Enhancing the building of an elite, compact, and strong Military is one of the key, urgent focuses of military and national defence work in 2024 and the following years, aiming to lay a solid foundation for striving to build a revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern Military by 2030, in accordance with the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress; Resolution No. 05-NQ/TW dated 17 January 2022, of the Political Bureau (13th tenure); and Resolution No. 230-NQ/QUTW dated 2 April 2022, of the Central Military Commission. This is a very important issue, directly related to the improvement of the overall quality and combat strength of the entire Military, meeting the requirements of building the Military, strengthening national defence, and safeguarding the Fatherland in the new situation.

Thoroughly grasping this spirit, in recent time, under the decisive leadership and direction of the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence, and the active participation of the party committees and commanders at all levels throughout the Military, the arrangement and adjustment of force organisation have been vigorously implemented, ensuring thoroughness, comprehensiveness, having clear focus, appropriate roadmap, creating significant changes. As a result, the organisational structure of the Military has been fundamentally made synchronised and rational between agencies and units; between regular forces, local forces and self-defence militia; between the standing force and the reserve force; between combat forces and support forces; and between the army and other military branches and corps,... creating strong changes in implementing the resolutions and directives of the Party, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defence on building an elite, compact, and strong Military. Alongside this, the entire Military focuses on improving the quality of training, exercises, combat readiness, discipline training, and building regularity; while also ensuring good logistical and technical support and other aspects, contributing to enhancing the overall quality and combat strength, capable of timely and effectively handling situations without being passive or surprised.

Leaders of the Minister of National Defence encourage forces of Military Corps 12 conducting exercise in 2023 (Photo: qdnd.vn)

Currently and in the near future, although peace, cooperation, and development remain major trends of the era, the world and regional situations continue to change rapidly, complexly, and unpredictably. Along with prolonged conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Hamas, security flashpoints continue to increase, leading to the emergence of various forms of warfare, combat types, strategic spaces, and new methods of warfare, posing challenges to all countries and nations. Domestically, besides fundamental advantages, there are still many difficulties and challenges; the East Vietnam Sea situation remains potentially unstable; hostile and reactionary forces continue to intensify "peaceful evolution," promoting "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" within the country; the task of protecting independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and ensuring national security has new developments, posing higher, more complex and challenging requirements.

This situation requires the entire Military to continue thoroughly grasping the Party's resolutions and directives regarding military and national defence tasks; vigorously implement the three breakthroughs according to the spirit of the 11th Military Party Committee Congress’s Resolution. Simultaneously, continue to make breakthroughs in implementing the 2024 theme "The year of fundamentally completing the adjustment of force organisation towards elite, compact, and strong", laying the foundation for building a revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern military by 2030, through many decisive and synchronised solutions; focusing on some key tasks and solutions as follows:

Firstly, continue to thoroughly grasp and effectively implement the resolutions and directives of the Party, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defence's plans on building an elite, compact, and strong military. Party committees and commanders at all levels throughout the military must enhance leadership and direction, improve the quality and effectiveness of implementing Resolution No. 05-NQ/TW dated 17 January 2022, of the Political Bureau, and Resolution No. 230-NQ/QUTW dated 2 April 2022, of the Central Military Commission on leading the organisation of the Vietnam People's Army for the 2021-2030 period and the following years according to the defined roadmap and plan. First, agencies and units need to utilise the experiences and results achieved in recent times and adhere to the 2024 force adjustment roadmap to determine the content and measures for leadership and direction, guidance and organisation of implementation. This includes focusing on researching and implementing comprehensive and synchronised measures to address difficult issues and new emerging content, especially in resolving surplus personnel during mergers and in organising newly established units, ensuring balance between forces and the capability to provide weapons and equipment, meeting both immediate and long-term requirements. In line with this direction, agencies and units, especially those that have not yet been reorganised or adjusted, need to proactively review the plans already developed and timely add tasks and missions to align with the Ministry of National Defence's adjustment roadmap.

