Being imbued with President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings that “emulation is patriotic and patriots must emulate,” over the years, the Artillery Corps’ Party Committee and Command have adopted a large number of solutions for leading, directing, and creatively carrying out the Determination to Win Emulation Movement and the emulation - commendation work, thus contributing to successfully fulfilling the Corps’ assigned tasks, particularly its political mission.
First of all, the Corps has always placed emphasis on strengthening all-level party committees, commissars, commanders, and political offices’ leadership and direction over the emulation - commendation work and the Determination to Win Emulation Movement. Grasping higher echelons’ directives and resolutions, especially the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 507-CT/QUTW on “continuing to renew the emulation - commendation work within the Vietnam People’s Army” and the Circular 151/2018/TT-BQP, dated October 12th, 2018 by the Ministry of National Defence on the emulation - commendation work within the Vietnam People’s Army, the Corps Party Committee has issued a specialised resolution on “renewing and stepping up the Determination to Win Emulation and multiplying typical examples” with the aim of achieving a consensus within the Corps. In the process, the Corps has directed its affiliates to consolidate emulation - commendation councils, 3 emulation clusters, and emulation groups within each office, unit, and school, review, supplement, and complete the Regulations on Emulation and Commendation. At the same time, they have been required to include the content and targets of emulation in party committees’ monthly, periodic, annual resolutions and commanders’ working plans and make the goals and targets of emulation set by higher echelons relevant to their units’ particularities. Besides, units within the Corps have ordered their staff members to register emulation titles, while renewing the content, form, and method of emulation in a comprehensive but focalised manner, with greater importance attached to improving the performance of their central political task and overcoming their weaknesses.
There is a fact that in order to enhance the effectiveness of emulation movements, it is vital to create an incentive for emulation among all soldiers, offices, and units within the Corps. Hence, the Corps’ Party Committee and Command have stepped up the work of propagation and education to raise cadres and soldiers’ awareness of emulation and create their incentive for emulation. To that end, the Corps has given priority to conducting the work of propagation within its grass-roots level units via various methods in accordance with each group of troops. Great value has been attached to introducing directives, resolutions and guiding documents by higher echelons and the Corps on the emulation - commendation work and heightening the significance and importance of emulation movements to fulfilling units’ political task. In addition to carrying out the work of education and building up troops’ incentive for emulation, the Corps has placed emphasis on clarifying the particular difficulties and hardships in performing the task and using the results of emulation as an important yardstick for assessing collective and individual task performance. Doing so has enabled the Corps to build up cadres and soldiers’ incentive and responsibility for realising the targets of emulation movements and render soldiers and especially commanders at all levels fully aware that the Determination to Win Emulation Movement is an important method and a good opportunity for improving the qualities and practical abilities of a revolutionary soldier, thereby raising individual responsibility and exemplary role in the process.
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| Sr. Lt. Gen. Phan Van Giang, Chief of the General Staff, Deputy Minister of National Defence and commanders of the Corps inspecting the training work at the Missile Regiment 490 |
To enhance the effectiveness and spillover of emulation movements, the Corps has actively renewed and diversified forms and methods of organising the movements, carried out the movements in a comprehensive but focalised fashion, and concentrated on successfully fulfilling the political task, building comprehensively strong units, settling units’ weaknesses, combining regular emulation with special emulation, and aligning the Determination to Win Emulation Movement with movements and campaigns launched by sectors to create the synergy in the emulation - commendation work. Over the past 5 years, the Corps’ emulation work has always been comprehensively carried out under the motto of “responsibility, discipline, and quality,” with a focus on building politically, ideologically and organisationally strong offices and units, successfully fulfilling the political task, and achieving “three breakthroughs.” It is worth noting that in training and education, units within the Corps have launched many special emulation movements, such as “high-quality training week,” “couple of friends in study,” “good training artillery company,” and “good training artillery battalion” within the Artillery Brigade 45, “striving for good training and strict discipline,” “youth’s day for high-quality training,” and “exemplary training week” within the Brigade 204, “couple of friends in training” within the Brigade 96, “officers are also gunners” within the Brigade 675 as well as “good learning, teaching, and working,” “three-practicality,” and “say no to negative and merit-driven practices in education” within the Artillery Officer College. In addition to well organising emulation movements, the Corps’ Party Committee and Command has further held military competitions at all levels. As a result, the Corps’ training quality, combat readiness level, and capacity to respond to emergencies and unscheduled tasks have been raised considerably. Over the past 5 years, 34 units of the Corps have been given the title of “comprehensively strong unit” by the Ministry of National Defence while 121 companies, 38 battalions, and 9 brigades within the Corps have been recognised as “good training artillery unit.”
