Bac Kan, a mountainous province of the old Viet Bac revolutionary base, holds a very important position in the common defence posture of Military Region 1 and the whole country. During the resistance war against the French colonialists between 1945 and 1954, some localities of the province were selected as safe zones to protect the headquarters of the Party Central agencies and the Government. This is also the place where the army and people of Bac Kan coordinated with the main troops to fight many important battles, destroying enemy forces, making important contributions to the cause of national liberation. Promoting that tradition, over the years, along with promoting socio-economic development, improving living standards of the people, the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and People's Committee have proposed and promulgated many practical guidelines and solutions to build a strong all-people’s national defence, contributing to maintaining political security, social order and safety, and serving as a basis for the province’s rapid and sustainable development.

To realise that goal, the Provincial Military Command promotes its key role in advising the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee to focus on leading and directing departments, branches and localities to thoroughly grasp the resolutions, directives of the Party and State on national defence and military. Emphasis is placed on the 8th Resolution of the Party Central Committee (11th tenure) on "Strategy to protect the Fatherland in the new situation"; Resolution No. 28-NQ/TW, dated September 22, 2008 of the Politburo and Decree No. 21/2018/ND-CP of the Government on defensive areas; Decree 164/2018/ND-CP on combining national defence with socio-economy, and decrees on civil defence. The Provincial Military Command advises and assists the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee in formulating and promulgating the Action Program No. 10-CTr/TU on the implementation of Resolution No. 28; Directive No. 12/2010/CT-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee on the establishment and operation of provincial and district defence zones; directs departments, branches and localities to review and formulate plans for defence land use, integrate the defence master plan with the general planning system of the province and the region; elaborates master plans on defence arrangement and evacuation areas of central ministries and branches in combination with socio-economic development. Every year, the Provincial Military Command concretises the content of building the all-people national defence in the leadership resolutions and plans of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee; regularly advises on the consolidation and improvement of operational quality and efficiency of the steering committees and councils on defence and security, and building defence areas; strengthens guidance and direction for the implementation of local military and defence work through briefing documents and holding conferences, thereby, helping cadres and party members at all levels firmly grasp the contents and solutions on the mechanism of leadership, direction and administration; and improving the state management capacity of this work for party committees, authorities at all levels, and heads of agencies and units.

The provincial military command assign the disaster relief task to Na Ri district

In addition, the Provincial Military Command promotes propaganda and education on military and defence tasks, focusing on thoroughly implementing defence and security education and training for target groups. Notably, over the past time, the Provincial Military Command has promoted the role of the Standing Agency of the Defence and Security Education Council; coordinated with other departments and branches to advise the Provincial People's Committee to expand the subjects of education and training, especially village elders, village heads, dignitaries of family clans, business owners and students; integrating propaganda and dissemination of national defence and security knowledge at the grassroots level through news briefing, people meeting and in activities to celebrate the all-people national defence festival to provide information, ideological orientation, prevent misinformation and division of the great national unity bloc. Since 2009 to date, the province has run nearly 500 categories and published thousands of propaganda articles on the mass media, contributing to raising awareness, responsibility and self-discipline of the whole people in building the national defence potential, especially political and spiritual potential, ensures the building of an increasingly strong all-people national defence.

Building "elite, compact and strong" armed forces with high mobility and combat readiness, and building a solid defence area are the core contents in building the all-people national defence. Bearing this in mind, over the past time, military agencies at all levels have closely followed Resolution No. 05-NQ/TW, dated January 17, 2022 of the Politburo, Resolution No. 230-NQ/QUTW, dated April 2, 2022 of the Central Military Commission on the organisation of the Army for the period of 2021 - 2030 and beyond. The Provincial Military Command actively grasps the situation, actively advises the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee to lead and direct the building of strong, well-structured and qualified local armed forces with high overall quality and level of combat readiness. In particular, priority is given to staffing the units that conduct combat readiness tasks, building strong, widespread militia and self-defence forces with reasonable structure and composition, high quality, especially political reliability; directing agencies and units to strictly maintain the daily and weekly regimes. Regularly renew and improve the quality of training for the standing force in accordance with the target audience, location, and task requirements, focusing on combat plans, handling situations, disaster prevention and control, and search and rescue. Attention is paid to improving the quality of exercises, contests and sports festivals. Directs the armed forces to coordinate in maintaining political security, social order and safety, and preventing and combating natural disasters and incidents according to the Government's decrees, etc., contributing to minimising damage to both people and property of the state and the people. Along with that, strengthen political and ideological education; step up the learning and following of Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality and style in association with Party building and rectification; foster the implementation of the Campaign of promoting tradition, dedicating talents, deserving the title of "Uncle Ho's Soldiers" in the new period. Every year, over 80% of military party organisations are rated clean and strong, over 85% of party members complete their tasks well, and 100% of training agencies and units are rated good or higher.

In order to generate material resources and strengthen the potentials for building a stronger national defence, the province has issued many guidelines and solutions to lead and direct the combination of socio-economic development with consolidation and strengthening national defence and security. Sticking to the functions, tasks, over the past time, the Provincial Military Command has coordinated with the departments, agencies and branches to advise and appraise the investment projects for socio-economic development in the region and in the locality in accordance with the province's defence determination, in which investment priorities are given to key defence and security areas and the CT229 communes. In particular, prioritised areas include: effective use of land; industrial development, in place labour restructuring; expanding domestic electricity and telecommunications networks; mobilising state and social capital to upgrade traffic routes; popularising and standardising education and upgrading medical facilities; well implementing the military and civil medicine combination programme, etc. to improve the people's knowledge and health to ensure human resources for the building of the reserve, militia and self-defence forces; establish a solid and continuous traffic system in the defensive area. As a result, up to now, nearly 1,000 enterprises have been established in the provinced; forestry and agriculture have seen sustainable developments, with forest coverage accounting for over 72%; the industrial parks have soon come into operation effectively, and have been ready to produce a number of goods for defence and security purposes. 100% of the communes can be accessed by car; 87% of villages and hamlets have inter-village roads, over 97% of households have access to electricity, and 100% of the localities have mobile coverage, etc. In the defence and economic combination, the province makes enough provision of budget, human and material sources for regular operations of the armed forces and the construction of defence structures, as well as the procurement of equipment for the armed forces. At the same time, it well prepares for the plan to ensure defence needs in the first year of war.

Along with the above solutions, military agencies at all levels actively coordinate and synergize with agencies, mass organisations and localities in building defence areas and performing defence and military work, such as: military recruitment, defence and security education, policies for military’s families, assurance of political security, social order and safety. Instruct agencies, mass organisations and localities in concretising the contents of building the all-people national defence in their work plans. At the same time, each locality cooperates well with neighbouring ones and units stationing in the area to exchange information and unify control plans to grasp the situation and promptly handle situations of security and order, fire prevention and fighting, forest protection, so as to create favourable conditions and environment for both socio-economic development and improvement of living standards for people, while developing potentials for building a strong all-people national defence, a solid "people's heart and mind posture", worthy of the "Safe Zone" in the new era.

Senior Colonel NGUYEN DINH HUYNH, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Commander of the Provincial Military Command