During the process of arranging and adjusting structures, it must be put under the direct leadership and direction of the party committees and commanders at all levels; persisting in adhering to the plan and roadmap, ensuring thoroughness, synchronisation, and alignment with reality while maintaining stability and not affecting political tasks. Additionally, continue to effectively implement the three breakthroughs according to the spirit of the 11th Military Party Committee Congress’s Resolution and the 2024 theme of building an elite, compact, and strong Military. The General Staff, in coordination with the General Political Department and relevant agencies, assists the Minister of National Defence in continuing to issue regulations on the functions, tasks, powers, and working relationships of merged, adjusted, and newly established agencies and units; develop appropriate organisational and staffing tables for peacetime and wartime, ensuring that all activities of the adjusted agencies and units proceed smoothly and effectively.

Secondly, enhance the quality of coaching, exercising, educating and training, meeting the requirements and tasks of protecting the Fatherland. This is one of the three breakthroughs according to the spirit of the 11th Military Party Committee Congress's Resolution; it is also the decisive factor, ensuring the Military's comprehensive quality and high combat strength, meeting the demands of modern operations. Accordingly, the entire Military continue to make breakthroughs in improving the quality of coaching, exercising, educating and training according to Resolution No. 1659-NQ/QUTW dated 20 December 2022, of the Central Military Party Committee on improving the quality of training for the 2023-2030 period and the following years, and Resolution No. 1657-NQ/QUTW dated 20 December 2022, of the Central Military Party Committee on renewing education and training to meet the requirements and tasks of building the military in the new situation. During this process of implementation, it is necessary to closely follow the functions and tasks of the Military, the realities of the country, and the situation of the units; combine training and educating with researching and developing military science, especially developing military art in the people's war for national defence under new conditions. Continue to innovate the content, programmes, methods of directing and managing training and exercises; apply flexibly and creatively the viewpoints, principles, and combinations in training. Build and complete the management and operation mechanism of training in the direction of "centralised, unified, synchronised, effective, non-overlapping"; organise training according to the motto "basic, practical, solid," emphasise synchronous and intensive training, closely aligned with combat reality; strengthen night training, situation-based advanced training, and training to master the use of weapons and equipment in staff, especially new, modern weapons and equipment. Additionally, the Ministry of National Defence, directly led by the General Staff, should decisively direct the improvement of the quality of exercises, competitions, and sport competitions both domestically and internationally; organise joint military exercises, defensive operations exercises at military regions and defence zones at all levels, and combat exercises to protect sea and island sovereignty, ensuring they are closely aligned with combat reality and meeting increasingly higher requirements.

Continue to effectively implement education and training projects and the motto "The quality of school education is the combat readiness capability of the unit." Actively innovate the content and training programmes of academies and schools towards standardisation and modernisation; enhance the quality of scientific research works; and strengthen the training and cultivation of educators and education management staff with the competence, methods, and command style suitable for their work and educating fields. Pay attention to invite officers from various agencies and units to participate in teaching, imparting knowledge, experience, methods, and essential skills to learners. Promote research, compilation, and completion of curricula and materials, and integrate legal knowledge, foreign affairs, state management, socio-economic content into education and training programmes.

Thirdly, integrate closely between the force structure adjustments with the enhancement of combat readiness; proactively respond to gain success in all situations. This is a central political task and a critical issue that determines the military’s capability to accomplish its missions under any circumstances. Therefore, agencies and units across the military, especially those that have undergone mergers, reorganisations, or new formations, must promptly supplement and complete plans, combat determination strategies, and mobilisation plans for technical means from the economy in wartime situations, align with combat missions and the military posture planning in defence zones. Build and supplement plans, determine the roadmap for adjusting the deployment of forces and means to meet the requirements of modern combat in conditions of high-tech warfare. Regularly maintain strict combat readiness; actively and proactively grasp the political security situation in the region, the world, the internal and external borders, air, sea, and cyberspace, thereby proposing timely and effective measures to handle military and national defence situations, ensuring timely and effectively handling situations without being passive or surprised.

