Proudly inheriting the heroic tradition of Group 559 – Truong Son Soldiers, Corps 12 (Truong Son Construction Corporation) has always maintained unity and determination to overcome difficulties, remained firm in integration and development, and successfully fulfilled its tasks on economic – defence fronts, thus asserting its prestige and “Truong Son” brand in the new period.

Blood donation campaign launched by Corps 12

Truong Son Soldiers – an army of legendary miracles

In order to provide material and human resources for the battlefield and realise the resolve to defeat US invaders, liberate the South, and unify the country, on 19 May 1959, the Politburo and the General Military Commission Standing Board assigned the special military working Group (Group 559), the forerunner of present-day Corps 12, to build a strategic support line for the Central, Central Highlands, and South fronts. That is an extremely sound historic decision of strategic significance of our Party and President Ho Chi Minh. Under that strategic decision, Truong Son Soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder with Vietnamese people and troops across the country to surmount countless difficulties, hardships, and sacrifices, heightened courage, creativity, and the spirit of “fighting the enemy to move forward, opening the road to advance”, successfully fulfilled the tasks of opening roads and connecting the great rear of the North to the big front line of the South. In 16 years of service (1959 – 1975), Truong Son Soldiers closely combined the opening of roads with transport and combat, thus allowing the strategic transport line to reach deep and wide into the South battlefield. In spite of the enemy’s blockade and fierce attack, Truong Son Soldiers succeeded in transporting millions of tons of weapons, equipment, and materials to the battlefield, assisting millions of cadres and soldiers in going to the war in the South, and carrying tens of thousands of war invalids back to the North, thereby significantly contributing to our country’s great victory. With its brilliant feats of arms, Group 559 (Truong Son Soldiers) was honoured with the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces and the Gold Star Order by the State; many affiliates and individuals from the Group were presented with noble awards.

Building and promoting “Truong Son” brand in the new period

The Corps is in charge of constructing Dien Chau – Bai Vot section of the North – South Expressway

After the South had been completely liberated, Truong Son Soldiers were tasked with economic development in combination with national defence and renamed Corps 12 by our Party, State, and Ministry of National Defence (MND). Entering a new front full of difficulties and challenges, with their willpower, knowledge, and heroic tradition, cadres, soldiers, and workers of the Corps overcame all barriers, continued to be present in all regions of Vietnam, mainly in the strategic, key, isolated, remote, border areas, and implemented thousands of works and projects, including the key national ones, thus actively contributing to the country’s socio-economic development and defence-security consolidation.  

In early 1989, following a new change in the country’s economic management mechanism, under the MND’s decision, Truong Son Construction Corporation was founded on the basis of Corps 12’s organisational structure and forces, becoming an economic-defence business with financial autonomy. Given opportunities, difficulties and challenges from the new mechanism of operation, the intense competitiveness of the market economy, and limited resources, the Corporation grasped the Party’s viewpoints on combining economic development with national defence, proactively adopted measures for innovation and restructuring, enhanced its competitiveness, and expanded its fields of production and business. At the same time, it actively invested in modern equipment, proactively accessed and expanded the market, applied state-of-the-art technologies to production and business to develop high-quality products and maintain its prestige with its partners. Thanks to its proper policies and measures, innovative thinking, and spirit of daring to think and to do as well as the joint efforts made by all cadres, soldiers, and workers, the Corporation gained robust development and became a branded business. In that period, it constructed thousands of dual-purpose works to greatly contribute to socio-economic development, defence potential consolidation, and Fatherland protection. It is now a top enterprise in construction of traffic, hydroelectric, irrigation, civil works, airports, and seaports; it is capable of large-scale key constructions both at home and abroad.

In addition to production, business, and economic development, the Corps has always focused on military-defence work and the building and training of strategic reserve engineer brigades and search and rescue units ready for performing their tasks in the event. At the same time, it has been active in mass mobilisation, helped the people with hunger eradication and poverty reduction, built political bases in the areas of responsibility, thus contributing to building a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” and strong all-people national defence.