When carrying out the Determination to Win Emulation Movement, units of the Corps have always promoted the vanguard role of mass organisations and combined this Movement with major campaigns launched by the Party, the State and the Military, particularly the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics and lifestyle and the Campaign entitled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers.” The movements, such as “military youth strive to improve ethics and knowledge to deserve the title of Uncle Ho’s soldiers” by the Youth Union, “military women to be active in study and work” by the Women’s Union, and “saving 1,000 VND” by the Trade Union have attracted the participation of a large number of members of those unions and practically contributed to fulfilling units’ political task. A part from those movements, offices and units within the Corps have well executed the movements, namely “the Military Logistics Branch follows Uncle Ho’s teachings” and “manage and exploit weapons and technical equipment effectively, sustainably, safely, economically and ensure traffic safety” with specific models and approaches, such “building the five-good military medical units,” “medical soldiers follow Uncle Ho’s teachings,” “building and managing standard, bright, green, clean, scenic barracks,” and “standard, safe, effective transportation units,” thereby making contributions to raising the quality of logistics and technical support for the Corps’ missions.
By means of practical, effective measures and approaches, the Determination to Win Emulation Movement within the Corps has been unceasingly developed both widely and deeply and become an incentive for its units to fulfil all assigned tasks. Via emulation movements, there have been many typical examples. Since 2014, within the Corps, 2 units have been given the title of “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces, 1 unit and 2 individuals have been presented with the Military Exploit Order, 14 collectives and 65 individuals have been awarded the Fatherland Defence Order. Notably, in 2016, the Corps was given the First-Class Fatherland Defence Order by the State.
However, there have been some weaknesses in the Corps’ Determination to Win Emulation Movement. Leadership over the settlement of weaknesses has been poor. Serious violations of discipline have still occurred. Typical examples and good models being detected and multiplied have been in a small number. There have been signs of merit-driven practice and mediocrity among some individuals and units.
To maintain and enhance the effectiveness of the Determination to Win Emulation Movement (2014-2019), in the upcoming time, the Corps’ Party Committee and Command will continue thoroughly grasping higher echelons’ directives, resolutions, and guiding documents on the emulation - commendation work in the new period. The Corps will concretise those documents into proper action plans and programmes, with a focus on realising the “three breakthroughs” set by the Resolution of the Corps’ Party Congress for the 2015-2020 tenure. It will strengthen all-level party organisations’ leadership over the emulation - commendation work and heighten the role of commissars and commanders in organising, operating, and performing the emulation - commendation work and the Determination to Win Emulation Movement. Besides, it will frequently consolidate, train, and improve the all-level emulation - commendation councils and emulation clusters and groups, while renewing the method of carrying out the emulation - commendation work and the Determination to Win Emulation Movement, with priority given to raising the quality of formulating emulation plans, building emulation incentive, and organising the Determination to Win Emulation Movement. The Corps will encourage the vanguard role of mass organisations and forces in emulation movements, identify, train, and multiply new movements, models, and typical examples. In addition, it will conduct the commendation work and take disciplinary actions in an open, democratic, equal, accurate, and timely manner and resolutely fight against merit-driven practices to create a strong motivation for emulation to build a “revolutionary, standard, elite, gradually modern Corps,” deserve the tradition of “bronze feet, iron shoulders, good combat, and accurate shooting,” and satisfy the requirements set the Military build-up and national protection in the new situation.
Maj. Gen. HOANG QUAN THUAN, Commissar of the Artillery Corps