradition of the Army Corps 1, the Tank-Armoured Corps, and the Brigade via various methods so as to cement their faith in the Tank-Armoured Force’s combat method and art. Doing so has allowed the Brigade to strengthen troops’ incentive during training courses, improve its cadres’ capabilities in organising and running the training work, and enhance its soldiers’ mastery over the existing weapons and technical equipment. Moreover, the Brigade has launched emulation movements during training courses and well executed the 13th Politburo’s Conclusion 01-KL/TW, dated May 18th, 2021 on continuing to study and follow Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle and the Campaign titled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new period. At the same time, it has encouraged its staff members to actively deal with difficulties and well perform the training work, which has contributed to raising its synergy, manoeuvrability, and combat readiness.

Second, make all necessary preparations for training and combat readiness. Being fully aware that the preparatory work is one of the determinants to the outcome and safety of training courses, the Brigade’s Party Committee has focused its leadership on this work prior to every training season. In this regard, importance has been attached to preparing personnel and the system of lesson plans, training equipment, and training grounds. Clearly understanding that cadres are the subject of the training process and play a key role in raising the quality of training and combat readiness, all-level party committees have closely directed the organisation of refresher courses for cadres. Moreover, superiors have been required to train their subordinates, while consideration has been given to ensuring the synchronicity of this work from commands and offices to units. In order to opportunely detect weaknesses and improve the training knowledge, method, and skills of its cadres, particularly the new graduates, the Brigade has directed its offices and units to maintain regulations on approval of lesson plans in the field. Focuses of refresher courses for cadres have been placed on complex issues leading to bad results and new points included in training plans. At the same time, the Brigade has developed and opportunely adjusted its training plans and programmes for each group of troops in a close, scientific manner amidst the COVID-19 pandemic so as to both raise the quality of training and prevent the epidemic from penetrating into its affiliates. It has promoted its cadres and soldiers’ knowledge to innovate and create training aids and materials, while applying information technology to managing and commanding the training work in a focalised, uniformed, synchronous, effective fashion to keep improving the quality and effectiveness of training and reduce the costs and troops’ labour. It has frequently upgraded the system of training grounds and stringently maintained the Regulations on the Tank-Armoured Technical Work. It has adjusted, supplemented, completed, and practised the system of combat readiness projects and documents relevant to its task requirements, while providing sufficient weapons, technical equipment, and facilities for combat readiness, natural disaster and COVID-19 prevention and control, and search and rescue as the basis for successfully fulfilling all assigned missions.

Practising crossing the river

Third, adhere to the training motto of “basics, practicality, and thorough grasp.” To that end, the Brigade’s Party Committee has directed offices and units to focus on organising synchronous, intensive training courses relevant to combat reality. Great weight has been added to improving cadres and soldiers’ skills in mastering the existing state-of-the-art weapons and equipment, closely combining tactical training with technical training, and particularly using means of information, electronic devices, and specialised hardware on tanks and armoured vehicles to meet the requirements set by modern hi-tech warfare. Night-time, situations-based, and manoeuvre training courses under combat projects have been intensified to improve troops’ adaptability to practical conditions. Additionally, the Brigade has well organised exercises to better its cadres’ commanding capacity and its affiliates’ combat coordination. Via those exercises, it has opportunely adjusted, supplemented, and perfected the system of combat readiness plans and documents at all levels in accordance with new combat conditions and its function and task. It has concentrated on inspecting and evaluating the training work, with importance attached to carrying out irregular inspections so as to honestly, objectively, practically assess the training work, completely deal with the sign of formalism and the merit-driven disease, and opportunely adopt measures for overcoming weaknesses as the basis for raising the quality of training and combat readiness.

Fourth, ensure technical and logistics support for training and combat readiness. Well implementing the technical and logistics work will guarantee the Brigade’s good performance of its central political task. Therefore, all-level party committees have grasped and strictly executed higher echelons’ resolutions, directives, conclusions, and projects on the technical work and the Campaign titled “managing and exploiting weapons and technical equipment sustainably, effectively, economically, safely and ensuring traffic safety” to contribute to raising cadres and technical employees’ awareness and responsibility for developing technical support plans and maintaining, repairing, and upgrading weapons and equipment for training, combat readiness, and contingency missions. Significance has been attached to examining tanks and armoured vehicles’ technical condition and providing tanks and armoured vehicles in a synchronous, sufficient, qualitative, and quantitative manner for all missions, particularly for training, joint exercises, and riot combat.

The Brigade’s Party Committee has placed emphasis on decentralising the provision of logistics materials for affiliates and renewing the financial management mechanism. The Brigade has effectively implemented the emulation movement entitled “the Military Logistics Branch follows Uncle Ho’s teachings, while developing large-scale animal/crop husbandry zones sustainably, protecting the environment, fighting epidemics, and ensuring food safety. At the same time, due regard has been paid to taking care of troops’ fitness and guaranteeing sufficient policies and entitlements for cadres and soldiers so that they would perform the task of training and combat readiness with the best outcome.

Bringing into play the tradition of a Hero of the People’s Armed Forces, cadres and soldiers of the Tank-Armoured Brigade 202 will continue synchronously implementing those above-mentioned measures to unceasingly raise the quality of training and combat readiness as the basis for building a “revolutionary, regular, elite, and gradually modern” Brigade capable of successfully fulfilling all assigned missions.

Sr. Col. DAO HOANG LONG, Commissar of the Brigade