Our Party, State, and Military are investing in modernising Air Defence - Air Force Service. That is a pride but imposes more task requirements on all-level party committees and commands across the Service. To meet those requirements, the Service Party Committee and Command have been synchronously implementing measures of leadership, with a focus on building a politically strong Service as the most important factor.

Inheriting heroic Air Defence - Air Force troops’ tradition and bringing into play their achievements, the Service Party Committee and Command have concentrated on renewing and improving the work of political education and ideological management to build up cadres and soldiers’ political zeal, which is of paramount importance to building a politically strong Service. Therefore, the Service Party Committee and Command have focused their leadership and direction on raising the effectiveness of political education at units and social sciences and humanities education at schools within the Service. The Service has kept well executing the Project on “renewing political education at military units in the new period” in accordance with its assigned functions and tasks. In this regard, great value has been attached to educating cadres and soldiers on tradition of the nation and the Military as well as Air Defence - Air Force troops’ tradition of “winning victory right in the first battle.” In the process, the Service has combined political education with legal propagation and education, while strictly implementing Regulations on Democracy at Grass-Roots Level and the Campaign titled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” via many creative, proper, effective approaches. Doing so has enabled the Service to strengthen its cadres and soldiers’ political zeal and faith in the Party’s leadership and render its staff members fully aware of the task of modernising the Service so that they would always proactively, actively study to master modern weapons and maintain vigilance and combat readiness for firmly managing the Homeland’s airspace in all situations. The Service has enhanced measures to grasp its cadres and soldiers’ ideology and aspirations, proactively anticipate and opportunely resolve ideological issues in order to avoid falling into passivity in ideological work. It has frequently orientated cadres and soldiers’ ideology against new, sensitive issues and enhanced the fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints, poisonous information, and “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” from within. Besides, it has paid due regard to improving troops’ cultural and mental life and building fine, healthy, diverse cultural lifestyle within its offices and units as the basis for troops to self-consciously observe the State’s law and the Military’s discipline. According to the Service, all of its cadres and soldiers shall commit no degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle; at the same time, they shall promote the spirit of “daring to fight, knowing how to fight, and being determined to win” and they shall courageously, creatively, readily surmount all difficulties to successfully fulfil all assigned tasks.

Building politically, ideologically, morally, organisationally strong party organisations and improving party members’ leadership capacity and combativeness act as a determinant to building a politically strong Service. Thus, all-level party committees and organisations across the Service have grasped and well implemented Resolutions of the 13th National Party Congress, the 11th Military Party Congress, and the Service Party Organisation’s 10th Congress (for 2020-2025 tenure) via specific action plans/programmes. They have effectively realised resolutions, directives, and conclusions by the Party and the Central Military Commission (CMC) on the Party building and rectification, particularly the Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.4 (12th and 13th tenure) and the CMC Standing Board’s Conclusion 111-KL/QUTW, dated February 12th, 2019 on continuing raising grass-roots level party organisations’ leadership capacity and combativeness and the quality of cadres and party members within the Military in the new period. Great weight has been added to bettering the quality of party meetings, heightening criticism and self-criticism, and maintaining a sense of unity within all units. Moreover, the Service has focused on implementing the 13th Politburo’s Conclusion 01-KL/TW, dated May 18th, 2021 on continuing studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle, while strictly conforming to regulations by the Party Central Committee, the Politburo, and the CMC Standing Board on cadres and party members’ responsibility to set good examples. Significance has been attached to improving cadres and party members’ revolutionary morality, competence, knowledge, and hands-on experience. Key cadres at all levels have been required to set really typical examples for inferiors to follow. Party committees and organisations have been regularly consolidated in accordance with the Service’s force adjustment, while the building of pure, strong party organisations has been aligned with the building of “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong offices and units. The Service has paid due attention to initiating new members into the Party and resolutely fighting against wrong viewpoints and perceptions. Consideration has been given to strictly maintaining principles of democratic centralism, collective leadership, and individual responsibility and perfecting work and leadership regulations. The Service has grasped and well executed Regulations 37-QĐ/TW, dated October 25th, 2021 by the 13th Party Central Committee on “party members’ don’ts.” It has enhanced the work of inspection, supervision, and party discipline, with importance attached to inspecting and supervising party committees and organisations’ political task and Party building work, and cadres and party members’ morality and lifestyle, proactively detecting and stringently handling violations of discipline. Doing so has contributed to building a really exemplarily, typically strong, pure Party Organisation capable of leading the Service to successfully fulfil all assigned missions.

