During 70 years of building, fighting and growing, the armed forces of Quang Ninh province have successfully fulfilled all the assigned tasks and clearly displayed the core role in conducting the local military and defence work, deserving the tradition of twice-awarded Heroic Unit, being a loyal, credible fighting and political force of the Provincial Party Committee, Authority and people.

Snr. Col Le Dinh Thuong inspects units' training

Quang Ninh is a border, coastal province holding a position of economic, defence, security, diplomatic importance to the cause of national construction and protection. Perceiving that, the armed forces of Quang Ninh regularly heighten the revolutionary tradition of the heroic Mining Land, proactively working with local sectors and organizations to give advice to party committees and authorities at levels on enhanced efficiency and effectiveness of leadership and direction over the local defence work. As a result, that has contributed to building increasingly strong all-people national defence and defensive zones, maintaining political security and social order, and creating favourable condition for the Province’s rapid, sustainable socioeconomic development and international integration.

Comprehending the Party’s military and defence guideline, higher echelons’ resolutions and directives, grounded in counselling and proposals of departments, committees and sectors, with the Provincial Military Party Committee, People’s Council and Committee as the core, local party committees and authorities have issued resolutions, directions and plans to lead and direct the implementation of military and defence tasks in accordance with characteristics of the area. Moreover, the province has placed emphasis on innovating the method of leadership and management of party committees and authorities at all levels over the military and defence tasks; on completing mechanism and regulations of construction and operation of defensive zones; on promulgating documents regulating functions and tasks of authorities and sectors at all levels towards the building of all-people national defence; on combining socioeconomic development with strengthened defence and security; on building potential and posture of defensive zones; on mobilizing material resources for defence. The province’s armed forces have actively evaluated the situation and counselled the province to lay down guidelines and strategies to deal with defence and security situations and protect national sovereignty over border, seas and islands.

Over the past years, the province has built up and effectively executed the Action Plan 27-CTr/TU; the Directive 11-CT/TU on strengthened leadership over the implementation of the Resolution 28-NQ/TW; the Action Plan 24-CTr/TU on implementation of the Resolution of the Party Central Committee’s 8^th Plenum (11^th tenure); the Resolution 24-CTr/TU and the Resolution 03-NQ/TU on leadership over local defence work in the 2011-2015 period as well as a series of projects to strengthen defence and security. Consequently, this work has been led and directed on a close, uniform basis. Potential and posture of the defensive zones have continued to improve. The province has completed the planning of provincial and district level military posture and invested hundreds of billions VND in building central defensive works, thereby forming an inter-connected posture among tiers, especially in the areas of central importance, namely border and coastal areas and Northeast islands, maintaining readiness for defence situations. At present, military agencies at all levels should continue to give advice to the province on adjustment of the Master Plan for defence disposition combined with socioeconomic development until 2020. By 2018, the province strives to basically complete the construction of logistics and technical base as a model of the Military Region 3 and the Ministry of National Defence. By 2020, it will finish building provincial-level wartime basic Headquarters and 50%-60% of district-level wartime headquarters.

Performing their functions, the Provincial Military Command and military agencies at all levels have closely managed defence land and works in the area, while proactively working with other agencies to inspect and assess the building of strategies, planning and projects for the province’s socioeconomic development, especially foreign-invested projects in the sensitive key areas of defence and security. That has helped the province closely combine socioeconomic development with strengthened defence and security and diplomacy under the Party’s guideline. Over the past years, the province has built and actively implemented the Master Plan for socioeconomic development, Plan for regional building until 2030, vision to 2050 and beyond, plans for land use and tourism and human resource development, the Project “rapid, sustainable socioeconomic development, strengthened defence and security, and piloted construction of the two special administrative-economic zones of Mong Cai and Van Don”, etc. In spite of the fact that socioeconomic development of the province has taken place robustly, projects to build industrial, tourism, service and new urban zones in the area have been carefully examined in order not to affect defence and security. Many dual-use works and projects with great importance attached to have brought into play and contributed to both the province’s socioeconomic development and implementation of defence tasks, particularly those of border, sea, island management and protection, natural disaster relief, search and rescue.

