Born in the fiercest stage of the resistance war against the U.S. to save the country, Air Defence Division 375 overcame all difficulties and quickly matured to make many important feats. Currently, in the face of the development of requirements and tasks, the Division’s Party Committee and commanders have determined to continue promoting traditions and synchronously carrying out guidelines and solutions for improving the overall quality and combat power to fulfil the task of protecting the airspace of the Fatherland.

More than half a century of guarding the Fatherland’s airspace

55 years ago, in the midst of the U.S. imperialists’ frenzy to escalate the war to destroy the North, Air Defence Division 375 was formed. Just a week after its inception, on February 14^th, 1968, the Division bravely and tenaciously entered combat to shoot down the enemy’s A.6-A aircraft on the spot and usher in the tradition of winning the first battle. The day then became the traditional day of the Division.

During the resistance war against the United States to save the country, the Division tenaciously clung to the key points, often fiercely attacked by the enemy and overcame all difficulties and hardships to fight wisely, bravely, and creatively against them and fulfill its important tasks of protecting the direct rear of the large southern front line, transportation, and combat in the formation of the combined forces. From early 1968 to mid-1969, as the core force of the air defence force in the South of Gianh River, the Division joined with troops and people of Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces to form a wide and solid triple-force anti-aircraft fire net to defeat the enemy's war tactics, maintain the strategic transportation route, and contribute to defeating the first destructive war of the U.S. imperialists to the North. From May 1972 to the end of 1977, the Division participated in the fight to protect the traffic routes north of Hanoi, Air Defence Operation to protect Hanoi at the end of December 1972, Ho Chi Minh Campaign, and protecting the newly liberated region. Regarding their assigned responsibilities, generations of the Division’s cadres and soldiers have overcome all difficulties and challenges to unite, strive, be creative, and promote synergy in fulfiling the task of protecting the “floating port” in Lang Son, contributing to ensuring 100% of the military cargo transport plans and 80% of the plans for transporting civilian goods on the transport routes in the North of Hanoi, and firmly protecting the skies of the Fatherland.

In combat, the Division inherited the glorious tradition of the previous generation and the combat art of the Air Defence to gradually build a unique, creative, and effective way of fighting to contribute to the development of Vietnamese military art on the air defence front. Besides, the Division carefully studied and analysed the plots and tricks of the enemy’s air force to build an effective air defence combat posture and, along with other forces, create synergy to defeat the enemy's air raids, becoming the core force to protect the airspace in the strategic areas of the Fatherland. At the same time, under the motto of both fighting and building concurrently, generations of the Division’s cadres and soldiers regularly took care of building agencies and units in all aspects to ensure that the Division was always strong in politics, ideology, and organisation, mature, and solid.

After its dissolution (in 1977), on October 16^th, 1978, the Division was re-established to open a new development path with the central political task of training, combat readiness, building of comprehensively strong unit to serve as the core in the people's air defence posture, contributing to firmly protecting the airspace of the Centre and Central Highlands. Upholding its traditions of heroic fighting, resilience, and glorious victory, the Division focused on overcoming all difficulties, building a comprehensively strong unit, continuing to grow, and regularly attaching to and relying on the people to fulfil its tasks. In the Doi Moi period, the Division’s cadres and soldiers always upheld the spirit of revolutionary vigilance to rise to master science, technology, weapons, and equipment, be ready to fight, and firmly manage and protect the sky of the Fatherland. With exceptionally excellent achievements, the Division and its 11 subordinate collectives and 7 individuals have been awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces by the State, while many others have received noble awards.

Checking combat readiness at Battalion 179, Regiment 282

Determination and breakthrough to be worthy of the Hero Unit

Currently, the Division is stationed in the area of 7 provinces and cities in the Centre and Central Highlands, the requirements of the tasks of combat readiness and airspace management are increasingly high due to many new challenges. To fulfil the tasks, the Division has focused on building political strength to serve as a basis for improving the overall quality and combat power. Particularly, special attention has been paid to building and maintaining the leadership role of the Party organisations at all levels. Party committees and organisations have attached importance to improving the quality of formulation of leadership resolutions; upholding the principle of democratic centralism; promoting self-criticism and criticism; expanding and promoting democracy in the Party activities; and strictly maintaining the inspection and supervision routine. The breakthrough contents identified by the Division Party Committee include associating party member contingent building with cadre building, focusing on upholding the modeling responsibility of each cadre and party member; and developing scientific working methods and styles, proactiveness and boldness in thinking, doing, taking responsibility, and challenging through difficult tasks and new work.

