Dak Lak is a key province in terms of economy, culture and society, located in the heart of the Central Highlands, sharing a 73-km-long borderline with Mondulkiri province (Cambodia), holding a position of strategic importance to defence and security of the Military Region 5 and the country. This area is at the forefront of the hostile forces’ plan to sabotage and destabilize the situation. It is worth noting that they take advantage of the issues on ethnicity, religion, democracy, and human rights to gather force, develop underground reactionary bases, and encourage a proportion of the people joining demonstrations and riots for the sake of a so-called “State of Dega”. Grasping the situation and their task, over the past years, the provincial armed forces of Dak Lak have actively promoted their core role in well carrying out the military-defence work together with the party committees, authorities and people within the province, thereby maintaining political security and social order, facilitating the province’s socio-economic development.

Sr. Col. Le My Danh, Commander of the Provincial Military Command making farewells to new conscript soldiers in 2019

To do so, the provincial armed forces have proactively counseled local party committees and authorities to lead, direct and perform the military-defence work in accordance with the province’s characteristics and conditions. Grounded on the Party’s military-defence lines and higher echelons’ resolutions and directives, the provincial armed forces, particularly the Provincial Military Command (PMC) have closely cooperated with the province’s sectors, departments, and committees in advising the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee on issuing resolutions and directives in an effort to strengthen the party committees’ leadership and the authorities’ direction and management at all levels over the military-defence work. Thus, recently, the province has developed and effectively carried out the Provincial Party Committee’s Program 43-CTr/TU on implementing the Resolution of the 11^th Party Central Committee’s 8^th Plenum, the Provincial People’s Committee’s Plan 3151/KH-UBND on building Dak Lak province into a strong defensive zone, the Project on defence support in the 2015-2020 period with orientation towards 2030, the Provincial People’s Council’s Resolution 01/2016/NQ-HĐND on the Plan to build the logistics-technical base of the provincial defensive zone in the 2016-2020 period with orientation towards 2030, etc. To enhance the effectiveness of the state management of defence, all-level military offices have actively given advice on reviewing the implementation of laws and by-laws related to the military-defence work in order to clarify the weak and strong points and work out the remedial measures opportunely. Notably, the PMC has counseled the province to maintain the order for the Defence-Security Meeting between the province’s offices, departments and sectors every Friday. As a result, the national defence work has been always led and directed closely, uniformly while the all-people national defence and the posture of all-people national defence associated with the posture of people’s security in the area have been made increasingly strong. The provincial defensive zone’s potential and military posture, particularly in the key, border areas have been consolidated. Up to now, the province has completed the plan on provincial and district-level military posture, invested tens of billions of VND in building key works in the combat base, rear base, and headquarters, and accomplished the construction of groups of key border defensive positions and militia key units in 4 border communes as well as many other defensive works, thereby forming an solid inter-connected posture. In the upcoming time, the PMC will continue to advise the province on adjusting the master plan for defence disposition associated with socio-economic development until 2020 in accordance with the reality. It will cooperate with competent offices in appraising the province’s plans/projects for socio-economic development, particularly the foreign-invested projects and those in the key defence-security areas. Doing so will ensure the close combination of socio-economic development with defence and security as the basis for speeding up the building of the defensive zone’s military posture and the posture of “people’s hearts and minds”, thereby opportunely responding to all situations.

Dak Lak is a multiracial and multireligious province (it has 47 ethnic groups, and religious followers account for 22% of its population) with an unequal intellectual level, and life of a section of ethnic minority people face a lot of difficulties. Taking advantage of the situation, the hostile forces have been stepping their acts of sabotage and weakening the national great unity block in a bid to undermine the people’s faith in local party committees and authorities. Thus, providing defence and security education for all people is of utmost importance to successfully fulfilling the military-defence work. Playing their role as the Standing Office of the Defence and Security Education Council, the PMC and local military offices have actively counseled the people’s committees at the same level to frequently consolidate and improve the effectiveness of the Council. At the same time, they have cooperated with committees and sectors in implementing the Law on Defence and Security Education in order to make the work of defence and security education more effective. Moreover, the provincial armed forces have advised localities on renewing the contents of education, flexibly employing various forms of education, expanding the objects of education with emphasis placed on the youth and the ethnic minorities-inhabited, border, isolated, and remote areas. Between 2008 and 2018, the province dispatched 451 cadres of the 1^st and 2^nd groups to attend defence and security education courses held by higher echelons, organized defence and security education courses for 3,674 cadres of the 3^rd group, 38,914 cadres of the 4^th group, 697 religious dignitaries, 6,520 people of the other groups, and 675,000 students. Units of the provincial armed forces cooperated with local committees and sectors in adopting various measures to provide defence and security propagation and education for all people. As a result, a positive change in cadres, party members, students and all people’s awareness and action towards the military-defence, Homeland protection missions have been raised while a sense of vigilance has been maintained against the hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy and their plots of riots and conversions.

Besides, the provincial armed forces have always been active in maintaining combat readiness, grasping the situation, carefully preparing combat projects and forces, and readily dealing with the situations effectively. Perceiving their function and task, the provincial armed forces have strictly maintained the order for combat readiness, frequently reviewed, adjusted, supplemented and practised the plans/projects for defensive zone operations, natural disaster prevention and mitigation as well as search and rescue. At the same time, they have proactively cooperated with the Public Security under the Government’s Decree 77/2010/NĐ-CP in grasping and correctly forecasting the situation, developing combat projects and plans for preventing and combating riots, disturbances, and terrorism, advising local party committees and authorities on leading and directing the settlement of defence-security situations opportunely, effectively at grass-roots level so as to maintain border sovereignty, political security, and social order and avoid falling into passivity. To proactively, opportunely take part in effectively dealing with the situations, all-level military offices have given advice to local party committees and authorities and directly directed the work of building “compact, strong” local armed forces in accordance with the task requirements of each force and each area’s particularities. To that end, the active force have been made “revolutionary, regular, seasoned, gradually modern”; all-level military offices, particularly at commune level and combat units of the two border districts have been consolidated, staffed, and trained regularly in order to enhance their advisory capacity and manoeuvrability for combat readiness on terrains of all types. The reserve force and the militia and self-defence force have been built, closely managed, and strictly trained. As a result, 100% of reservist units within the province have been staffed while equipment has been provided for 100% of its reservist units. The militia and self-defence force has been made “strong and extensive” with 184 militia units and 211 self-defence units; 60.91% of the members of this force are youth union members while 21.75% of its personnel are party members. It should be noted that the province has built and effectively maintained the operation of 16 active militia squads in its border, key defence and security communes, which has been highly appreciated by the Military Region 5.

In addition, the provincial armed forces have well performed their function as an “army ready for work”. Over the past years, the provincial armed forces have always encouraged their pioneering role and actively cooperated with local committees, sectors, and socio-political organizations in stepping up the work of propagation and mass mobilization and counseling local party committees and authorities to build strong political bases as well as carrying out the movement entitled “Joining hands in building new-style rural area”, helping the people with hunger eradication and poverty reduction, natural disaster prevention and mitigation, and search and rescue. Those operations have greatly contributed to making the posture of “people’s hearts and minds”, the national great unity block, and the postures of all-people’s national defence, people’s security, and all-people border defence in the province’s area increasingly strong and solid.

Those attained results and experience will provide an important basis for the provincial armed forces of Dak Lak to continue promoting their core role in performing the military-defence work and deserving to be loyal, reliable political and fighting forces of the party committees, authorities, and people in the province’s area.

Sr. Col. Le My Danh, Commander of the PMC