“Emulation is patriotism; patriotism must be expressed through emulation. And the emulators are the most patriotic people.” Being imbued with Ho Chi Minh’s teachings, the Party Committee and Command of the Air Defence - Air Force Service have focused their leadership and direction on adopting measures for promoting the Determination to Win Emulation Movement, thus contributing to making the Service comprehensively strong and capable of all assigned tasks.
To that end, the Service has grasped the Party’s guidelines, the State’s policy, resolutions and directives by the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the Ministry of National Defence (MND), and guidance by the General Department of Politics (GDP) on the emulation-commendation work and the Determination to Win Emulation Movement. By doing so, it has comprehensively carried out the Determination to Win Emulation Movement, with a focus on overcoming weaknesses, building a strong Service, and improving the synergy and combat readiness capability. The Movement has been implemented frequently at each level, sector, and unit, and combined with patriotic emulation movements and campaigns launched by organizations and sectors to create the synergy for successfully fulfilling the task under Uncle Ho’s teachings: “Every one emulates, every sector emulates, we will certainly win victory, and the enemy will be certainly defeated.” Notably, in response to the complex developments of the global and regional situation, particularly at sea, in recent years, the Service has always focused on educating its cadres and soldiers on the patriotic spirit and encouraging them to heighten the determination and absolute loyalty for the Party, Homeland, and people, to love their comrades, to respect the people, and to readily fight and sacrifice for the defence of the Homeland’s sacred airspace. As a result, in spite of difficulties, the Service’s cadres and soldiers have always kept their faith in the Party’s leadership and heightened patriotism, determination, and vigilance in all situations. It should be noted that in hardships and difficulties, especially in natural disaster prevention and control as well as search and rescue, military pilots from the Service courageously transported leaders of the Party, State, Government, MND, and localities to the regions affected by natural disasters to direct the work of natural disaster mitigation as well as carried supplies and persons with accidents from islands and helped the people in the areas isolated by floods, thereby bolstering the noble virtues of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers - the Air Defence - Air Force’s elite Soldiers” in the new period.
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| Cadres and soldiers of the Division 372 helping the people in Hoa Ninh commune, Hoa Vang district, Da Nang city to build a road |
The Determination to Win Emulation Movement has really become a revolutionary action movement among the Service’s cadres and soldiers with specific deeds in their work, study, and combat readiness task on a daily basis. It has encouraged them to improve the qualities and personalities of revolutionary soldiers, to be active in studying and emulating Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, and to well implement the Campaign entitled “Promote tradition, devote talent, deserve to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers - the Air Defence Air Force’s elite Soldiers.” The Movement has also encouraged cadres and party members to actively overcome their weaknesses under the Resolutions of the Party Central Committee’s 4th Plenums (11th and 12th tenure) on the Party building and rectification; to effectively prevent and repel the signs of degradation, “self-evolution” and “self-transformation.”
The Determination to Win Emulation Movement has made great contributions to building comprehensively strong units and pure, strong party committees and organizations; to enhancing the quality of flight training, flight safety, combat readiness, airspace management, aviation operation, military standardization, and discipline management. The whole Service has put a lot of efforts in well implementing the “one-focus, three- breakthrough” emulation movement launched by the MND and stepping up the movements, such as “Being united, achieving feats of arms, determined to win,” “Continuing to achieve more feats of arms, maintaining coordination to win victories,” “Raised awareness, high responsibility, exemplary action,” and “the Service’s cadres and soldiers foster workplace culture and deserve to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers.” When executing these movements, many units within the Service have gained the “three-exemplary” title, excellently fufilled their political task, managed discipline closely, defended the Homeland’s airspace, and avoided falling into passivity in all situations in the air. In the Determination to Win Emulation Movement, the models, such as “four grasps,” “thirst for flying and studying,” “exemplary flying week,” and “good training and shooting” have been multiplied and contributed to building good training units. Moreover, the model of “clever mass mobilization” unit has been creatively employed in order to build strong stationed areas, which has indicated that the Determination to Win Emulation Movement has been transformed into self-aware, effective actions of the Service’s staff members.