In the upcoming time, multidimensional impacts made by the global and regional situation on our country, especially the competitiveness of the market economy and the global supply chain disruption caused by armed conflicts pose more challenges to the Corps. In our country’s regions and areas, particularly the strategic ones, hostile forces step up their sabotage activities with a view to destabilising political security and social order and safety. To keep maintaining and promoting “Truong Son” brand in the new period, the Corps’ Party Committee and Command will concentrate on raising the efficiency of business and production and well performing military-defence tasks via synchronous measures as follows.

First, the Corps will continue to grasp and effectively implement resolutions and directives by the Party, Central Military Commission, and MND on combining socio-economic development with defence and security consolidation, particularly Resolution 820-NQ/QUTW, dated 17 December 2021, by the Central Military Commission on “leadership over the Army’s production and economic development in combination with national defence towards 2030”. Advocating that “effective production and business represent the central political task; building the Party and a comprehensively strong unit is the key; effective production and business lay a foundation for building a comprehensively strong unit and vice versa”, the Corps will continue to closely combine production and business with military-defence tasks. Emphasis will be placed on formulating and realising the 5-year development Strategy (2021 - 2025) with orientations towards 2030 in accordance with the Corps’ size and new development. The Corps will step up political and ideological education to render its cadres, soldiers, and workers fully aware of Truong Son Soldiers’ heroic tradition, stimulate a sense of pride, and encourage unity and determination to well perform their tasks.

Second, the Corps will enhance innovation and restructuring towards “compact, strong, efficient, effective operation” appropriate to its production, business, and building of strong strategic reserve engineer units. In the medium term, it will continue to work with the MND’s competent offices to accomplish the building of reserve brigades’ cadres-based structure in line with organisational adjustments in its production and business forces. At the same time, it will focus on building, attracting, recruiting, and developing high-calibre human resources with importance attached to building a pool of cadres with a proper number and good quality to meet the requirements of both long-term and short-term development. It will review its personnel planning to guarantee a proper structure and a solid transition between generations of cadres. It will well implement the work of personnel recruitment, training, and development to keep raising the quality of its manpower. Due regard will be paid to training a contingent of highly skilled workers to satisfy the requirements of production development, national key construction projects, and international integration.

Third, the Corps will renew the work of managing and operating production and business in the new conditions. Great value will be attached to renewing the Corps’ management mechanism at all levels as the basis for boosting economic efficiency in realising the targets of profit. In the upcoming time, the Corps will continue to review and complete mechanisms for operating production and business, while raising the quality of accounting with responsibilities, authority, and rights in business administration being delegated to all-level leaders and commands. It will continue to maintain the model in which the parent company will be directly in charge of production, and the roles of project boards in the dual-purpose tasks of production and construction will be promoted. Besides, it will closely inspect and supervise its member units, opportunely settle their difficulties, and create a favourable condition for their development. It will invest more in its marketing strategy to seek more jobs and achieve a breakthrough in its profit. It will enhance integration and cooperation with its partners, improve its competitiveness in bidding and project implementation, and proactively apply technology to business administration and production management. Significance will be attached to raising the quality of construction and projects to assert the Corps’ prestige and brand.

Fourth, the Corps will focus its investments on modern, high-powered specialised equipment for construction in accordance with its budget and tasks of production, business, and national defence. Priority will be given to acquiring dual-purpose means, vehicles, machines, and equipment as well as technologies for constructing large bridges, road tunnels, and irrigation works. A part from procurement, the Corps will concentrate on restoring, repairing, and exploiting the existing construction equipment, while tapping the source of equipment via subcontractors or on hire in the market to reduce production costs. It will step up research work, processing and manufacture of construction equipment relevant to its technological foundation, actively renew and improve the work of managing and using equipment, vehicles, and machines to promote production and business, readily perform military-defence tasks, and take part in opening roads and search and rescue simultaneously.

In spite of difficulties in the future, with the willpower, wisdom, and resolve of “Truong Son Soldiers”, Corps 12 – Truong Son Construction Corporation will continue to be proactive in integration and development, maintain its position, prestige, and brand, and successfully fulfil the task of combining economic development with national defence in the new era.

Sr. Col. VU PHUC HAU

Secretary of the Corps Party Committee

Deputy Commander of the Corps