55 years of “steel” tempering
Founded on October 20th, 1965, the 2nd Infantry Division was born at the time when the resistance war against the U.S to save the country was entering a turning point that required the existence of main units strong enough to undertake the fighting tasks in the key directions of the Military Region 5 and defeat the enemy's “special war” strategy. This was a qualitative change in the combat level in a larger scale and with a higher combat performance to make the Division a campaign unit tasked with fighting the enemy on a battlefield direction and fulfill combat tasks in accordance with the strategic requirements. The Division’s subordinate units have a long history of victories and combat experience. Their cadres and soldiers have high determination to fight and are willing to sacrifice themselves for the revolutionary cause. That has combined the Division into a unified bloc to fight, make collective victories, know how to fight, and defeat the enemy. The Division was truly the “iron fist” of the Military Region.
During the past 55 years, the Division Party Committee and commanders have always correctly assessed the situation of the unit to find the weak stages and aspects, thereby, to clearly identify the causes and propose effective solutions. They have been also self-reliant in both fighting and building at the same time. During the war, the Division always incorporated training, building, and fighting. In particular, training and building were adhered to fighting requirements in all conditions and circumstances. Importance was attached to organising training and fighting alternately among the units under the motto of taking fighting to evaluate training and unit building results and vice versa. Every step of growth of the Division is the result of the serious building and training process and the accumulation of valuable experience of each individual and unit in combat as well as in building, training, and combat readiness.
 |
| Infantry regiment 38 practices coastal combat |
During the past 55 years with glorious victories and loss and sacrifice in the battlefields of Quang Da, Quang Nam, Bac Quang Ngai, Kon Tum, Road 9 - South Laos, Lower Laos, Southwest border, Cambodia, ... generations of the Division’s cadres and soldiers have constantly tempered their quality of steel and built the tradition of “Being trusted by superiors, admired by friends, and loved by people; finish once depart, win once fight”. The Division and its 30 subordinate collectives and 18 individuals have been awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces, the Ho Chi Minh Medal, two Second-class Bronze Wall Medals, and other noble prizes.
To deserve the title of an “Iron Division”
Fully aware of its honor and responsibility and to deserve the title of “Iron Division” and fulfill its assigned tasks, the Division has always focused on improving the overall quality, qualifications, and combat readiness level to meet the requirements of tasks in all situations. It has regularly educated cadres and soldiers to be deeply aware of the situation of tasks and raise the spirit of vigilance and willingness to receive and well fulfill all assigned tasks. Agencies and units have paid attention to supplementing and perfecting the system of combat documents; organising to practice combat plans; and strictly maintaining the regimes of combat readiness duty, patrol and guarding to protect the absolute safety of the units and combat works. They have also closely coordinated with the local Party committees and authorities in building a solid defensive area and prepare sufficient forces and means to timely and effectively responding to natural disasters, epidemics, search and rescue.
Along with that, the Division has actively innovated to create breakthroughs in improving the overall quality of training. The agencies and units within the Division have determined that innovation must be comprehensive, synchronous, but focused and centralised. In particular, innovation in cognitive thinking, directing mechanism, administration, contents, programs, organization, methods, and training assurance is centralised, and improvement of the quality of cadre training is focused. The Division has directed its subordinate units to do well the preparation work and improve the quality of training administration towards “Centralism, unification, synchronisation, effectiveness, and non-overlapping”. In training, the Division attaches importance to synchronous and specialised practice-based training; increase night and mobility training; and improved the ability to exploit and proficiently use the existing weapons and equipment and master new supplies. Since 2013, more than 60 units have been recognised by the Ministry of National Defence and the Military Region with the titles of “Excellent Training Unit” and “Excellent Physical Training Unit”. General tactical rehearsals, combat firing at all levels, command and agency exercises with real troops under the superiors’ orders have been assessed as excellent in techniques, good in tactics, and absolutely safe.
The Division has determined that building the political strength is the fundamental for building a comprehensively strong and “exemplary and typical” Division and improving the overall quality to meet the requirements of tasks in the new situation. It has accelerated the improvement of the quality of political and ideological education; and actively fought against wrong, hostile, and reactionary views and prevented “peaceful evolution” and “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” manifestations. It has also actively renovated contents and forms to improve the quality and efficiency of the Party and political work in the tasks. The quality and efficiency of the emulation and commendation work in association with the implementation of drives and political events have been focused by agencies and units. At the same time, they have promoted learning and following Ho Chi Minh thoughts, ethics, and style in association with the Drive entitled “Promoting tradition, dedicating talents, deserving “Uncle Ho's soldiers” in the new era through good practices and creative models.
Building regular agencies and units with strict observance of laws and disciplines and safety has been led and directed by the Party committees and commanders at all levels. Attention has been paid to building the model units of regularity construction and discipline observance, that has been concretised by effective contents, targets, and measures; strengthening disciplines; regularly rectifying military dressing and manners; closely combining different forms of education and grasping and managing the soldiers’ ideological situation; strictly managing the staffing at all times and places, especially when the soldiers perform their duties outside the barracks, small working forces, and independent units; and promoting the role and responsibility of cadres at all levels in implementing “3-follow”, not allowing the violation of laws and disciplines and unsafety in daily life, at work, and in traffic due to subjective faults.
To achieve solid results, the Division Party Committee has focused on reforming and improving leadership capacity and combat power of the Party committees and organisations to build a clean and strong Division Party Committee. It has well promoted the democracy, strengthened solidarity, and promptly set out leadership guidelines and measures to overcome the weak aspects and stages of the units; directed the Party committees at all levels to develop and complete their working and leadership regulations on key working areas to be close to the functions and powers of each party organisation; promoted the exemplary and pioneering role of cadres and Party members; well implemented “5-modeling” proposed by the Division Party Committee; and strengthened the inspection and supervision work to timely detect, prevent, and strictly handle violations.
Importance has been attached to the breakthrough in building a contingent of cadres with strong political commitment, high ethical qualities, competence, prestige, high sense of responsibility, good performance of tasks, and capability of “resistance”, “self-immunity” before the opposite and negative impacts and being always firm against all difficulties and challenges. Along with good implementation of planning, creating sources, mobilizing, and appointing cadres in accordance with principles and processes, ensuring democracy, objectivity, and prevention of manifestations of closeness and locality, the Division has attached special importance to building a substantive, open, and transparent mechanism for cadre assessment, inspection, supervision, and management, in which the quality and efficiency of task performance are decisive; detecting, selecting, and appointing cadres with strong political commitment, good ethical qualities and working capacity, exemplariness, and high sense of responsibility to leadership and commanding positions; not appointing and resolutely dismissing those with poor task performance and low qualifications, capability, and sense of responsibility which is below the requirements of tasks; and stepping up the renewal of scientific, democratic working style of cadres who dare to think, dare to do, and dare to hold accountability, with speeches in parallel with actions and adhesion to the grassroots, and have a high sense of unity and discipline observance.
The Division’s efforts to overcome difficulties to fulfill assigned tasks, that have been highly appreciated by the superiors and trusted by the local Party committees, authorities, and people, have clearly expressed the determination and responsibility of the current generation of cadres and soldiers in preserving and promoting the heroic tradition of the “Iron Division”.
Senior Colonel HUYNH DON, Division Commander