According to the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress, we must “build and consolidate the all-people national defence posture.” This important, consistent policy should continue to be grasped and effectively implemented to increase our defence power to protect our Fatherland in each strategic direction and area and nationwide, including the Southwest.

The Southwest region includes provinces and municipalities in Mekong Delta, accounting for 12.3% of the country’s total area, sharing a 200-kilometre-long border with Cambodia, having a 700-kilometre-long coastline and 147 big and small islands, holding a position of strategic importance to defence and security of Military Region 9 and the whole country. Therefore, building the all-people national defence and the all-people national defence posture is of importance to the Southwest region in both long and medium term. Thoroughly grasping the Party’s resolutions and directives, over the years, Military Region 9’s Party Committee and Command have closely cooperated with provincial-level party committees and authorities in building a solid all-people national defence posture in accordance with each locality’s task requirements and practical condition.

It should be noted that significance has been attached to building a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” as the basis for successfully fulfilling military-defence task. The political system, particularly at grass-roots level has been frequently consolidated, and it has promoted its efficiency and effectiveness in management and operation. Due attention has been paid to actively providing defence and security education for all citizens with a lot of innovations and effectively combining socio-economic development with defence-security consolidation. All-level military agencies have proactively cooperated with competent sectors in advising local party committees and authorities to direct the formulation of socio-economic development plans associated with each area’s defensive posture. Large-scale projects have all been carefully appraised to facilitate both socio-economic development and defence-security consolidation. Economic-defence zones (Corps 959 and Corps 915) and dual-purpose constructions, such as border patrol roads, residential areas and clusters along the border, bridges, seaports, and coastal roads have been brought into play. All-level defensive zones’ military posture and the Military Region’s defence have been constructed in a solid way to create defensive capability in each area and direction, especially in border, sea, and island areas. The synergy and combat strength of the Military Region’s armed forces have been comprehensively improved. Localities and units have focused on the building of the reserve force. Up to 2021, the rate of reservists deployed to units has reached 97%; the percentage for non-commissioned officers and professional employees has been 95%, a 9% increase compared to 2015. Due regard has been paid to carrying out the work of military diplomacy as the basis for cementing solidarity, friendship, and cooperation to opportunely settle incidents along the border and at sea.

However, there have been several weaknesses in building the all-people national defence posture within the Southwest region. Some organisations and individuals have yet to be fully aware of this work. Several party committees and authorities’ leadership and management capacity have been still limited. Staff work performed by a number of offices, committees, and sectors has yet to be comprehensive. That has been necessitating sectors, localities, and the people’s armed forces in the region continuing grasping and seriously, effectively implementing the Resolutions of the 13^th National Party Congress and the 11^th Military Party Congress on building and consolidating the all-people national defence posture via synchronous measures, with a focus on the following.

First, well conduct ideological work to raise local sectors, authorities, unions, and citizens’ responsibility for building and consolidating the all-people national defence posture. All-level military offices should closely collaborate with functional agencies in enhancing the work of propagation and education to render cadres, party members, forces, and all people fully aware of the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies on building the all-people national defence and a firm posture of all-people national defence and turning provinces and districts into defensive zones. Emphasis should be placed on grasping the 10^th Politburo’s Resolution 28-NQ/TW, dated September 22^nd, 2008 on continuing building provinces and municipalities into solid defensive zones in the new situation and the Government’s Decree 21/2019/NĐ-CP, dated February 22^nd, 2019 on defensive zones. At the same time, the work of propagation and education should be stepped up to enable forces and people from all walks of life to be acutely aware of hostile forces’ plots and artifices against our country’s revolution, particularly within the Southwest region as well as the importance of the building of a solid all-people national defence posture as a strategic policy of our Party and State and the further development of the Vietnamese people’s warfare art. Doing so will help achieve a consensus and a sense of responsibility amongst local authorities, sectors, committees, unions, and citizens for this important task.

Second, strengthen the Party’s leadership and the State’s management towards the building of the all-people national defence posture within the Southwest region. The measure acts as a determinant to the quality, effectiveness, and method of building the all-people national defence posture in the region. There should be uniformed leadership from the Central Military Commission to the Military Region’s Party Committee and local party committees. It is necessary to concentrate resources on important, complex areas in each specific period in accordance with higher echelons’ intention. At the same time, the Ministry of National Defence and all-level authorities should actively, proactively give advice on supplementing and promulgating laws, ordinances, and regulations to facilitate the building of the all-people national defence posture and ensure that in any circumstance this work will always be placed under leadership and direction of the Military Region’s Party Committee and Command and local party committees and authorities as well as under direct command of all-level local military offices’ commanders. Party committees and authorities should regularly pay due attention to building the all-people national defence posture via specific measures to develop the armed forces, construct defensive zones, boost socio-economic development associated with defence-security consolidation, and allocate resources to serve particular activities in the building of the all-people national defence posture.

Third, continue bringing into play the core role of the Military Region’s armed forces and main units of the Ministry of National Defence stationed within the region in performing this important task. Within the Southwest region, there are units of Military Region 9, Naval Zone 5, Coast Guard Zone 4, and the Border Guard Force. Those units act as the core force in the building of a firm all-people national defence posture. Therefore, great value should be frequently attached to building “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong offices and units and especially making them politically strong as the basis for raising their synergy and combat power. Due attention should be paid to realising breakthroughs in units’ organisational structure, training and education, and military standard order building and discipline management, developing military art, science, and technology, and renewing the work of logistics support within defensive zones. It is important to build strong local military offices capable of giving sound advice to local party committees and authorities and playing a core role in performing military-defence task. It is essential to well implement policies regarding military families and mobilise human and material resources for the building of the all-people national defence posture. Emphasis should be placed on raising the quality and effectiveness of the militia and self-defence force, particularly mobile, standing, and on-the-spot militia units in isolated, remote, border areas and self-defence units within private and foreign-invested businesses, maintaining border militia key positions and self-defence squadrons, and multiplying those models. In addition, special importance should be attached to gradually completing force and battlefield equipment disposition relevant to protection projects. In the process, there should be close coordination between sectors and localities to guarantee extensive, on-the-spot, and focalised disposition in each direction and area.

Fourth, focus on building politico-social bases and a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds.” In the building process, significance should be attached to flexibly carrying out ideological, organisational, policy, and professional work and promoting the role of forces and especially local party committees, authorities, mass mobilisation teams, and politico-social organisations in encouraging the people to well implement the Party’s guidelines and the State’s laws and policies. At the same time, it is necessary to well execute regulations on democracy at grass-roots level to ensure that the people will know, the people will discuss, the people will do, the people will inspect, the people will benefit, and the people will actively take part in building the Party and local authorities. Grounded on each locality’s socio-economic development guidelines and plans, it is essential to well implement policies on rearranging residential areas and forming new residential areas along the border as the basis for regional and sectorial economic development and the building of forces and defensive posture within strategic, key areas. Besides, due regard should be paid to developing socio-economic infrastructures, building essential works within localities, such as traffic system, school, health station, irrigation system, and communication, and well executing national target programmes in the region to increase the quality and effectiveness of infrastructure and production development projects, improve the people’s life, and make the all-people national defence posture increasingly solid.

Maj. Gen. NGUYEN MINH TRIEU, Deputy Commander of Military Region 9