The Artillery Brigade 434 under the Army Corps 4, whose forerunner was the Artillery Regiment 63, was founded on September 7^th 1954. During its past 65 years of construction, combat, and development, the Brigade has overcome all difficulties and hardships to engage in most of the battlefields from the North to the South, perform the international duty, successfully fulfil the assigned task, achieve many resounding victories, build up the tradition of “being united and resolve, manoeuvring cleverly, winning victories”, and make great contributions to the glorious achievements of the heroic Artillery Soldiers and Army Corps 4. With its achievements, the Brigade was given the title of “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” and the Third-Class Fatherland Protection Order; it was also presented with many noble awards by the Prime Minister, the Ministry of National Defence, the Army Corps 4’s Command, and localities in the stationed area.

Sr. Col. Tran Anh Hieu presenting the task in the reserve force exercise of 2019

In recent years, to meet the requirements for Homeland defence, the Brigade has kept improving its synergy and combat strength with synchronous, creative measures. To that end, it has focused on implementing 4 breakthrough solutions for making itself strong comprehensively so as to deserve to be a strategic artillery unit within the combat formation of a strategic mobile army corps.

First of all, the Brigade has concentrated on implementing the breakthrough solution for building itself politically strong. This is a matter of utmost importance to raising the Brigade’s synergy and combat strength. Thus, the Brigade has attached great value to carrying out the work of political and ideological education, enhancing the effectiveness of the party and political work, proactively performing the work of ideological management and internal political protection. Over the past years, the Brigade has effectively executed the Project on “renewing political education at military units in the new period”, with a focus on renewing the form and method of propagation and education and closely combining basic education with topics-based and tasks-based education and traditional education to arouse its troops’ honour to be Artillery Soldiers. In response to the task development, the Brigade has rendered troops fully aware of the situation, opponents, and their plots and artifices, thereby building up troops’ political zeal, willpower, and vigilance, encouraging them to promote the tradition of “bronze feet, iron shoulders, good combat, accurate shooting” in the new condition. Being stationed in the area with rapid industrialization and urbanization process and multidimensionally impacted by the society, the Brigade has attached significance to managing troops’ ideology. To do so, it has maintained the order for the Political and Cultural Day, required cadres to live, work, and share with troops, and cooperated with troops’ localities and families in grasping its cadres and troops’ ideology and relationships. As a result, it has been able to anticipate, orientate, and manage troops’ ideology, opportunely settle their ideological issues, and avoid being fallen into passivity. Besides, it has stepped up the Determination to Win Emulation Movement in line with the Campaign entitled “promote tradition, devote talent, deserve to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” and the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW on studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle. It has adopted many effective, creative models and approaches, such as “youth branch without any discipline violation” and “youth branch without smoking”, which have helped improve cadres and troops’ morality and lifestyle. Due attention has been paid to ensuring sufficient policies for cadres and soldiers. Consequently, 100% of the Brigade’s cadres and soldiers have shown their absolute faith in the Party’s leadership and the regime, readily undertaking and successfully fulfilling every task.

The live-firing exercise of 2019

Moreover, greater importance has been attached to conducting the work of Party building as the key to making the Brigade politically strong. Via synchronous measures, the Brigade has made a positive change in all-level party committees and organizations’ leadership and combativeness, ensuring that all full-strength companies’ party cells have party committees and all artillery platoons have party teams. It has strictly maintained the principle of democratic centralism, collective leadership, and individual accountability, raised the quality of resolutions, and promoted the vanguard role of cadres and party members, particularly key cadres. At the same time, it has further inspected and supervised party organizations and members’ implementation of resolutions, Charter of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and party members’ don’ts. It has prevented and repelled the degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle as well as the signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” under the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum. As a result, between 2015 and 2018, the Brigade’s Party Organization was always rated typically pure and strong; over 96% of its party members successfully and excellently fulfilled their task.

