Disciplinary management and safety assurance is an objective requirement, a task of paramount importance for any unit. This is even more crucial for the 375 Air Defense Division as it is tasked with training and combat readiness, managing and protecting the airspace of the Central region and the Central Highlands with sophisticated weapon systems and technical equipment which have been used for many years in inclement weather conditions, hence becoming vulnerable to damage, fire and explosion. Therefore, acts of disregarding discipline, disobedience of safety precautions in the management and use of weapon and equipment will lead to unpredictable consequences on lives, property, and affecting its task performance.

Thoroughly grasping and implementing the resolutions, directives and instructions of upper echelons on disciplinary management and safety assurance, especially Directive No. 103/CT-BQP, dated November 28, 2019 of the Chief of the  General Staff on continuing to strengthen management, education of the disciplinary observance and safety assurance in the VPA, the Party Committee and commanders of the Division have focused on leading and directing its agencies and units to hold a series of extensive political activities aimed at reviewing and assessing the situation of legal and disciplinary violation; identifying the cause and the responsibility of individuals and collectives. At the same time, they have proposed leadership solutions to strengthen disciplining, ensure safety, preserve the quality and image of “Uncle Ho's soldiers”, and “The elite Air Defense - Air Force soldier”. The Party Committee of the Division has issued the thematic resolution No. 251-NQ/ĐU, dated October 4, 2016 on strengthening leadership in training work, preventing accidents, ensuring safety in training and many other documents on leading, directing and organising the strict implementation of this work.

During the process of implementation, the core and principle issue is to raise awareness and responsibility of all organizations and forces, promote the role of party committees and commanders at all levels, and to promote the role models of cadres and party members. The Party Committee and Division commanders have focused on improving the leadership capacity, the fighting strength of the party organisations, the effectiveness of the commanding organisations, the pioneering role of the mass organisations to generate the synergy for basically changing the awareness and responsibility in the management of discipline and safety assurance. Emphasize has been placed on nurturing the scientific and specific working style and method for changing the working style of the party committees and presiding cadres at all levels. Actively fostering and improving the commanding, management, and discipline maintaining capacity and experience in handling the situations for the young cadres and officers. The results of disciplinary management and safety assurance of the unit are determined as one of the criteria for evaluating task performance of the agencies or units; and one of the KPIs for the promotion and deployment of the presiding cadres at all levels.

Checking recruit training

In the education for troops, the Division has actively renewed the contents and forms of education with the goal of making its troops aware of their responsibility, proud of the traditions of the Army, the Service and the unit; forming a sense of self-disciplining to cultivate, practice discipline, and abide by the safety precautions. Combine closely education with maintaining strict regularity. With “top down” motto, the Division focuses on modeling, and giving specific instructions, and shaping troop’s consciousness and style from the most simple things, thereby step by step making its troops familiar to the army environment right from their first days in service; resolutely and fairly handling the cases of disciplinary violations and incident in the unit.

The division is stationed in a wide area of operation with many independent units performing their task far from the headquarters. In addition, the majority of its troops stay far from their families, causing difficulties in the work of discipline management and safety assurance. Therefore, the Division directs agencies and units to base on the requirements and tasks of each unit and consider each time to make it flexible, creative and effective in maintaining discipline and ensuring safety regularly and comprehensively on all aspects of operation and work of the unit. Strengthen the management of the troops under decentralised authority, firmly grasp the number of troops and their activities each day, especially on holidays, break time, when receiving new recruits, and when soldiers are about to demobilise. Agencies and units regularly review the internal political situation; proactively and closely coordinate families, localities and units to firmly grasp family circumstances, psychology, health, social relationships and the results of task performance of the soldiers under their authority; promptly, thoroughly, comprehensively and rationally solve the arising problems. The strict maintenance of the order and regular regime are ground for the units to manage their troops well and not to let unfortunate incidents happen. The functional agencies of the Division strengthen the sudden inspection of agencies and units in maintaining the order and regime of troop management, especially during holidays; focus on inspecting independent units. Regularly hold cultural, artistic, sport and healthy activities during break time, holidays, soldiers' birthdays, etc., attracting a large number of officers and soldiers, creating an exciting atmosphere, building solidarity in units.

Party committees and commanders of agencies and units actively work out many proactive measures to prevent incident risks in their operations. Regularly conduct careful check of the technical status of equipment and conditions for ensuring the operational safety in the use of weapons and technical equipment. Focusing on training of safety rules, order and manipulation when working with weapon and equipment for relevant forces; organize training courses on occupational safety and health from Division level to units. Issuing safety cards for officials and technicians with responsibility and tasks related to weapon and equipment with strict safety regulations in accordance with the guidance of the Service.

Along with that, the Division has stepped up the construction of regular technical work; well performed the work of preservation, maintenance, and fire prevention of weapons, equipment and technical facilities. Warehouses, workshops, and equipment deployment areas are equipped with lightning protection systems, fire prevention and fighting tools according to regulations. The plans for guarding, preventing theft, and combating fire and explosion have been built by 100% of agencies and units with regular supplementations, perfection, and serious practice. As a result, since 2018 to date, the number of unsafe incidents in the Division has been minimised, serving well for the task of training, combat readiness, firmly managing and protecting the assigned airspace.

Learning from previous years, the Division's traffic safety assurance has also had many positive changes thanks to synchronous and effective implementation of solutions; the promotion of the role and responsibility of the party committees, commanders of units in the implementation. By various forms, agencies and units have well conducted propaganda, dissemination, education to raise awareness in strict observance of the law on traffic order and safety for all military personnel. Every year, the Division launches campaigns and asks its units to sign the emulation covenant to implement “National Traffic Safety Year”. The units actively grasp the content, motto, themes and spirit of “National Traffic Safety Year” to identify specific objectives and contents for them; each troop is required to sign in the “No violating the Traffic Law” commitment.

The work of ensuring technical status and synchronicity of traffic vehicles is seriously focused by the Division. This is an important factor to limit traffic accidents of the Division over the years. The technical staffs of the Unit have promoted their proactivity, creativity, self-reliance to synchronize, upgrade and repair cars and vehicle to ensure technical safety standards in accordance with regulations; strictly inspect and check the safety status of vehicles before departure. Every month, the Division's 50 Movement Steering Committee coordinates with other agencies to inspect the observance of regulations when participating in traffic, and the quality of vehicles in traffic of unit; resolutely suspend the use of vehicles in danger of incident.

Synchronous implementation of the above solutions is the premise for the work of discipline management and safety assurance of the 375 Air Defense Division to continue to change positively and steadily in the coming years.

Colonel NGUYEN XUAN THUY, Division Commander