Located in the Southern key economic region and the transition zone between the South, the Southern Central Coast pole and the Central Highlands, the province of Dong Nai holds a position of strategic importance to the country’s politics, economy, defence and security. Within the province, there are 32 ethnic groups and 41 religious organisations, while 65% of its citizens practise a religion. Besides, the province has 32 industrial zones and clusters situated in 9 districts, 2 cities and 170 commune-level administrative units, creating over 1.4 million employments (more than 60% of labourers are from other localities).

Under the Party’s renewal policy, the province’s economic growth has always been stable. The people’s life has been improved while socio-political stability, defence and security have been maintained. However, violations of law, especially within industrial zones and rural areas are complex and unpredictable. Besides, hostile forces and political reactionaries with the support from other countries are stepping up their sabotage strategy in all political, economic, diplomatic, cultural and social fields. They are taking advantage of social networks to distort our Party and State’s viewpoints, guidelines and policies as well as incite demonstrations, riots, collective complaints and strikes. Fires, explosions, traffic jams, illegal missionary work and superstitions still occur.

A standing militia team patrolling the area

Grasping the province’s particularities and their function and task, over the years, the provincial armed forces have proactively overcome difficulties, given advice to the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee, and directly adopted measures to successfully fulfil the military-defence task. As a result, the all-people national defence and the posture of all-people national defence associated with the posture of people’s security within the province have been consolidated. The provincial defensive zone’s potential and posture have been increasingly solid. Political security and social order and safety have been ensured as the basis for facilitating socio-economic development and improving the people’s life.

First of all, the Provincial Military Party Committee (PMPC) and the Provincial Military Command (PMC) have advised the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee on strengthening their leadership and direction over the military-defence task. Grounded on the Party’s military-defence guidelines and higher echelons’ resolutions and directives, annually, the PMPC and the PMC counsel the Provincial Party Committee, People’s Council, and People’s Committee to issue many resolutions, directives, and plans for the military-defence work in accordance with the province’s characteristics. In this regard, emphasis has been placed on renewing party committees’ leadership method and governments’ management at all levels towards the military-defence task, perfecting mechanisms and regulations for the building and operation of defensive zones, releasing documents on functions and tasks of forces and sectors in the building of all-people national defence, combining socio-economic development with defence-security consolidation and diplomacy, building defensive zones’ potential and posture, and mobilising material resources for national defence. The PMC has actively grasped and anticipated scenarios to give advice to the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee on strategies to deal with defence-security situations and protect the province. At the same time, it has well promoted its core role in helping the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee to develop and effectively implement the Action Plan by the Provincial People’s Committee for the 11^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.8, the Resolution on the military-defence work by the Provincial Party Committee Standing Board and a series of projects on defence and security. Military offices at all levels have proactively cooperated with the Public Security Force and competent agencies in closely appraising strategies, plans and projects for socio-economic development, particularly the foreign-invested ones within the province’s key areas, ensuring that the province would not pursue economic development at any rate. In spite of the fact that investments in socio-economic development within the province have increased over the years, projects for industrial, tourist, and service zones and new urban areas have been closely assessed, planned and managed. A lot of dual-purpose projects and constructions have enabled the province to boost socio-economic development and maintain defence and security.

To raise all cadres, party members and people’s awareness of the military-defence task and the Homeland defence, all-level military offices have actively advised localities and Defence and Security Education Councils to effectively execute the 10^th Politburo’s Directive 12-CT/TW, the Government’s 116/2007/NĐ-CP and the Law on Defence and Security Education. The PMC has directed military offices at all levels to proactively cooperate with relevant committees and sectors in formulating plans for defence and security education, with importance attached to expanding groups of learners, such as religious dignitaries, persons with great prestige within ethnic minority groups, journalists and editors, and business owners. Moreover, military offices at all levels have closely worked with district-level Education Offices to include defence and security education in schools’ activities and civics to equip students with basic knowledge of defence and security. Furthermore, the PMC’s political office has actively organised a special column to propagate the military-defence work and the provincial armed forces’ activities via mass media so as to arouse the honour, pride, and responsibility of citizens, particularly the young ones towards the Homeland protection. Over the past 5 years, the province has held 17 defence and security education courses for about 2,827 cadres of the group 3, over 22,416 cadres from the group 4, 107,200 journalists, religious dignitaries, village patriarchs, workers, business owners, teachers, and members of the militia and self-defence force and the reserve force as well as more than 556,000 students, which has been highly appreciated by the Central Defence and Security Education Council and the Military Region 7.

In addition, the PMPC and the PMC have added great weight to counselling the province to build the potential, force and posture of defensive zones and all-people national defence. The operation of defensive zones has been placed under party committees’ leadership and governments’ management at all levels. Carefully studying the province’s natural and geographical conditions (including mountainous, mid-land, plain and urban areas), the PMC has made investments in constructing national defence works, combat works (headquarters at all levels, key positions, clusters of key positions, tunnels, trenches, rear bases, and logistics-technical bases) in a “practical, effective and economical” manner and in accordance with socio-economic development plans and the task of defending areas in both peacetime and wartime. At the same time, it has advised the Provincial People’s Committee on rearranging residential zones, clusters of combat villages and communes, and observatories as well as on managing national defence works and land, heights and estuaries of military value in order to establish an “inter-connected, solid” defensive posture. All-level military offices have given advice to local party committees and governments on developing and issuing documents and plans for combat, national defence mobilisation, people’s air defence, natural disaster, fire and explosion prevention and control, search and rescue as well as on organising provincial and district-level defensive zone exercises and commune-level combat drills.

The building of the provincial armed forces acts as a determinant to the province’s performance of military-defence task and makes contributions to maintaining political security and social order and safety. Hence, the PMPC and the PMC has given priority to consolidating the organisational structure of each force (local force, militia and self-defence force, and reserve force) in accordance with their function and task. In this regard, significance has been attached to staffing units tasked with combat readiness in the key areas. At the same time, due attention has been paid to improving the quality of training and exercises and making them relevant to reality, objects of struggle, projects and operational areas. In the process, the PMC has required units to combine political education and military training with military standard order building and discipline management. They have been asked to strictly maintain the regulations on combat readiness, create new combat strength and make their cadres and soldiers capable of undertaking and fulfilling all assigned missions. To build the militia and self-defence force, the province has always adhered to the Law on the Militia and Self-Defence Force. It has built a “strong, extensive” militia and self-defence with a proper structure. Up to now, 26.6% of the members of the militia and self-defence force are party members. It has established party organisations within all 14 self-defence units of FDI businesses. Implementing the Project 3088/ĐA-UB by the Provincial People’s Committee, the PMC has founded 17 standing militia platoons. As for the reserve force, based on its particularities, the province has focused on preparing human resources for this force, allocating recruitment and training targets, renewing and improving the training of reservists. Since early 2019, all targets for military training within the reserve force have been achieved, while 98.6% of the targets for detachment-level training have reached. Doing so has allowed the province to build a strong reserve force capable of successfully accomplishing all assigned tasks.

Being proud of their tradition and attained results, cadres and soldiers of the provincial armed forces of Dong Nai will devote more efforts to well performing the military-defence work to deserve to be a reliable army of the Provincial Party Organisation, Authority and people and make contributions to building a prosperous, cultural, and solid Dong Nai in the process of development and integration.

Sr. Col. VU VAN DIEN, Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Board

Commander of the PMC