In the context of non-traditional security challenges that are increasing and becoming more and more complex, directly impacting all aspects of social life, agencies and units must effectively carry out preventive measures and proactively respond in a timely and effective manner to these challenges, always considering this an important, regular, fundamental, and long-term task. In the near future, focus on effectively completing the civil defence tasks; at the same time, enhance forecasting capabilities and proactively develop plans and response measures for incidents, natural disasters, search and rescue operations in each agency and unit.

Fourthly, closely combine ideological and organisational work with policy and personnel work. Recent practical experience shows that organisational and staffing adjustments are major policies, involving a large volume of work, at a wide scope, and related to multiple levels, sectors, units, organisations, and individuals, with many sensitive and complex issues arising that directly affect the sentiments and emotions of cadres and soldiers throughout the entire military. Therefore, the Party committees and commanders of agencies and units must continue to lead and direct the execution of all stages of ideological work, especially for the forces directly involved in rearrangements, mergers, and adjustments. Strengthen ideological education and thoroughly understand the task of adjustments; manage and closely monitor the ideological developments and sentiments of cadres, officers, and soldiers in the agencies and units, thereby proactively resolving any difficulties and obstacles related to policies and emerging ideological issues during rearrangements and adjustments; promptly review and draw lessons, ensuring the correct implementation of the roadmap without being subjective, hasty, indifferent, reliant, or dependent, maintaining stability in the agencies and units.

Timely consolidate and complete party committees, party organisations; review, amend, supplement, and issue operation regulations, leadership regulations for key work aspects of party committees and party organisations in merged, newly established and reorganised agencies and units. For units that have not been adjusted, it is necessary to continue to thoroughly understand and implement the close combination of ideological work, organisational work, and policy work in each stage and step; adhere to and strictly implement the principles, procedures, and regulations of cadre work; strengthen internal political protection work; effectively implement the military's rear policy. Regularly lead and direct the struggle against erroneous viewpoints, malicious misinformation spread by hostile forces, especially those exploiting the adjustment of military force organisations to sabotage and destabilise internally.

Fifthly, effectively carry out logistics, technical, national defence industry work and other works, contributing to enhance the comprehensive strength of the Military. Agencies and units continue to ensure logistics support for combat readiness missions, regular and contingency tasks, including the task of adjusting the organisational structure and deployment posture of forces across regions and the nation. Enhance the efficient utilisation of resources, link with improving mechanisms, methods, and logistics assurance systems, creating significant breakthroughs in mission assurance. Continuously improve the quality and efficiency of technical work to ensure timely and adequate weapons, equipment, and technical means for forces and missions; prioritise ensuring new and modern weaponry for reorganised units and newly established ones. Actively apply the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to the development of national defence industry in a modern, dual-use manner, tightly integrated and becoming the spearhead of the national industry; build a national defence industry capable of researching, designing, and manufacturing weapons and equipment with advanced tactical and technical features, meeting the requirements of building an elite, compact, and strong military. Additionally, continue to strengthen the establishment of regulations, discipline and legal compliance, military administrative reform; actively and proactively implement comprehensive and effective international integration and national defence foreign affairs work, ensuring the highest national and ethnic interests.

Building an elite, compact, strong and modern military is the consistent policy of our Party and government; it is a crucial and urgent task, therefore, the implementation process must be resolute, comprehensive, synchronic, and adapted to the practical conditions to achieve high efficiency and unleash the strength of all organisations and forces, contributing to enhancing the overall quality and combat power of the entire Military, firmly safeguarding the Fatherland in the new situation.

Senior Lieutenant General NGUYEN TAN CUONG, Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the Central Military Commission, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, Deputy Minister of National Defence