The National Training Center for Air Search and Rescue (Air Defence – Air Force Service) is assigned to train paratroop instructors and paratroopers, search and rescue personnel of the Service, officers and staff in charge of air search and rescue for the military and the National Committee for Search and Rescue; to provide paratroop training for pilots and flight crews of air force units as well as airborne forces from services and corps and to be ready to participate in contingency missions. Over the past years, there have been more missions with higher requirements, broader range of operations, and larger number of trainees from different forces. Meanwhile, the staff and instructors of the center are limited both in number and capability; the available training equipment is mainly out of date, except for some modern ones.

In particular, the Center’s mission is extremely dangerous and requires the professionalism. Thoroughly understanding the difficulties and challenges, the Center’s Party Committee and Commanders have implemented a number of synchronous and appropriate solutions aiming at improving their capacity to perform tasks and meeting the requirements.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Ngoc Vy teaches the cadet to use the equipment

Firstly, the Center has focused on building it into a politically strong unit as the basis for enhancing its capacity and task performance. Accordingly, the Center has synchronously taken measures on political, ideological, and organizational work; strengthened the leadership capability, combat strength of party organizations at all levels, etc. Due to the complex, risky and highly intense nature of paratroop training and air search and rescue, the thoughts, emotions, psychology, and health of the soldiers and officers are sometimes impacted. Therefore, the Center has paid special attention to the work of political and ideological education to build courage and nurture the professionalism for its staff, considering it one of the most important elements deciding the performance of assigned political tasks. In order to successfully implement this work, due regard has been attached to introducing and disseminating the tasks; maintaining the order of political education; conducting education and propaganda on the position, significance and importance of air search and rescue missions, and the tradition of the heroic Air Defence – Air Force in order to raise awareness and responsibility, build confidence and courage, and achieve a sense of unity among troops and officers in performing tasks. In addition, the Center has focused on grasping and managing the thought of officers and troops and encouraging them, especially in the face of difficult and complicated tasks; implementing and maintaining the democratic principles at grassroots level; promoting the vanguard, exemplary role of officers and party members in the performance of tasks, etc. The Party Committees and Commanders at all levels have paid attention to understanding the thought of officers, instructors and staff; promptly handling the emerging issues, maintaining stability and unity in the units. As a result, 100% of officers, instructors and staff of the Center have shown the spirit of good discipline and political awareness, and high sense of determination in performing their duties; being firm psychological foundation for trainees during training.

The quality of training institutions in general and in those the military in particular, always depends greatly on the role of instructors. For the Center, it is more precise when the task of air search and rescue is conducted in harsh and complex environment, space, and time, and requires professional skills. Therefore, to meet the requirements and tasks, the Center has focused on building a contingent of high-quality instructors and employees. In order to have skillful instructors and cadres with sufficient quantity, over the past years, the Center’s Party Committee and Commanders have stepped up the planning work, strictly maintained the procedures of selecting personnel; proactively asked the Service to assign officers who have served as commanders, and staff officers in air units, paratroop cadets from the Air Force Officer Training School and excellent cadets trained by the Center to serve the Center. Together with strengthening organizational structure, attention has been paid to the improvement of training quality to raise the professional qualifications and skills of the staff. In doing it, the Center has applied different forms of training, with a focus on the on-the-spot training under the direction that the senior and more skillful ones instruct the junior and less skillful ones, while selecting officers and instructors as the key ones to attend training courses both at home and abroad. In addition, importance has been attached to maintaining strict discipline and professional and physical training, regularly assessing and classifying the capabilities and qualifications of officers and employees, especially the level of paratroopers.

Focuses have been placed on training instructors and employees’ careful, meticulous working habit, making them master skills and procedures in training and performing tasks, such as swimming and rope ladder climbing skills and parachute folding, checking, and dropping, etc. Along with these measures, the Center has regularly cooperated with other departments and agencies in holding training courses for air force units, the Training Center for Marine Search and Rescue, Naval Academy, etc.; collaborated with functioning departments and agencies in inviting foreign experts to provide training within the framework of international cooperation programs; actively conducted exercises and dispatched its personnel to participate in domestic and international exercises so that its instructors and employees could be exposed to different environments and situations, particularly the new ones. To date, the Center has dispatched dozens of officers, instructors and employees to participate in international exercises, such as: AREX in Cambodia, ARDEX-13 humanitarian relief exercise of ASEAN countries in Vietnam, "Lightning" Exercise in Thailand, and other search and rescue exercises in Indonesia, Singapore, China, and the United States, etc.

Parachute jump training

Together with the professional training, the Center has cooperated with other civil and military training establishments in opening methodology and foreign language training courses for 100% of instructors, meeting the training requirements. With the above-mentioned synchronous measures, so far, 100% of the Center’s instructors and employees have been highly qualified paratroopers in search and rescue operations, meeting both short-term and long-term training requirements.

Due to the characteristics of the work of training paratroop cadres and employees and conducting air search and rescue operations, the Center has collaborated with different departments and units, such as Department of Search and Rescue, air force units and Northern Flight Service Company, etc. to exploit their equipment. Therefore, together with professional training, importance has been attached to the task of coordination and training preparation. Annually, based on the assigned tasks, the Center cooperates with related functioning agencies and units to prepare plans for training and search and rescue in accordance with the regular and contingency situations. Accordingly, contents and training program for each level of trainees, especially the contents of practical training, have been clearly identified so that the coordination with relevant agency and unit can be proactively worked out and implemented.

Along with that, attention has been paid to efficiently using funds for investment and procurement of new equipment; developing visual training materials and consolidating and refining a number of practical training models, such as airplanes and artificial mountains, etc., for training and performing tasks. At the same time, to perform the task of technical assurance, importance has been attached to ensuring the technical coefficient of machines and carry-on equipment; maintaining the Technical Days, regularly inspecting and maintaining training equipment. In addition, the Center has focused on ensuring good material and spiritual life for officers, instructors and employees, especially the refreshment time after conducting training in harsh environment. As a result, over 98.6% of its strength is always in good physical and spiritual condition, contributing to the implementation of the training program and plan, ensuring absolute safety in training and performing tasks. Taking measures synchronously, in the past years, the Center has completed dozens of training courses for paratroop officers and technical personnel for the military and the National Committee for Search and Rescue. As for the results of training courses, 100% of cadets are qualified, with over 80% of who recorded good and excellent results. The Center’s instructors and technical staff have shown excellent skills in examinations, contests and movements. In search and rescue exercises held by the Air Defence – Air Force Service and the National Committee for Search and Rescue, the Center’s personnel always successfully accomplished their missions and been highly appreciated by the Government, the Ministry of National Defence, and the Service.

It can be said that these are only the initial outcomes but provides an important basis for the National Training Center for Search and Rescue to continue to strive to improve their comprehensive capability to successfully accomplish all assigned missions.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Ngoc Vy, Commander of the Center