As standing agencies of the Steering Committee for building defensive zones, the Steering Committee for People’s Air Defence, Council for Military Service, Council for Defence and Security Education at all levels, the Provincial Military Command and local military agencies have been proactive in the staff work, helping councils and steering committees maintain the order of operation and actively inspect the process of implementation in localities. The Provincial Military Command has counselled the Provincial Council for Defence and Security Education and the Provincial People’s Committee and worked with committees and sectors to effectively execute the Law on Defence and Security Education, thereby improving the effectiveness of the province’s work of defence and security education and effecting considerable transformations in awareness and responsibility of cadres, party members and all people towards the task of national defence. Consequently, Quang Ninh is an exemplar of expanding groups of learners regarding defence and security education, being the first of the country to build and operate the Centre  for Defence and Security Education under the Provincial Military School and launch “Military Semester” courses for secondary and high school students in the area, which has been highly appreciated by the Central Council for Defence and Security Education and the Military Region 3.

Besides, the province’s armed forces spare no effort to overcome difficulties and always take the lead in the implementation of local military and defence tasks. Units of the province’s armed forces regularly maintain order and regulations on combat readiness, review, adjust, supplement and step up training and exercise according to the defensive zone plans and projects as well as plans for natural disaster prevention and mitigation, search and rescue. Simultaneously, they actively adopt measures to grasp the area’s situation, closely working with other forces, particularly the Public Security Force and the Border Guard of the province, the Coast Guard, and the Navy, to design combat projects and those to prevent and control riots, disturbances and terrorist attacks. As a result, they always maintain readiness to opportunely, effectively deal with defence and security situations and complicated issues right at grass-roots levels, safeguarding national sovereignty over border, seas and islands as well as political security and social order in the area. Moreover, military agencies at all levels have been proactive in giving advice to party committees and authorities and successfully carried out the work concerning militia and self-defence force, reserve force and military student recruitment, etc. Up to now, the province has built and organized the reserve force into units with 99.2% of their structure and 70% of the reservists training in the military, while building strong, extensive militia and self-defence force accounting for 1.83% of its population with nearly 600 units. Whilst building and maintaining the operation of mobile militia platoons, coastal militia and self-defence platoons and standing militia squads at district level, the Provincial Military Command has directed the building of self-defence force in foreign-invested enterprises as an example for the Ministry of National Defence and the Military Region 3 to draw lessons and multiply.

Performing the function as “an army ready for work”, the province’s armed forces have actively worked with local committees, sectors and sociopolitical organizations to step up propagation and mass mobilization, while giving advice to local party committees and authorities on building strong political bases. In recent years, the province’s armed forces have worked with other forces to persuade the people to settle in Tran island and central border areas, such as Hai Son, Luc Lam (Mong Cai city), Bac Phong Sinh (Hai Ha district), Dong Van, Trinh Tuong (Binh Lieu district), etc., thereby contributing to strengthening the all-people national defence posture in province’s border areas and islands. At the same time, the armed forces have been active in implementing the movements, namely “Repaying Gratitude”, “Joining hands in building new-type rural area”, and “Eradicating hunger, reducing poverty”, while building self-control security model, particularly the model “Group of safe units and areas”, so as to maintain political security at grass-roots level. Notably, they have clearly performed the vanguard, core role in natural disaster prevention and control, and search and rescue. During historic rains and floods occurring in the area in 2015, the province’s armed forces deployed over 17.000 cadres and troops and nearly 300 vehicles to take part in search and rescue, helping the people quickly overcome the consequences and stabilize their life. In addition, the Provincial Military Command has proactively counselled the province to step up defence diplomacy, thus creating a driving force for the province’s strengthened external affairs and international cooperation. Thanks to practical activities, the province’s armed forces have greatly contributed to the building of “people’s hearts and minds posture” as a basis for building national unity block, defence potential, strong all-people national defence posture, people’s security posture, and all-people border defence posture, effectively dealing with hostile forces’ plots and acts of sabotage, maintaining political stability and social order in the area.

Being proud of tradition and recorded results, the armed forces of Quang Ninh province are striving to ceaselessly enhance the synergy and the combat strength, perform the core role in carrying out the local military and defence work, together with the provincial Party Committee, authorities and people successfully fulfilling the two strategic tasks in the new situation.

Snr. Col. Le Dinh Thuong, Commander of Quang Ninh Provincial Military Command