Over the years, together with training and combat readiness as its central mission, the Engineer Brigade 219 under the Army Corps 2 is tasked with national defence constructions, bomb, mine, and unexploded ordnance clearance, natural disaster prevention and mitigation, search and rescue, participation in exercises held by the Army Corps 2 and the Ministry of National Defence, and several other missions. However, the Brigade has encountered a lot of difficulties due to its complex, diverse tasks and limited equipment and means. Therefore, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have focused their leadership on adopting creative measures for well conducting its central, regular mission and attached importance to combining with the training work with the performance of other tasks. As a result, since 2014, while completing the construction of many important works, such as the Army Corps 2’s Headquarters, the Road 30-4, Mieu Mon Shooting Range, CZ-2, and QS2 and serving the exercises of PK-14, MB-17, DT-17, KH-18 and DT-18, the Brigade has always well carried out the training work; 80% of its training results have been credit and distinction, and many of its collectives and individuals have gained outstanding, solid achievements in the training work, which has been highly appreciated by higher echelons.

The Brigade receiving the Certificate of Merit from the Ministry of National Defence (2019)

To obtain that outcome, first of all, the Brigade has enhanced the all-level party committees, commands, and offices’ leadership and direction over the training work. The Brigade has frequently grasped higher echelons’ resolutions and directives on the combat training work, particularly the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW and the Army Corps 2 Party Committee’s Resolution 523-NQ/ĐU. Grounded on those documents, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have developed special resolutions and action plans for each period and year, with emphasis placed on analyzing and assessing the status and particularities of the Brigade’s training work and difficulties and challenges for this work. To ensure the all-level party committees and commands’ leadership over the training work, the Brigade has directed its Political Office to cooperate with the Staff Office in concretizing the training targets and required the all-level party committees to formulate their own special resolutions on the training and combat readiness and assign their members to be in charge of this work. At the same time, it has promoted the role of commanders and offices in counselling and inspecting this work and used the training results as a yardstick for assessing offices and units’ task performance as well as a basic criterion for cadre appointment and training, emulation and commendation.

It is worth noting that the Brigade’s affiliates have been scattered to perform their task in various directions under the difficult, complex conditions. To meet the requirements and targets set for the training work, the Brigade has directed its Staff Office to cooperate with offices and units in developing the training plans and schedules in accordance with the plans for other missions. To closely manage the training work, the Brigade has required its offices and units to frequently update the system of training records and intensify inspections of this work, especially unscheduled ones to opportunely draw lessons and overcome weaknesses. At the same time, it has proactively forecast the situation and issues, directed its offices and units to formulate the alternative plans and make preparations for the training work, and clearly assigned the task to all-level commanders to enhance the proactiveness and responsibility for their units’ performance of training work and other missions. Besides, the Brigade has stepped up the work of education to build up cadres and soldiers’ motivation, determination, and self-awareness in the training work and other missions. Doing so has helped the Brigade to handle the signs of oversimplification and formalism during the training process.

Natural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue exercise by the Brigade

In peacetime, the Engineer Force’s training work is always attached to the manufacture of products for national defence and economic development. Thus, it is important to enhance the training of cadres who directly perform the tasks and face difficulties and dangers. As the Brigade’s affiliates have been scattered and “used building site as training ground,” the Brigade has attached significance to organizing training courses for its cadres at all levels, particularly those who are directly in charge of the training work. Focuses of the training courses have been carefully selected and placed on weaknesses and new points. Moreover, great value has been attached to improving cadres’ capabilities in counselling and organizing the training work as well as their troop command and management capacity. As the Brigade has a large number of troops with different knowledge levels, its has always grasped and adhered to the motto of “basics, practicality, and thorough grasp,” and provided comprehensive, specialized, focalized training courses relevant to each force’s task and the peculiarities of the engineer service for a mobile main army corps. The Brigade has determined to train its troops to master infantry and specialized skills and tactics as well as the existing weapons and technical equipment. To that end, the Brigade has stepped up a reform in the training content and method, increased practise and night-time training, organized and rotated the training sessions properly, provided the training courses according to different levels of difficulty, and ensured solid training. The Brigade has directed units in charge of construction far away from their headquarters to align the training work with the emulation work. The theoretical content has been provided in the waiting period for construction and days off while the content related to engineering speciality has been organized right in the building site according to shifts, teams, and rate of construction progress. As for the force in charge of supporting the task of river crossing, the Brigade has increased the duration for training and combined the training work with natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue, with emphasis placed on improving the skills of drivers and motorboat steerers, ensuring that 100% of this force’s troops would master the existing weapons and equipment and could effectively use 1-2 pieces of equipment to deal with the complex developments of the weather. Reality has shown that organizing the training work associated with performing the task and providing training in the building site represent the most effective approach for the Brigade, particularly for its specialized training; however, the training work must be organized in an extremely scientific and close manner while top priority should be given to the safety regulations. Since 2017, the Brigade has cooperated with the districts of Luong Tai and Thuan Thanh (Bac Ninh province) and the district of Luc Ngan (Bac Giang province) in holding natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue exercises with good results. It has both constructed military works and completed the training program for its troops, particularly for the forces undertaking bomb and mine clearance and participating in riot prevention and combat mission assigned by the Ministry of National Defence (MND). It has also provided the training courses on river crossing, meeting the requirements for the joint exercises by the Army Corps 2 and the MND.

A training session on bomb and mine clearance

Besides, the Brigade has focused its resources on the training work and other missions. On a yearly basis, the Brigade has promoted its internal strength and taken advantage of its troops’ labour and creativity to upgrade and make thousands of training models and equipment as well as repairing the system of training grounds. It has directed its Staff Office to closely manage and allocate the training materials and training fields properly so as to minimize damage, loss, and wastefulness. In 2018, the Brigade actively built a training ground for infantry tactics and another one for engineering specialized training while consolidating the training field for infantry combat skill training and physical training as the basis for raising the training quality. In addition, the Brigade has concentrated on maintaining and repairing weapons and technical equipment in line with the Campaign 50, strictly maintained the order for the technical work, enhanced the quality of technical days and hours, closely carried out technical inspections of its equipment. As a result, the technical coefficient of weapons and equipment has always been ensured under the regulations for its training work and other missions. To improve its task performance, the Brigade has attached significance to promoting troops’ creativity and applied many technical initiatives and innovations to the training work, technical support, and construction in order to save its troops’ working days and labour. At the same time, it has developed animal and crop husbandry and ensured life and fitness of cadres and soldiers, especially the force performing the task outside their barracks. Therefore, 98% of the Brigade’s soldiers have always been healthy enough to participate in the training work and other missions. Things mentioned above have provided a solid basis for the Brigade to successfully fulfil all assigned missions.

Sr. Col. Tran Van Lu

Commander of the Brigade