Located in the Central key economic Zone, Thanh Hoa has a large area and population in comparison with other provinces and municipalities and holds a position of importance to the Vietnam’s defence and security as well as to the general defensive zone of the country and the Military Region 4. Fully aware of the province’s position, over the years, the Provincial Military Command (PMC) has promoted its core role in advising the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee on measures for building and making defensive zones increasingly strong and capable of foiling hostile forces’ plots and acts of sabotage and safeguarding the province as the basis for fulfilling the goals of socio-economic development.

Soldiers are trained to protect a defensive zone

In spite of its large area, difficulties in its citizens’ economic and cultural life, and the complex developments in natural disasters, epidemics, and urban and rural security, the PMC has proactively closely cooperated with provincial departments, committees, sectors, and unions in counselling and organising the building of defensive zones, thus gaining significant results. Notably, the awareness and responsibility of provincial departments, committees, sectors, and politico-economic organisations towards the construction of defensive zones have been raised. The potential and posture of defensive zones have been consolidated. Due regard has been paid to building comprehensively strong provincial armed forces with a high level of synergy and combat readiness and making them capable of playing a core role in the construction of defensive zones.

To obtain those achievements, first of all, the PMC has worked with provincial departments, sectors and unions to advise local party committees and authorities on leading and directing the building of defensive zones. Grasping the 10^th Politburo’s Resolution 28-NQ/TW, dated September 22^nd, 2008 on continuing to build provinces and municipalities into solid defensive zones in the new situation, the Government’s Decree 21/2019/NĐ-CP, dated February 22^nd, 2019 on defensive zones as well as other resolutions, directives and guiding documents by the Military Region 4, the PMC has cooperated with relevant offices in counselling the Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee to issue documents on building defensive zones. In this regard, emphasis has been placed on advising the province to consolidate and improve Steering Boards on building defensive zones, Supply Councils, Defence and Security Education Councils, and Military Service Councils at all levels. Due attention has been paid to developing and synchronously, effectively operating mechanisms for party committees’ leadership, authorities’ management, and the advisory role performed by military and public security offices, departments, committees, sectors, and unions. At the same time, party committees and authorities at all levels have been required to provide defence and security education for all groups of learners, develop military potential and posture within defensive zones, and build strong local armed forces so as to contribute to making the all-people national defence and the posture of all-people national defence associated with the postures of people’s security and all-people border defence increasingly strong and capable of safeguarding the province in any situation.

In addition to well performing their function as advisory agencies, the provincial armed forces have promoted their core role in building various types of potential within defensive zones. As for the politico-social potential, significance has been attached to providing defence and security education for all groups of learners and disseminating the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policy on the two strategic tasks of national construction and protection, the national defence work, and the building of defensive zones. Consideration has been given to rendering cadres, party members, and all people fully aware of the hostile forces’ plots and artifices, raising their revolutionary vigilance, and heightening their responsibility for the construction of defensive zones. Simultaneously, due regard has been paid to building a contingent of cadres at all levels, political bases, and cultural environment, conducting the mass mobilisation work, and implementing policies on ethnicity and religion, promoting the all-people great unity block strength as the basis for consolidating the posture of “people’s hearts and minds,” and cementing the close-knit bond between the people and local party committees and authorities.

Regarding the socio-economic potential, under the Party’s guidelines on “combining defence and security with socio-economic development,” the PMC has given advice to the Provincial People’s Committee on making more investments in socio-economic development to create resources for the construction of defensive zones. More specifically, plans, programmes and projects for socio-economic development by the province and each locality have included defence-security consolidation. Meanwhile, the province’s economic and industrial zones have been developed in a modern, dual-purpose manner. Moreover, traffic, post and telecoms infrastructures have been gradually perfected to foster economic, cultural, tourist development, facilitate defence-security task, prevent and control natural disasters and epidemics, and deal with other situations. In recent years, the province’s average growth rate has been 9.11% per annum, which has laid a solid foundation for the province to exploit resources for defence-security situations and missions.

Making the provincial armed forces comprehensively strong and capable of playing a core role in performing the military-defence work and building defensive zones has been considered as an important solution by the Provincial Military Party Committee and the PMC. To that end, the PMC has frequently consolidated the standing force in a “compact and strong” fashion and concentrated on making this force politically strong together with a high level of synergy and combat readiness as the basis for undertaking and fulfilling all assigned missions. Besides, the PMC has counselled the province to build a “powerful” reserve force and a “strong, extensive” militia and self-defence force. Up to now, the reserve force has been 73% staffed. There have been over 1,200 militia and self-defence establishments and members of this force have accounted for nearly 1.4% of the province’s population.

To make the provincial armed forces’ operations within defensive zones more effective, the PMC has actively renewed training and raised the quality of provincial and district-level defensive zone exercises and commune-level defensive combat drills. Via such exercises, the province has supplemented and completed the mechanisms and regulations for defensive zones’ operation, improved all-level party committees and authorities’ capabilities in leadership and management, and enhanced coordination between local armed forces and departments, committees and sectors in settling defence-security situations. In addition, the PMC has directed offices and units to strictly maintain the order for combat readiness, perfect and carefully practise combat projects (national defence mobilisation, sea and island protection, people’s air defence) as well as plans for natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control, search and rescue. At the same time, great value has been attached to executing the Government’s Decree 03/2019/NĐ-CP, dated September 5^th, 2019 on coordination between the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defence to protect national security and social order and safety, prevent and combat crime, perform the national defence task, proactively grasp and correctly anticipate situations, and give advice to all-level party committees and authorities on remedial measures, thereby avoiding passivity and maintaining political security and social order and safety, particularly in the border, sea, island areas.

Furthermore, the PMC has directly built a solid, inter-connected, in-depth military posture within defensive zones. Grounded on the Project on “Thanh Hoa province’s defence consolidation in the period of 2015-2020, with orientation towards 2030” and the Military Region 4’s defensive posture plan, the PMC has closely cooperated with relevant departments, committees, sectors, and localities in advising the Provincial People’s Committee on managing national defence land, caves, and heights of military value to complete the plan for the provincial defensive zone’s military posture. In the process, all-level military offices have conducted surveys on each region and area’s natural and economic conditions, while combining funding allocated by higher echelons with local budgets to build and consolidate defensive lines, with a focus on all-level headquarters, combat, logistics and technical bases, central defensive targets, key defensive zones, and combat works. As a result, many combat and defensive works have been completed to make the military posture within defensive zones increasingly strong and capable of bringing into play the strength of weapons, equipment, components, and local armed forces in combat, thereby safeguarding the province in any situation.

Promoting their experience and good results, in the upcoming time, the provincial armed forces will continue making defensive zones increasingly strong as the basis for building a wealthy, civilised, modern Thanh Hoa in accordance with the plan on a development quadrilateral including Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, and the province.

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

Commander of the PMC