Workshop X81 under Military Region 3’s Technical Department is tasked with maintaining, repairing, and testing vehicles and machinery of the Military Region and units stationed in its area. In early days of its establishment, in spite of limited organisational structure and changes in the stationed area, under the direct leadership and direction of the Technical Department, cadres, professional service men and women, defence workers, and soldiers of Workshop X81 always stayed united and overcame all difficulties to fulfil their assigned task and build up the tradition of “timely, safe, good-quality maintenance and repair.” In the past 40 years of construction and development, the Workshop has undertaken large-scale and medium-scale maintenance and repair of tens of thousands of vehicles, built 60 new small-size lorries, synchoronised and dieselised more than 300 vehicles, and tested more than 55,000 military vehicles, thereby greatly contributing to raising the Military Region’s manoeuvrability and combat strength and building a strong Technical Branch of the Military Region. With those impressive achievements, Workshop X81 has been honoured with the Third-Class Military Exploit Order and the Third-Class Homeland Protection Order by the State. It has been given the Certificate of Merit and the Flag of the emulation movement of labour safety and hygiene by the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs respectively. It has also been presented with the “Excellent Unit” Flag in the Determination to Win Emulation Movement and many other noble rewards by the Military Region Command.

Commander of the Vehicle - Machinery Department (General Technical Department) inspecting the Workshop’s maintenance and repair task

It should be noted that the Homeland protection in the new situation and especially the building of the Military Region’s armed forces in a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern manner have been imposing more demanding requirements on the technical work in general, the work of maintaining, repairing, and testing military vehicles in particular. Hence, the Workshop’s Party Committee and Board of Directors have been focusing their leadership and direction on boosting the quality of maintaining, repairing, and testing vehicles and machinery via various synchronous measures.

First of all, the Workshop has attached importance to building a high-quality contingent of cadres, professional employees, and repairmen to satisfy the task requirements. While recommending the higher echelons to deploy cadres, professional employees, and technicians to the Workshop, it has comprehensively improved its staff members’ political zeal, morality, discipline-abiding awareness, and professional competence. Due regard has been paid to developing a pool of young repairmen and technicians and creating a favourable condition for them to better their professional knowledge and skills. The Workshop has proactively sent its cadres, professional employees, and technicians to schools both inside and outside the Military for further education and training. Great value has been attached to providing synchronous and intensive technical training courses for cadres, technicians, and drivers as a central mission. The Workshop has strictly maintained regulations for on-the-spot refresher training via proper measures in accordance with the task of maintenance and repair. Besides, significance has been attached to promoting the role of skilful repairmen in sharing knowledge and experience and assigning qualified staff members to head groups and provide refresher training for group members right on technical equipment during the mobile repair mission at units. At the same time, great weight has been added to making preparations for the Workshop’s participation in contests held by the higher echelons to improve cadres, professional employees, and technicians’ professional competence and workmanship.

There is a fact that most of the Workshop’s repairmen have been trained in military schools; therefore, they could maintain and repair only first-generation vehicles (manufactured by former socialist countries in the past). Against that backdrop, the Workshop has established a centre for repairing new-generation vehicles to both perform the national defence task and provide civil services. Doing so has enabled the Workshop to better its cadres, professional employees, and technicians’ knowledge of new technologies and capability in mastering new equipment within its repair line, contributing to raising the quality of technical support of the Military Vehicle - Machinery Branch. As a result, up to now, the workmanship of the Workshop’s professional employees and repairmen has been considerably improved to meet the task requirements in both long and short term.

In addition to the development of high-calibre human resources, the Workshop has invested in upgrading its repair line and acquiring modern equipment, while promoting the movement of technical initiatives and innovations. Over the years, the Workshop has used funding allocated by its higher echelons and mobilised its resources to exploit materials, invest in technologies, acquire new equipment, and upgrade its repair line and system of stations and garages, thereby improving its repair capacity on the spot and within units of the Military Region, building and asserting its trust and prestige amongst customers. At the same time, it has promulgated regulations and policies to encourage its cadres, professional employees, and technicians to actively promote technical initiatives and innovations and apply science and technology advances to maintaining, repairing, and restoring vehicles and materials so as to raise the quality of products, increase productivity, and reduce costs and labour. As a result, many technical researches and initiatives have been employed in maintaining, repairing, and testing vehicles and machinery as well as in units’ technical management, thus saving hundreds of millions of VND. It should be noted that many of the Workshop’s technical researches and initiatives have been rewarded and highly appreciated by the Ministry of National Defence, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, and the Military Region Command.

In the course of construction and development, the Workshop’s Party Committee and Board of Directors have always been fully aware that building a pure, strong Party Organisation and an “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong Unit acts as a solid foundation for the good task performance. Thus, the Workshop Party Committee has stepped up the implementation of the 12th Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.4 on the Party building and rectification and the fight against degradation in political ideology, ethics, and lifestyle as well as “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within in tandem with the 13th Politburo’s Conclusion 01-KL/TW, dated May 18th, 2021 on continuing to realise the 12th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW. Due attention has been paid to well managing, educating, and cultivating cadres and party members. All-level party committees and organisations have focused on boosting the quality of designing and executing resolutions. They have enhanced the work of inspection and supervision and heightened the pioneering and exemplary role of cadres and party members. Consequently, on a yearly basis, all party members fulfil their assigned task and 80% - 85% of them successfully or excellently fulfil their mission. The Workshop Party Organisation has been rated pure and strong for many consecutive years. Typically, the Workshop has earned the title of Determined to Win Unit.

Furthermore, the Workshop has promoted the Determination to Win Emulation Movement and the Campaign entitled “managing and exploiting weapons and technical equipment effectively, sustainably, safely, economically, and ensuring traffic safety,” while strictly maintaining the Technical Day and regulations on maintenance, repair, use, and technical testing for equipment within stations and garages as well as for its firefighting and lightning protection systems. The Workshop has decentralised the management work. It has directed its affiliates to grasp the quantity, quality, and service life of equipment and sufficiently documented regular maintenance and repairs, thereby contributing to raising the quality and effectiveness of maintaining and repairing vehicles and machinery, and ensuring the absolute safety of personnel and technical equipment. Every year, it exceeds the assigned targets of technical work. Moreover, it has proactively developed plans on coordination with other units in testing their military vehicles at the Workshop and within themselves under regulations with the absolute safety.

Additionally, the Workshop has concentrated on realising the movement titled “the Military Logistics Branch follows Uncle Ho’s teachings,” mobilising its internal strength, stepping up animal/crop husbandry and production, and promoting the effectiveness of models of technical, mechanical, and repair services as the basis for upgrading barracks and facilities, improving the living standards of troops, and enabling them to keep their mind on their work.

Bringing into play the 40-year tradition of construction and development, cadres, professional employees, and repairmen of Workshop X81 will determinedly successfully fulfil all assigned tasks and keep raising the quality of maintaining, repairing, and testing vehicles and machinery to satisfy the task requirements of the Military Region’s armed forces.

Col. NGUYEN VAN BAN, Director of the Workshop