Being fully aware that “cadres are the root of all work,” the Service Party Committee and Command have focused on building a contingent of cadres both qualitatively and quantitatively, with sufficient qualities, capabilities, and prestige to meet their task requirements. This is a precondition for the Service to successfully fulfil all assigned missions. Advocating that “human resources must be modernised prior to weapons,” the Service Party Committee Standing Board has directed offices, units, and schools to continue grasping and strictly, effectively implementing resolutions, directives, and regulations on personnel work by the Party, the CMC, and the Ministry of National Defence (MND), especially the CMC’s Resolution 109-NQ/QUTW, dated February 11th, 2019 on “building a pool of military cadres, particularly at campaign, strategic levels to meet their task requirements in the new situation,” the Service Party Committee’s Resolution 1191-NQ/ĐU on “developing a contingent of cadres, particularly at tactical, campaign levels across the Service to satisfy their task requirements in the new situation,” and the MND’s Circular 06/2019/TT-BQP, dated January 16th, 2019 on criteria for job titles of cadres of the Air Defence - Air Force Service. Additionally, the Service has proactively raised the quality of training its cadres, increased on-the-spot refresher courses at grass-roots level, and improved its staff members’ professional competence via practical activities. It has continued reviewing the quality and quantity of all-level cadres to develop plans for dealing with issues relating to its staff members at both grass-roots and Service levels. Great value has been attached to using staff members properly, rotating jobs amongst cadres, detecting, training, and including young cadres with pure morality and great capacity in personnel planning so as to guarantee the solid development of generations of cadres. Due attention has been paid to grasping and adhering to the 13th Politburo’s Regulations 205-QĐ/TW, dated September 23rd, 2019 on “keeping powers under control in personnel work and fighting against illegal lobbying for positions and powers,” and maintaining procedures for personnel evaluation, planning, training, and appointment in a democratic, objective fashion. At the same time, significance has been attached to synchronously implementing mechanisms, policies, and measures for preserving, employing, and attracting talents, cadres with great professional competence, and especially military pilots and high-calibre engineers to the Service. Doing so would enable the Service to develop a contingent of cadres with sufficient qualities and capabilities, political zeal, absolute loyalty to the Party, the State, and the People, comprehensive knowledge, high-level fitness, and proper age range and structure to ensure a continuous, solid transition and satisfy the requirements set by the modernisation of the Service and the defence of the Homeland’s airspace.

In addition to those above-mentioned measures, the Service has directed its offices and units to make their mass organisations strong to contribute to building pure, strong party organisations. At the same time, it has well carried out the work of internal political protection and built safe units and a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” in its stationed areas. Emphasis has been placed on effectively realising the Project on the Military’s “peaceful evolution” prevention and combat in ideological and cultural fields, improving the quality of operation of all-level Steering Boards 35 in the fight against wrong, hostile viewpoints, maintaining political orientation against complex, sensitive issues, guaranteeing internal unity, and safeguarding the Party’s ideological foundation within the Service.

Bringing into play elite Air Defence - Air Force Soldiers’ heroic tradition and virtues, cadres and soldiers of the Air Defence - Air Force Service will continue heightening a sense of responsibility and enhancing Determination to Win Emulation Movement as the basis for successfully fulfilling all assigned missions and building a modern Service capable of playing a core role in firmly protecting the Homeland’s airspace in all situations.

Lt. Gen. LAM QUANG DAI, Commissar of the Service