Second, implementing the breakthrough solution for raising the quality of training and combat readiness. To that end, the Brigade has grasped and effectively executed the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW and the Corps Party Committee’s Resolution 278-NQ/ĐU on “raising the quality of training in the period of 2013-2020 and beyond”, while actively enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of leadership, direction, management, and operation of the training work. To make training relevant to combat reality when it is confronted with difficulties in the training ground, the Brigade has conducted training on the model and combined field training with the mass mobilization work. In the process, it has adhered to the motto of “basics, practicality, and thorough grasp”, attached importance to synchronous, specialized training, taken technical specialized training as the basis, considered tactical training as the centre, and regarded cadre training as the key. At the same time, it has closely organized the training courses for each person and unit, adhered to the criteria for specialized training and for “good training artillery unit” to perform the training work, maintained the order for company-level joint exercise, command of battalion-level firing, and practice of artillery shooting on the model, and focused on the training of artillery tactics in joint and independent combat. In addition, the Brigade has directed the work of operating and drawing lessons on the training task, strictly maintained the order for military contests, and stepped up the emulation movement in training. In order to improve its manoeuvrability, the Brigade has directed units to practise manoeuvring on terrains of all types, at night, and in complex weather condition and crossing the river; to combine manoeuvre with camouflage, diversion, and reconnaissance and electronic warfare prevention and combat. Also, it has actively organized and taken part in all-level exercises, particularly the live-firing joint exercises. As a result, the result of its training work has been unceasingly improved. Between 2015 and 2018, it was continuously recognized as Good Training Unit.

Moreover, it has implemented solutions for enhancing its capability in combat readiness, maintained the order and system of combat readiness at all levels, inspected offices and units’ combat readiness, frequently supplemented and completed the system of combat documents at all levels in accordance with the Corps’ combat intent. Based on its assigned task, the Brigade has closely cooperated with relevant units and localities in proactively studying and preparing the battlefield, while practising the combat projects/plans and enhancing its capability in combat readiness.

Technical inspection of the 130 mm artillery

Third, implementing the breakthrough solution for standardization building and discipline management. To that end, the Brigade has concentrated on raising cadres and soldiers’ self-awareness of observance of discipline. At the same time, it has strictly maintained the daily, weekly regulations, enhanced measures for the management of troops, weapons, and means, and required superiors to set examples for inferiors, offices to set examples for units, and party members to set examples for the masses to follow. Besides, it has focused its leadership on improving the effectiveness of Youth Unions and Soldiers’ Councils and directing their operation towards the four breakthrough solutions via the models, such as “Triple Team”, “Pair of Soldiers”, and “Week of Self-Management Youth”. Also, it has stepped up sports, cultural, and artistic programs, particularly on national holidays and Tet holidays in order to create pleasant atmosphere and healthy military cultural environment; resolutely fought against, prevented, and stringently settled violations of discipline and regulations on traffic and training safety. Consequently, the Brigade has made progress in standardization building and discipline management; over the years, the Brigade has witnessed no violation of discipline to be settled and maintained the absolute safety.

Fourth, implementing the breakthrough solution for the logistics and technical work. As it has a large number of vehicles and artillery pieces, the Brigade has actively executed the Campaign entitled “managing and exploiting weapons and technical equipment in an effective, sustainable, economical manner and traffic safety” and improved the professional competence and responsibility of cadres, soldiers, and particularly drivers and technicians. Offices and units have strictly followed the regulations on maintaining, repairing, and extending the lifespan of weapons and technical equipment as well as regularly grasped the quantity, quality, and synchronicity of materiel for the training and combat readiness task. As a result, the Brigade’s weapons and technical equipment have always achieved the technical coefficients according the regulations, being readily manoeuvred and deployed for the task in all situations. Moreover, the Brigade has stepped up the emulation movement entitles “Military Logistics Branch follows Uncle Ho’s teachings”, fostered agricultural production, and attached great value to epidemic prevention and food safety. Up to now, units within the Brigade have been 100% self-sufficient in vegetables and 90% self-sufficient in meat and fish, thereby improving their soldiers’ meal and fitness.

The 65-year tradition and obtained results have provided a solid foundation for the Artillery Brigade 434 to further enhance its synergy and combat strength to deserve to be a typical example of the Army Corps 4 in building comprehensively strong unit and successfully fulfil all assigned tasks.

Sr. Col. Tran Anh Hieu

Brigade Commander