The 972nd Transportation Brigade (hereinafter referred to as the Brigade) of the Department of Transportation, General Department of Logistics is the strategic transportation unit, which is tasked with tranporting logistic materials, weapons, technical equipment, personnel, etc. for the units in the provinces in the South and Central Highlands; doing related tasks in the North - South strategic transportation route; organising the training, combat readiness, training for the reserve, joining the search and rescue, overcoming the natural disasters, and doing other unprecedented tasks. Especially, in the Covid-19 pandemic, the Brigade joined and successfully accomplished the task of transporting vaccines, medical materials, facilities and products for the prevention of the pandemic in Ho Chi Minh City and Southern provinces.
In the past few years, together with the general development of the whole military, the Brigade has been provided with various types of new and modern transporting vehicles of high load and cross-country capacity. Cadres and soldiers who were basically trained have accumulated much experience of transportation in the complex working environments. This is the advantage to make sure that the Brigade could successfully accomplish the tasks in all situations. However, due to the specific features, the task requirements of transportation have been gradually higher, the volumes of transport have been large and diversed with many explosive and imflamable materials; the Brigade is located dispersedly in large location with many units regularly doing their tasks far from the its Command; its tasks are quite stressful, especially when the soldiers need to assure the absolute safety over all fields in the condition of high traffic density which contains the danger of unsafety. From that fact, and to well accomplish the assigned tasks, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have strengthened their leadership and direction on implementing synchronously solutions to continuously improve the transportation capacity, meeting the task requirements in the new situation, in which, focusing on some main contents as follows:
At first, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command need to attentively lead, direct and build the political spirit and determination for soldiers, which is the precondition deciding the task completion and the key content to build the politically strong units. To gain the results, the Brigade’s Party Committee has led all subordinate offices and units to well carry out the Project of “Renovating the political education in units in the new period”, focusing on grasping the tasks, learning the seniors’ resolutions, directions and conclusions, concurrently, asked the Political Department to compile specific topics related to functions and tasks of the Brigade, and organised the education with suitable contents and methods to learners. To help its cadres, workers and soldiers achieve stable viewpoint and political spirit, the Brigade has paid attention to grasping and educating the staff to clearly understand the position, roles and tasks of the strategic-level military transportation unit; combined the education of tasks with the traditions of the heroic Transportation Soldiers, the propaganda, dissemination and education of law, especially the Law on road traffic; at the same time, clarified the pros and cons to overcome in doing the transportation task; on this basis, oriented the awareness, thought and actions; built the correct attitude and motivation, the will of overcoming difficulties, being determined to protect the qualities of the transportation soldiers, being “immunised” against social temptations and negative effects to finish the assigned tasks. In its implementation, the Brigade has correctly taken the stages, steps of “forecasting, holding, managing, orienting the thought and solving the problems” and the psychological methods in solving the ideological problems in the motto of “being close to soldiers, understanding soldiers, trusting soldiers” to proactively manage and timely solve, avoiding the negative and long-lasting thoughts. Especially, the Brigade has actively built the Party Committee which could excellently accomplish the tasks, attentively developed the party members, improved the leading ability and combat power for the party organisations; at the same time, promoted the emulation movements, especially the movement of “Building the regular, safe and effective transportation units” combined with learning and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality and lifestyle with practical activities within the whole unit. Besides, the Brigade has regularly taken care of physical and spiritual life, well implementing policies regarding welfare of military families. As a result, 100% cadres, workers and soldiers have had stable political spirit, revolutionary morality, been vigilant over the hostile forces’ schemes and plots, felt secure in working, connected to the units and ready to receive and successfully accomplish all assigned tasks.