To step up the Movement comprehensively, the Service’s affiliates have always attached great value to settling the relationship between personnel and materiel and grasping and effectively implementing the Campaigns, namely “manage and exploit weapons and technical equipment in an effective, sustainable, economical, safe fashion and traffic safety” and “standardize the technical order and master materiel.” Due regard has been paid to raising the Service’s cadres and soldiers’ awareness towards the importance of materiel maintenance, managing and using effectively the existing materiel. Priority has been given to managing and exploiting the modern materiel. The movement of scientific research and technological application within the Service has obtained positive results. Many initiatives have been applied widely to opportunely raising the quality of training and combat readiness, thereby saving hundreds of billions of VNDs.
In addition, the movement entitled “the Military Logistics Branch follows Uncle Ho’s teachings” has been actively implemented so as to provide timely, sufficient logistics support for training, combat readiness, and especially the exercises held by the MND and the Service and other ones at the divisional and regimental levels. The movement has achieved encouraging results and helped effectuate many models, such as “five-good military medical unit” and “good financial management unit” which have made significant contributions to the Determination to Win Emulation Movement in all tasks of the Service. Units within the Service have been effectively executed the movement entitled “build and manage regular, bright, green, clean, scenic barracks.” Units’ barracks have always been improved. The construction projects have met troops’ demands for training, combat readiness, and daily life. Due to the particularities of the stationed areas of some units within the Service, it has directed those units to enhance the movement of animal and crop husbandry, particularly in mountainous areas and on islands, which has improved troops’ life.
The Service’s mass organizations have concentrated on stepping up the emulation movements, such as “green Sunday” by the youth union, “women assist one another in household economy development” by the women’s union, “good and creative labour” and “each engineer introduces an initiative, each trade union team develops an initiative” by the trade union. Doing so has helped create a huge change in the qualities, morality, lifestyle, and job devotion of each cadre and union as well as build strong mass organizations. The Determination to Win Emulation Movement has always been closely combined with the other movements, such as “all people unite in building cultural lifestyle,” “the Military joins hands in building new countryside,” and “the Military joins hands for the poor - no one left behind.” Units within the Service have organized hundreds of working trips to localities, particularly remote, isolated areas to disseminate the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy and cooperate with local party committees and authorities in opportunely, effectively handling the complex issues arising from reality.
The Service has drawn several lessons from its leadership, direction, and implementation of the Determination to Win Emulation Movement as follows.
First, frequently grasping Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, the Party’s guidelines, and the State’s law and policy on emulation and commendation; well carrying out the work of education and propagation to raise organizations and forces’ awareness and responsibility; regularly building the motivation for emulation; improving a sense of responsibility of party committees, commanders, commissars, emulation-commendation councils, and political offices at all levels; promoting the role model-setting role of cadres and party members in the process.
Second, renewing the content, method, and form of the emulation movement. The topic of emulation movements must be short and easy to understand and remember. The goal of emulation movements must be comprehensive and focalized. The emulation movements must create breakthroughs in overcoming weaknesses and performing new, hard tasks. The targets of emulation movements must be specific and relevant to the task requirements. The form and method of emulation movement must be diverse and in accordance with troops’ aspirations and mentality.
Third, detecting, building, and multiplying typical examples; closely combining emulation with commendation; attaching importance to unscheduled and regular commendation and the forces performing their task on islands and in mountainous, complex areas; aligning the emulation-commendation work with the personnel and policy work as the motivation for cadres and soldiers’ development and self-improvement.
Fourth, improving troops’ material and mental life; creating a favourable, healthy condition for emulation; eliminating the “achievement disease” in emulation.
In any circumstance, cadres and soldiers of the Air Defence - Air Force Service always well implement the Determination to Win Emulation Movement, keep their absolute faith in the Party, State, and people, promote the spirit of “daring to fight, knowing how to fight, and being determined to fight,” successfully fulfil the task of managing and defending the Homeland’s airspace.
Maj. Gen. Tran Ngoc Quyen
Head of the Service’s Political Department