Along with that, the Division has also focused on building the cadres and soldiers’ spirit of solidarity and coordination and training their calmness, intrigue, creativeness, and decisiveness in performing tasks. This is a high requirement of the Air Defence, especially in combat. Therefore, the Division’ political and ideological education should be aimed at making the soldiers fully aware of the tasks of combat readiness and firm management of the assigned airspace; clarifying plots, tricks, and objects of operation in the new situation; building the fighting will, boldness, and methods and determination to win; developing sense of mastery of existing weapons and equipment; and encouraging active learning and creation of good and effective ways to fight to ready to defeat all enemy’s air attacks. At the same time, it is necessary to do well in ideological work and proactively prevent and limit negative impacts on the thoughts and affections of the cadres and soldiers. Agencies and units should focus on innovating educational contents, methods, and forms; well integrating education of traditions with political learning programs to suit the audiences; combining concentrated education with complementary activities; and promoting the application of information technology to increase visualisation to attract soldiers through rich and diverse forms.

To meet the increasing requirements of air defence force in high-tech weapon combat, the Division continues strengthening the organisation and staffing and improving the quality of training, combat readiness, management and firm protection of assigned airspace. Thoroughly observing and strictly implementing the superiors’ instructions and guidelines on adjusting the organisation and staffing, especially Decision No.743/QD-TM, issued on May 14^th, 2019 by the Chief of the General Staff on promulgating the schedule of organisation and staffing of Air Defence Division and Plan No.2168/KH-PKKQ issued on June 8^th, 2022 by the Air Defence and Air Force on the Service’s organisation in the 2021 - 2030 period and beyond, the Division should actively consolidate its staffing, arrange appropriate number of troops, and well assure the regimes and policies for cadres and soldiers after adjusting as prescribed; flexibly supplement and arrange troops at the transitional times; and give priority to units undertaking training and combat readiness tasks. In training, from the development of plans and programs to the end of the period and the whole year, the agencies and units need to stick to the motto of comprehensive, synchronous, and focused innovations, taking innovation of content and method as a breakthrough to suit the characteristics,  staffing, functions, and tasks of each unit; actively innovate the management, administration, and development of training and drill programs; attach importance to comprehensive, synchronous, basic, and intensive training, particularly training of headquarter and detachment combat crews to ensure good independent combat and synergistic operations in the formations of the Service and the combined forces; focus on training in exploiting and using existing weapons and technical equipment to ensure mastery and grasping of individual and coordinative combat of all crews to serve as a basis for improving the quality of tactical training; innovate training methods towards promoting activeness, creativeness, and “cross” and comprehensiveness understanding for soldiers who are not only be good at their own tasks but also know those of the superiors and other units; and associate training to grasp principles and theories with improving the ability to practice close to the actual task, position, and function of each individual and unit.

The Division has determined that cadre training is key and breakthrough stage towards the goals of 100% of cadres trained according to hierarchy with over 80% good and excellent (including over 50% good) and presiding cadres achieving excellent results. Accordingly, along with regularly doing well in training and fostering cadres, the Division needs to take measures to encourage and create favourable conditions and environment in association with regularly assigning new tasks, difficult work, and high requirements for the cadres to uphold their spirit of overcoming difficulties, self-study, and self-training to improve their working skill and capacity. It is also required to promote the senses of proactiveness, creativeness, and self-reliance in ensuring and maximising resources to invest in building facilities and grounds for training and drills.  After each training stage and year, it is necessary to organise competitions, contests, drills, and live fire to evaluate results and promptly and seriously learn from experience to improve the quality of training.

Along with improving the quality of training, the Division should focus on directing and strictly implementing the superiors’ directives, resolutions, and instructions on combat readiness without being passive and surprised to successfully handle all situations. Thereby, agencies and units should regularly supplement and consolidate the combat documents and organise training to master combat plans, especially night fighting, target breaking-in, and protection of important targets and works on the assigned ranges; strictly maintain the regime, forces and means of guarding and managing the airspace in accordance with the Order of the Service; organise 1, 2, and 3-level headquarter training and aircraft-instruction training to ensure absolute safety; thoroughly communicate and well implement “Four-grasping” in airspace management and “Four-allowable” in air incursion counterattacks; and closely coordinate with other forces and units in strictly managing the flying vehicles without mistakes, errors, omissions, delay, surprises, or missing of opportunities. Along with that, they need continue thoroughly observing and strictly implementing the superiors’ directives and guidelines on regularity building to create a solid change in discipline management and training and safety assurance. At the same time, they should regularly do a good job of ensuring logistics and techniques for tasks to create synergy to contribute to managing and firmly protecting the assigned airspace in all situations and be worthy of the glorious 55-year tradition of generations of cadres and soldiers of Air Defence Division 375.

Senior Colonel DAO HONG PHUONG, Division’s Commander