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| Transporting vaccince in the Covid-19 pandemic |
The contingents of drivers, helmsmen, technicians are the forces directly deciding the working results of the units. Hence, together with the political and ideological education, the Brigade has enhanced the training and retraining to improve the professional skills for these forces. To gain the effectiveness, the Brigade has checked and evaluated exactly the real quality of these forces, built the training plans suitably to each of them; directed the implementation with various forms, combined between selecting and sending cadres and workers to be trained at schools with training right in the units, encouraged them to self-study during their working reality. In training, the Brigade has well implemented the basic, practical and solid motto; managed and operated the training towards “intensity, unity, synchronicity, effectiveness, non-overlapping”; closely combined between training and transportation, taking training of cadres as the key, training of driving techniques and safety assurance as the core. The training contents have focused on the work of staff, command, operation and combined transportations for tasks; technical processes in storing, maintaining and repairing vehicles; modes and forms of transportation in types of terrains; processes of giving, receiving, loading and unloading products; techniques of driving at night; methods of safety assurance during transportation; situation-handling skills when joining the road and water traffic; transportation techniques and tactics in different forms of combat, in prevention of natural disasters, diseases, etc. For drivers and helmsmen, the Brigade has directed the organisation of intensive training and refresher courses combined with retraining when doing the task of transportation with more focus on weak and newly graduated drivers and helmsmen. For technicians, the Brigade trains them through practice in the way of the predecessors handing on experience to the successors, at the same time, organising the technical contests and competitions, and actively attending the ones organised by the General Department of Logistics and the Ministry of National Defence. As a result, so far, most of cadres, drivers, helmsmen and repairmen of the Brigade have acquired good professional knowledge and skills, well meeting the task requirements.
As a technical unit with highly specific features, the task-completion ability of the Brigade significantly depends on the absolute safety assurance, especially on the transportation routes and roads. This is also the main and cross-cutting goal in the transportation activities, having been highly appreciated by the Brigade. To make the transportation absolutely safe in terms of human, vehicles, products and traffic, 100% offices and units reaching the standard of “Safe units”, “Absolutely safe units”, not having violations of law, discipline and traffic safety, the Brigade pays special attention to educating and disseminating the law, improving the awareness for cadres, workers and soldiers of safety in transporting. The educating contents have been focused on the basic issues of the Law on road traffic; Law on inland waterway navigation; Decree No. 100/2019/NĐ-CP, dated 30 December 2019 by the Government on “Administrative penalties for road traffic offences and rail transport offences”, processes and regulations in the military transportation. The training is conducted in many forms including intensive learning, panels, posters, internal radio broadcast, seminars, theatricalised contests and legal bookcases in units. Together with grasp and education, the Brigade has strictly maintained the safety regulations, especially the traffic safety; maintained the discipline of technically checking the vehicles before and after the transportation; prohibited the drivers from drinking alcohol when doing their tasks; strictly punished any cases of unsafety due to the subjective faults, etc. In transporting, the Brigade has assigned the command, management and operation of transportation closely, scientifically and flexibly. Before each transportation task, the Brigade has grasped, assigned specific tasks, built detailed plans and clearly defined the responsibility for each group and individual; had plans on selecting suitable cadres, commanders and drivers for each task. On each section of transportation, the Brigade has strictly defined the space and distance among vehicles; where to change drivers, stop and park. In transporting troops, the Brigade has prioritised the use of new vehicles which have good technical conditions in order to assure the soldiers’ safety and health. In transporting heavy and complex goods in long distance and time, units have selected the commanders and drivers who have skill and spirit, experience and professional competence, at the same time, strengthened the work of command and supervision in all stages of the transportation process.
Responding to the high requirements of transportation task and the conditions of vehicles which have been used for years and downgraded with low synchronicity, to reach the targets, the Brigade has paid attention to conducting the technical maintenance; managing the quality and quantity of vehicles and ships; strictly carrying out the order and regulation of technical work. In recent years, the Brigade has well promoted the Campaign 50; maintained the order and quality of the technical hour everyday and technical day every week. The units have brought into play the spirit of self-reliance, resilience, the motto of “treating vehicles like your children” and the internal forces, promoted the maintenance and repairs in echelon. Besides, the Brigade has attentively mobilised all resources to upgrade and modernise the facilities in repair stations and factories, improve the technical support capacity for all levels. As a result, the Brigade has regularly assured the technical status of vehicles with the technical coefficient reaching even surpassing the standards, which is ready to do the tasks in all situations. For the past 5 years, on having excellently accomplished the tasks of transportation, the Brigade has been highly appreciated by the Transportation Department, General Department of Logistics; awarded the Certificate of Merit in the movement of “The Military Logistics following Uncle Ho’s teachings” in 2023 by the Ministry of National Defence, the Emulation Flag by the General Department of Logistics in the Determined-to-win Emulation Movement, the excellent training unit, etc.
Owing to the synchronous and effective implementation of the above solutions, the Brigade’s transportation capacity has been highly improved. This is the stable precondition for the Brigade to build the comprehensively strong, “exemplary, typical” and “regular, safe, effective” unit, being ready to successfully accomplish the tasks, deserving to be the strategic transportation unit of the Military.
Senior Colonel DINH HOANG HUYEN, The Brigade Commander