Located in the key economic region of the Mekong Delta, with nearly 100km of border with Cambodia, and possessing many potentials and strengths, An Giang province holds an important position in terms of socio-economics, defence, security and foreign affairs. Over the years, the Party Committee, authorities, armed forces and people in the province have always united and kept the situations of political security, social order and safety stable; promoted socio-economic development to a new step. Its social security policies are guaranteed; national defence, security, foreign affairs are consolidated and strengthened, etc. However, besides the achieved results, the situations of border crossing, human and drug trafficking, smuggling, violation of border management regulations are still seeing complications. Clusters of fishing rafts (currently including 159 ones) of Cambodian-Vietnamese people are anchored on the other side of the border for a long time, may potentially cause insecurity and instability in the border area. Hostile forces, political opportunists and extremists conduct lots of propaganda and distortion against the Party, the State and the Army. Natural disasters and diseases, etc. happen complicatedly, significantly affecting socio-economic development, people's lives and the operations of the armed forces. To overcome the above difficulties and challenges, the Provincial Military Party Committee and the Provincial Military Command focus on leading and directing the armed forces to deploy synchronously and drastically solutions to successfully carry out military and defence tasks; in which, promoting the core role of the armed forces in the implementation of defence and security education is the one of primary importance.

Thoroughly grasping Directive No. 12-CT/TW of the Politburo (10th tenure); Law on National Defence and Security Education; Decree No. 13/2014/ND-CP, Decree No. 139/2020/ND-CP of the Government and new legal documents on defence and security education, etc., every year, the Provincial Military Command advises the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Committee to issue resolutions and legal documents on fostering defence and security knowledge for the subjects; defence and security education for students in the schools of the province; actively advise the Provincial People's Committee to consolidate the Provincial Council for Defence and Security Education with appropriate components and smooth operations according to regulations. At the same time, it advises the province to direct the Council for Defence and Security Education at all levels to carry out the inspection of defence and security education according to the defined plan. Therefore, the work of defence and security education in the province has been conducted in an orderly manner with developments in both breadth and depth, contributing to raising awareness and responsibility for the subjects in effectively implementing defence and military work.

Commander of the provincial armed forces grants certificate of completion in defence and security training for religious dignitaries in 2023

Faced with the high requirements of the task of Fatherland protection, the Provincial Military Command advises, directs and guides the training of national defence and security knowledge for the subjects in a serious and effective manner at all 3 levels. Every year, the Provincial Military Command cooperates with the Department of Home Affairs and the the Provincial Organisational Commission to review and grasp the targeted cadres of defence and security education, especially the newly promoted and appointed ones. On that basis, it advises the Provincial Party Committee to send Class-1 and 2 cadres to training courses held by the Party Central Committee and the Military Region. For Class-3 cadres, the province develops plans, assigns targets and informs localities, agencies and units early to make it easy for them to arrange their work and participate in the courses. Besides, it directs localities to hold defence and security training courses for Class-4 cadres in accordance with local and unit realities. Thanks to the thorough implementation of this effort, cadres and party members of the province are deeply aware of the Party's viewpoints and lines, and the State's policies and laws on national defence and security; firmly grasp the plots and tricks of "peaceful evolution", riots and overthrows of hostile forces; they have promoted their exemplary role, and well fulfilled their assigned tasks.

An Giang is home to different religions, including 529 worship establishments, 6 religious centres with nearly 1.8 million followers (accounting for 78% of the province's population). Faced with that situation, the Provincial Military Command advises the province to direct localities to actively coordinate with religious organisations to include religious dignitaries, owners of religious institutions and places of worship, reputable people among religious believers in each area, etc., especially in key areas in terms of national defence and security, border areas in defence and security training plan. The training content focuses on Directive No. 18-CT/TW, dated January 10, 2018 of the Politburo on "Continuing to implement Resolution No. 25-NQ/TW of the Party Central Committee (9th tenure) on religious work in the new situation”; Law on Belief and Religion 2016; the Party's guidelines and policies, and the State's laws on ethnicity, religion, and freedom of belief. At the same time, training content also further clarifies the plots and tricks of hostile forces to take advantage of the issues of "race", "religion", "democracy", "human rights" to sabotage our country's revolution. This has made them more aware of building an all-people national defence, people's security, and religious policies of the Party and State; clearly understand the plots and tricks of the hostile forces to integrate them into their religious practice, propaganda and education for believers so that they won’t be incited, manipulated or instigated by bad guys who oppose the country’s revolution.

Students represent an important human resource of the country, but they are also easily abused by the bad guys with inciting activities that may cause insecurity and order in the area. For this reason, the province focuses on defence and security education for this force. As the standing agency of the Provincial Council for National Defence and Security Education, the Provincial Military Command works closely with the Department of Education and Training, schools and higher education institutions in the area to proactively agree on the contents and programs of national defence and security education in accordance with the characteristics of the school and the target learners. Prior to each academic year, the schools and educational institutions review and appoint defence and security teachers according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training; at the same time, they actively hold refresher courses for teachers of national defence and security education in accordance with regulations. As a result, students can grasp the views of the Party, the State's policies and laws on national defence and security, all-people national defence, people's security, conspiracies and tricks of "peaceful evolution" of hostile forces; develop basic knowledge and military skills. Thereby, students’ awareness and responsibility in studying, training, and participating in military service have been improved significantly.

Currently, the administrative system of the province consists of 11 district-level administrative units; 156 commune-level units, 879 hamlets, including 18 border communes, wards, and towns and 69 focal communes, wards and townships in national defence and security. Therefore, promoting the dissemination of national defence and security knowledge to the entire population is always concerned by the province. The Provincial Military Command has advised the Council for National Defence and Security Education to direct agencies, departments, branches and mass unions to develop plans, regulations, and conduct defence and security dissemination and propaganda for the entire people on the mass media, such as the local radio system, An Giang Radio and Television, and An Giang Newspaper. In addition, the province directs localities, agencies and units to integrate military and defence activities of the province's armed forces on local news bulletins, newspapers, radio and political activities with nearly 145,000 listeners. This has raised citizens' awareness and sense of responsibility in building a strong all-people defence and people's security, and building a firm defence area.

The achievements in national defence and security education over the past time have made an important contribution to building the all-people national defence in association with  the people's security strong; building a firm "people's heart and mind posture"; maintaining political security, social order and safety for the province’s fast and sustainable socio-economic development.

Senior Colonel THACH THANH TU, Commander of the Provincial Military Command