Grasping and implementing the Party’s national defence guidelines, the Vietnam Aviation Corporation has always set store by the enhanced quality of its national defence work as the basis for well fulfilling the task of production and business.
The Vietnam Aviation Corporation (VAC or Vietnam Airlines) is a state-owned four-star flag carrier with a large fleet and network of air routes in the region. Since November 2018, the VAC has been under the management of the State Capital Management Committee, instead of the Ministry of Transport, while continuing to provide the transport of goods and persons, organize flights for the country’s political, economic, social, defence, security and diplomatic missions, and manufacture, maintain and trade in aviation spare parts and technical equipment, and provide land services. In 2018, the VAC total revenues were estimated at 102 trillion VND, and it submitted nearly 6,600 billion VND the State budget, increasing by 15% in comparison to the preset plan, greatly contributing to the country’s socio-economic development and defence-security consolidation.
Thoroughly grasping the two strategic missions and the Party’s guidelines on combining economy with defence and security, during the process of performing its task, the VAC has closely combined the development of its production and business with the enhanced quality of its defence work via scientific, creative measures, being rated as a typical, top unit in this work among the group of units under the Central sectors and ministries by the Ministry of National Defence (MND). Notably, the awareness and responsibility of its staff towards the defence-security work have been raised. The work of leading, directing and carrying out the defence mission has been renewed in accordance with its particularities and the requirements for defending itself and the Homeland in the new situation. The military offices and the self-defence force within its branches have been made strong, maintained readiness for the military task, and cooperated with other forces in ensuring security and safety of offices, units, depots, and airports, thereby facilitating the fulfillment of its growth targets.
However, the VAC’s defence work has several weaknesses. The awareness of a section of its staff members towards this work has yet to be sufficient. Due regard has yet to be paid to ensuring the policies for those who are in charge of the defence work.
In the upcoming time, the security and political situation worldwide, regionally and domestically will be still complex and directly threaten flight security and safety. The process of integration and development will impose new higher requirements for the VAC. Against that backdrop, the Party Committee and Board of Directors of the VAC, particularly its Military Command will continue attaching great importance to leading, directing, and performing the defence mission with synchronous, practical, effective measures.
First, raising its staff’s awareness and responsibility towards the defence-security mission in the new situation. This is a top measure and acts as the determinant to the quality of the VAC’s defence work. To that end, the VAC’s Party Committee and Board of Directors have directed offices and units to grasp the resolutions and directives by the Party, State, MND, Central Business Bloc Party Committee, and State Capital Management Committee on the defence work within ministries and central and local sectors; to step up propagation and education to raise the staff’s awareness of the importance and necessity of carrying out the defence task in their own offices and units. The content of education must be comprehensive but centred on making all staff members fully understand the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy, particularly the Government’s Decree 168/2018/NĐ-CP, dated December 28th 2018 on the defence work in ministries and central and local sectors, the National Defence Law, the Military Service Law, the Law on the Militia and Self-Defence Force, the Defence and Security Education Law, and legal documents on citizens’ obligations and responsibilities for performing the defence task, maintaining security and safety of offices and units, and defending the Homeland in the new situation. In the process, the VAC has attached great value to renewing and diversifying content and forms of propagation and education, developing action programs among cadres at department level and above, organizing achievement tests for each special topic and concentrated propagation briefings on its web portal, meeting staff members who engaged in combat and worked in the people’s armed forces on the occasions of national holiday and traditional days. At the same time, it has fostered the work of defence and security education for all staff members under the regulations. As it has a large number of staff members (over 20,000 people), and the shift work of its production and business is rotated continuously in a strict manner, to make this work effective, the VAC has proactively classified groups of staff members, developed plans for defence and security education at each level in accordance with the characteristics and requirements of its tasks of production and business and flight security and safety maintenance. It has cooperated with units of the MND, particularly the Department of the Militia and Self-Defence Force, Hanoi Capital City Command, Military Region 7 Command, and Danang Municipal Command in organizing training courses for its staff. As a result, the awareness and responsibility of its staff members towards the defence-security mission have been considerably changed positively.
Second, promoting the core role of military commands at all levels in counselling and performing the defence work. To do so, the VAC has focused on consolidating its Military Command and military offices and cadres in charge of the military work at all levels with proper structure and sufficient components; stringently maintaining the regulations and order for operation, particularly meetings and report; clearly assigning responsibilities to each member of military offices. As a result, its Military Command and military offices and cadres have given sound advice to its Board of Directors and leaders of its branches on formulating and issuing resolutions, directives, programs, plans and documents on leading and directing the performance of the defence work in accordance with reality. As most of its cadres in chare of the defence work are those who wear two hats, the VAC’s Military Command has advised the AVC’s Party Committee and Board of Directors on enhancing the work of planning, training, and appointing cadres in charge of the military work and continuing to develop and perfect the policy for this staff so that they could promote their capacity and responsibility to the utmost to fulfil their assigned task. To meet the task requirements, the VAC Military Command has actively given advice and focused on directing 28 affiliated military offices to adopt measures to improve the effectiveness of their offices and units’ defence work, attach significance to building and consolidating the self-defence force and the reserve force as well as developing the plan B and the plan for defence mobilization in the states of national defence at all levels in accordance with the VAC’s conditions. At the same time, the VAC has stepped up the work of inspection and supervision, carried out reviews to draw lessons, and opportunely rewarded collectives and persons with the successful fulfillment of the defence work. Priority has been given to enhancing the performance of missions, such as special aircraft flight, search and rescue, medical emergency, transport of the armed forces for maintaining political security and social order. At the same time, it has cooperated with the Air - Air Defence Force in studying and manufacturing dual-use technical aviation equipment in order to gradually replace the imported spare parts and serve both socio-economic development and defence-security mission.
Third, improving the quality of training and combat readiness and making the self-defence force strong and capable of fulfilling the assigned task. Bringing into play the attained results, the VAC’s Party Committee and Board of Directors, particularly its military offices have implemented measures to build the self-defence force with proper structure and high quality, especially political quality. To that end, while reviewing and consolidating its self-defence force in terms of structure and scale under the Law on the Militia and Self-Defence Force and the guidance by the Department of the Militia and Self-Defence Force, the VAC has focused on raising this force’s synergy and task performance. It has strictly organized the training courses and closely followed the procedures for training the militia and self-defence force. Emphasis has been placed on holding refresher courses for cadres, preparing lesson plans, training grounds and materials, following the training motto of “basics, practicality, and effectiveness”, strictly maintaining the order for practice, inspection, and competitions to evaluate training results, and resolutely settling weaknesses and formalism in the training work. Besides, the VAC has ensured sufficient policies under the regulations for its self-defence force during the training process and competitions. It has stringently maintained the order for combat readiness duty under the regulations, frequently supplemented the system of combat documents and the plans for practising the projects on the protection of offices and units, fire, explosion, and natural disaster prevention and control, and search and rescue. Focuses have been placed on adjusting the plans and preparing sufficient forces and aviation vehicles for readily performing the task in the national defence event. At the same time, it has cooperated with military and public security offices in the area and competent offices of the MND and the Air - Air Defence Force in taking part in maintaining political security and social order and dealing with the situations threatening flight security and safety.
With such proper measures, in the coming time, the VAC will continue to direct, lead and perform the defence work effectively, ensuring that it will develop comprehensively and become the first five-star flag carrier of Vietnam, making contributions to the cause of Homeland construction and protection.
Tran Huu Quan, Commissar of the VAC’s Military Command