Monday, September 07, 2020, 12:07 (GMT+7)
The work of discipline management at the Division 8

The Infantry Division 8 under the Military Region 9 is a main unit stationed in a strategic defensive direction and tasked with maintaining combat readiness, training the standing force and the reserve force, helping the people with natural disaster prevention and mitigation, and performing other contingency missions assigned by higher echelons. The Division’s task is very demanding while it is stationed in a large area adjacent to industrial zones with a large population. Besides, most of the Division’s cadres are still young and lack capabilities and experiences in leading, managing and training troops. Soldiers’ educational backgrounds are different. There have been complex developments in political security and social order and safety in the area while many of its soldiers’ families are in difficult circumstance. Against that backdrop, the Division’s Party Committee and Command have adopted measures synchronously for performing political task and building the Division’s Party Organisation, with a breakthrough in discipline education and management.

The launch of an emulation movement between the Division’s affiliates (photo: baoapbac.vn)

First of all, the Division’s Party Committee and Command have determined to enhance party committees’ leadership and promoted the vanguard, exemplary role of cadres and party members, particularly the key ones at all levels in military standard order building and discipline management. The all-level party committees have included military standard order building and discipline management in their resolutions and considered them as a central part of all-level commanders’ working plans. Before issuing resolutions and developing plans, party committees and commands of offices and units have correctly assessed cadres and soldiers’ observance of discipline to propose proper, feasible measures. The Division’s Party Committee and Command have required cadres to self-consciously conform to discipline, match their words with action, and work according to their functions and tasks. The Division has regularly collected feedback from soldiers about their cadres’ prestige, responsibility and ability and then made specific conclusions. Commanders of the Division and its regiments have been asked to publicly provide their phone numbers so that their inferiors could give feedback. That is an important channel for commanders to grasp their inferiors and adjust themselves. As a result, the Division has succeeded in building a contingent of “both red and expert cadres” as good examples for soldiers to follow.

In order to create a solid positive change in all soldiers’ observance of the State’s law and the Military discipline, the Division has directed its offices and units to renew and diversify the contents, forms, and methods of discipline education and management. Thus, offices and units have organised conferences, such as “discussion about measures for complying with the State’s law, the Military discipline and units’ regulations and ensuring traffic safety,” “promoting comradeship and building comprehensively strong units,” “heightening a sense of responsibility, renewing work style and well managing all working relationships.” Every unit has established “feedback box,” “hotline” and “legal and psychological consultation team,” maintained the order for news briefings and politico-ideological meetings, and organised soldiers’ clubs and collective birthdays. At the same time, units have diversified the forms of legal education and held forums, such as “honour and responsibility of soldiers of the Vietnam People’s Army,” “homeland and soldiers,” and “young cadres keep the faith in the Party and deserve to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers.” They have also well conducted the work of legal propagation via internal radio systems, legal knowledge contests, and legal bookcases, while raising the effectiveness of the political and cultural day at grass-roots level and the legal study day. In the process, units have closely combined legal education with the Determination to Win Emulation Movement and others, particularly the Campaign entitled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers in the new period.” Due attention has been paid to assessing, applauding and rewarding collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements in training new soldiers and performing contingency, hard missions, thus adding an incentive to troops’ study and training. The movements, namely “the youth with discipline management” and “the youth play a vanguard role in preventing and combating crime, narcotic trafficking and prostitution” as well as the model of “battalions and companies successfully fulfilling their task without discipline violation and maintaining the absolute safety” have been effectively organised. Contests relating to traffic knowledge, 10 oaths, and 12 rules have been made relevant to the particularities and tasks of each collective and individual. Offices and units have proactively grasped and orientated troops’ ideology, while opportunely detecting and settling ideological issues. At the same time, offices and units have closely combined the ideological work with the organisational work and the policy work. They have also maintained cooperation with local authorities and unions and soldiers’ families in grasping their troops’ ideology. Doing so has enabled them to opportunely encourage cadres and soldiers to surmount all difficulties and keep their mind on their work.

Besides, the Division has always taken various measures for enhancing discipline management, combining this work with military standard order building and improving troops’ mental and material life. Commanders of units have strictly maintained the regulations, adopted measures for building the military standard order and renewing work method, and inspected troops’ observance of the new regulations on manners. Emphasis has been placed on managing units’ strength, discipline, equipment and materials, training cadres and soldiers on working style, creating legal culture, and raising the law-abiding self-consciousness. The Division’s Party Committee has required cadres at all levels to grasp soldiers’ profile, family background and relationships, particularly those working at key, secret sections, and enhance inspections , especially in days off and rest hours as well as on national and Tet holidays. All cadres and soldiers are prohibited from being drunk or drinking alcohol during working hours or breaks. Officers on command and office duty and drivers are not allowed to drink alcohol when performing their task. Non-commissioned officers and soldiers are prohibited from smoking and riding a motorbike (even on their leave). The Division has required commanders at all levels to stringently maintain the daily, weekly regulations and the order for report, resolutely, completely, opportunely, strictly handle violations of discipline, and avoid covering up for any one, thereby promoting the effectiveness of discipline education. In addition to those above-mentioned measures, the Division has directed its offices and units to cooperate with local party committees, authorities and unions as well as their troops’ families in closely managing their troops’ observance of discipline. Moreover, the Division has frequently added great weight to building “standard, green, clean, scenic” barracks and organising cultural, artistic, and sports programmes in days off and rest hours to attract the participation of all troops. In addition to policies and entitlements, the Division has openly, democratically implemented the regulations on cadres and soldiers’ leave and created a favourable condition for them to harmoniously settle the relationship between their work and their family. On a yearly basis, the Division has spent hundreds of millions of VND on building and making its barracks clean and scenic so that its troops would keep their mind on their work.

As a result, a huge, positive change in troops’ awareness and responsibility towards the observance of the State’s law and the Military’s discipline as well as the work of military standard order building has been made while the number of violations of law and discipline has been reduced. Since 2018, cadres and soldiers within the Division have achieved great progress in abiding by law and discipline, without serious violations of discipline or training and traffic incidents.

Bringing into play the obtained results and experiences, the Division 8’s Party Committee and Command will continue improving the quality and effectiveness of discipline education and management to contribute to building a comprehensively strong Division capable of successfully fulfilling all assigned missions.

Sr. Col. PHAN TRIET KHOA, Commissar of the Division 8

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