Clearly understanding the important role of the military and defence work, over the past years, Tran Yen district (Yen Bai province) has taken various measures to carry out this work and achieved positive results. Notably, cadres, party members and people’s awareness of the Homeland construction and protection mission has been raised; the all-people national defence and the potential and posture of the district’s defensive zone have been consolidated; the synergy and combat strength of the district’s armed forces have been enhanced; political security and social order in the district’s area have been maintained. Those results have created favourable conditions for the district’s socio-economic and cultural development, hunger eradication and poverty reduction and people’s improved material and spiritual life as the basis for Tran Yen to fulfil the target of becoming the first new-style rural district of Yen Bai province by 2020.

With its resolve, the district has focused all-level party committees and authorities’ leadership and direction over the military and defence task, while promoting the core role of the district’s military party committee and office in the process of implementation. Grounded on the Party’s viewpoints and guidelines on national defence, higher echelons’ directives and resolutions as well as counselling and recommendations by committees and sectors, particularly the District Military Command (DMC) and its Party Committee, the district’s Party Committee and People’s Committee have issued resolutions, directives and plans on performing the military and defence work. Significance has been attached to renewing and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of party committees’ leadership and authorities’ management and operation towards the military and defence task; to boosting socio-economic development and building the defensive zone’s potential and posture. Being imbued with the viewpoint of “economic development as the centre, defence and security consolidation as a task of importance and routine”, the district has closely combined socio-economic development with defence and security consolidation and included that in its development plans. The district’s Party Committee and People’s Committee have adjusted the Master Plan for Defence Disposition associated with economic development in the area; well executed the state management of national defence; directed military and public security offices to promote their core role in appraising socio-economic development plans and projects, especially in key areas of defence and security. Priority has been given to investing in dual-use projects and socio-economic development projects in the areas in extreme difficulty in order to develop infrastructure and ensure equal development in the area.

The District Military Command carries out the policy work for the people under preferential treatment

In addition to the economic development and the combination of economic development and defence and security, the district has put store by the building of defensive zone and considered it as the central task of local defence work. The district’s Party Committee has released the program to implement the 10^th Politburo’s Resolution 28-NQ/TW. Organizations, such as Steering Board on building the defensive zone, Supply Council, Military Service Council, and Defence and Security Education Council at all levels have been established and regularly consolidated, and promoted their role in counselling and giving instructions on the performance of the military and defence work right at grass-roots level. Up to now, the district has completed the planning of military posture of defensive zone in the area as the basis for it to continue to formulate the plan for allocating the budget to building defensive works, meeting the requirements of local military and defence mission in both short and long terms.

To provide the basis for building the all-people national defence, the district has focused on building strong political bases, enhancing the work of defence and security propagation and education for the population. Over the past years, the district has directed offices, units, communes and townships to grasp and strictly execute the 10^th Politburo’s Directive 12-CT/TW and the Law on Defence and Security Education. Moreover, the district has actively renewed content, program and form of defence and security education, with emphasis placed on key cadres, village heads, prestige persons of the clans and communities, dignitaries, and high school students. It has directed the Culture and Information Bureau and the Centre for Communications and Culture to open the column of “All-People National Defence” and step up propagation of the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policy and law, particularly the National Defence Law, the Military Service Law, the Law on the Militia and Self-Defence Forces, and local military and defence operations; to include defence and security education in the district’s conferences to review the task performance and training courses on political theory for new party members. Those have helped opportunely orientate cadres, party members and people’s ideology and raise their awareness towards the military and defence task as well as the Homeland protection, and contributed to foiling hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” strategy and maintaining political security and social order in the area.

Due attention has been paid to building strong Military and Public Security forces as the core in performing the defence and security mission and protecting the Party and local authority and people. Adhering to higher echelons’ regulations and guidance, the district’s Party Committee and People’s Committee have consolidated the organizational structure of the armed forces on a “compact, strong, well-proportioned, synchronized” basis, made it relevant to each force’s function and task, and built pure, strong party cells and committees of the military and public security forces. In addition to making the main forces “revolutionary, regular, seasoned, gradually modern”, the district has focused on building “strong, qualitative” reserve forces and “strong, extensive” militia and self-defence forces both quantitatively and qualitatively. Following the district’s direction, all-level party committees, authorities and military offices have well conducted the work of registration, management, recruitment of citizens to the militia and self-defence forces in a close, procedural manner under the guidelines “people know, people discuss, people nominate and people take care”. The district has directed the DMC to cooperate with functional offices of the Provincial Military Command in taking proper measures to build the reserve forces and to align the work of military recruitment with personnel preparation for the reserve forces and localities. In spite of difficulties, the district has proactively allocated the budget for paying those forces allowances under the regulations, thereby making cadres and troops keep their mind on their work. With tireless efforts, so far, the district has established 25 militia and self-defence bases and the rate of party members within the militia and self-defence forces has reached 22.06%. Over 80% of the manpower of reserve units has been recruited. It should be noted that the district has dispatched cadres to study at military universities and colleges to become reserve officers and commune-level military command cadres, while building the people’s reconnaissance and military intelligence forces under the province’s project. Those have contributed to standardizing a contingent of commune-level military cadres and improving the performance of military and defence mission right at grass-roots level, particularly the military call-up and entrance examination work. In recent years, the work of military call-up has been closely directed from district level to commune and village levels on a serious, public, equal, democratic, procedural basis. Since 2010, the district has recruited 1,140 citizens to the Military, fulfiling the target assigned by higher echelons.

Besides, the district has ordered units of the armed forces to renew and improve the quality of training, enhance the work of coordination, maintain the order for combat readiness, develop, supplement and complete the system of combat documents and plans as well as expand the militia and self-defence forces for national defence states, flood, storm, and forest fire prevention and control, and search and rescue. At the same time, it has directed sectors to review and formulate plans for defence mobilization and ensure the demand for national defence in the first year of a war in accordance with the district’s conditions. To complete the mechanism and regulations on the operation of defensive zone, enhance all-level party committees and authorities’ capabilities in leadership, direction and operation as well as forces’ capability in settling defence and security situations in the area, the district has paid due regard to organizing defensive zone and commune-level defensive exercises and renewing those exercises’ content and form to make them relevant to the area’s reality. In those exercise, the cooperation between the military and the public security was closely maintained while defensive operations was closely combined with the response to natural disasters (flood, storm, land slide, etc.), and with search and rescue operations. In 2018, the district successfully held the district-level defensive zone exercise, directed 6 communes to organize defensive exercises and forest fire control and search and rescue drills, all of which were highly appreciated by the province.

Comprehending the importance of and proposing proper measures to perform the military and defence work, Tran Yen district has achieved considerable progress on this work and provided the basis for making the district’s all-people national defence and defensive zone potential and posture increasingly strong and stable as well as facilitating the district’s economic development and defence and security consolidation, contributing to protecting the Homeland right at grass-roots level.

Nguyen The Phuoc, Secretary of the District’s Party Committee