After 70 years of construction, service, and combat, generations of cadres, employees, and soldiers of Depot KV1 (formerly known as Depot 370, established on March 15^th, 1953) have dedicated their intellect, strength, and perseverance to overcome difficulties, working silently in deep caves and dense forests; actively renovated and built warehouses; continuously studied and improved their knowledge, ethics, and capabilities; completed their duties of distributing, collecting, storing, maintaining, and repairing ammunition; provided tens of thousands of tons of weapons and ammunition for battlefields; and, directly and in cooperation with local people, bravely protected the depot and the surrounding area, contributing to the victories in the wars of national liberation and defence. For these achievements, Depot KV1 has been awarded the title of Heroic Unit of the People's Armed Forces by the State twice and many other prestigious awards.

In recent years, with the demand for building the Army and protecting the Fatherland, the mission of Depot KV1 has developed to become one of the units with the highest stockpiles of materials in the strategic depot system of the Ministry of National Defence. Besides advantages, the Depot has faced many difficulties, such as: large quantities of various types of ammunition; long-term storage; uneven levels of technical expertise among its staff; limited budgets and supplies; degraded facilities; and the hazardous, demanding, and secretive working environment which requires high levels of safety and security. In response to this situation, the Depot Party Committee and commanders have always shown deep concern and attention to all tasks; innovated their thinking and approaches; and implemented numerous measures to improve the quality of technical work and fulfil all duties.

Firstly, it is necessary to strengthen the leadership and direction of the Party committees and commanders at all levels in the implementation of technical work. Deeply grasping the superiors’ resolutions and directives, particularly Conclusion No.763-KL/QUTW, dated December 19^th, 2012, of the Central Military Commission Standing Committee on strengthening the leadership over the technical work in new circumstances and Directive No.96/CT-BQP, dated July 15^th, 2011, of the Ministry of National Defence on ensuring the safety of weapons and ammunition depots, every month, the Depot Party Committee issues resolutions to lead technical work, focusing on leading and directing the good management of quantity, quality, and synchronisation of equipment and ammunition; promoting self-reliance, self-strength, and saving practice in all activities, especially in ensuring safety for people, weapons, and equipment and traffic safety. In the implementation process, the Depot has promoted the role of Party members in accordance with their responsibilities; directed departments, divisions, and warehouses to concretise resolutions, develop action plans, and organise the flexible and creative execution. It is necessary to promote propaganda and strictly follow the superiors’ directives on the durable, safe, and economical management and exploitation of weapons and equipment, ammunition safety, and labour hygiene; regulations on political security, secrecy, and safety; and promote the pioneering and modeling role of all cadres and party members in performing tasks, especially those who hold leadership positions. At the same time, it is required to promote the Drive 50-associated with the drive on promoting tradition, dedicating talents, and being worthy of the title "Uncle Ho's Soldiers" in the new era; effectively address policies for workers; predict, direct, and promptly handle emerging ideological issues; and build a spirit of unity, self-reliance, self-strength, thrift, and high responsibility for cadres, employees, and soldiers.

Chief of the depot speaks at the discussion on an emmulation drive

Workplace safety, particularly the safety of ammunition, is the foundation for improving the quality of technical assurance. Bearing this in mind, the Depot has actively mobilised resources, invested in adequate firefighting equipment of the highest quality as required for warehouses and repair stations, and built a high-pressure firefighting system for the entire technical area to detect and prevent early and remote fire and explosion risks. At the same time, labour protection equipment and safety training have been provided to 100% of technical cadres and employees when working with ammunition, especially before new missions. The Depot has strictly enforced command, duty, and combat watch regimes; tightly controlled people entering and leaving the technical area; strengthened patrols and guards; actively practiced fire and explosion prevention and search and rescue plans; and maintained smooth communication at all levels to be ready to handle situations, resolutely, avoiding passivity and surprise. Additionally, the Depot has developed numerous propaganda and information materials on safety and broadcasted on internal and local media; coordinated with local authorities, police, and armed forces stationed in the area to timely prevent any acts of infringement; and mobilised thousands of workdays and hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong to help build new rural areas, eradicate hunger and reduce poverty, present gifts for policy families, build a united community, and create a "safety belt" for the unit.

Due to the nature of heavy, dangerous, and hazardous labour with high risk of unsafety, the Depot has focused on building a team of technical staff with sufficient capacity and qualifications. In accordance with the organisational structure and the current situation of the staff, the Depot has regularly reviewed and arranged working positions in accordance based on the standards of job titles attached to ethical qualities and professional competence. At the same time, the Depot has maintained strict training and on-the-job coaching to improve skills and technical proficiency, especially mandatory training for working teams before handling grade-5 ammunition and new missions to ensure no errors. Additionally, the Depot has paid attention to building and utilising the role of inspectors and safety and hygiene personnel who cooperate with all levels of command to regularly inspect and monitor the work process of technical staff and ensure compliance with guidelines and instructions. Through this, the warehouse keepers have regularly managed and ensured the quantity, quality, consistency, features, effects, origin, packaging condition, and storage location of each batch of current ammunition. The activities of transportation, arrangement, condensation, selection, packaging, experimental sampling, and chemical testing have been carried out in accordance with procedures and regulations to ensure accuracy and absolute safety. The Depot has implemented well programs for reducing hazardous effects and ensuring occupational safety and hygiene; provided periodic health checkups and treatment of occupational diseases; adjusted working hours according to the weather; and supplemented working equipment to ensure the health and safety of staff. From 2018 to 2022, training achieved 100% of the plan with annual evaluations meeting 100% of the requirements with over 80% of good or excellent results. The Depot also achieved Second Prizes in the special missile equipment contest and the Excellent Military Warehouse keeper competition. Currently, 100% of the Depot’s staff have university and postgraduate degrees work in their respective fields; meanwhile, 75% of technical staff have intermediate qualifications.

Along with that, the Depot has focused on consolidating and upgrading the storage facility, workshops, and technology equipment to ensure technical safety. Implementing the policies on planning and modernising warehouses and enhancing technical capacity for new tasks, directly Decision No.4494/QĐ-BQP, dated October 16^th, 2017, of the Ministry of National Defence approving the investment in upgrading Depot KV1, the unit has completed the overall planning of the storage areas and functional zones suitable for the terrain of the military base and warehouse relocation plans to ensure long-term stability and high safety; proactively built a comprehensive model, identified the central and key points, and divided the construction process and procedures for summarising, drawing on experience, and overcoming shortcomings; and proposed appropriate implementation measures for capital sources and mission-specific requirements to propose roadmaps and plans for implementing the items that are essential, easy to store and distribute ammunition, and have high safety priority. In this process, it has actively monitored the technology, managed the construction workforce and equipment, and timely requested to repair and overcome shortcomings. In addition, the Depot has promoted research and application of dozens of technical innovations and solutions to save materials and labour and improve quality and safety. Especially, the initiative entitled "Automatic temperature alarm system in ammunition warehouses" won the Second Prize in "the 21^st Youth Creativity Contest".

To preserve weapons and equipment, the Depot has paid special attention to regularity building in technical assurance. The Depot Party Committee and Command require that all technical activities must have specific plans and close coordination between agencies and units with precise targets set, particularly for activities within the technical area or those related to the distribution, receipt, and processing of ammunition. Strict annual inventory checks have carried out with cross-checking of records to ensure accurate data. The records and forms have been regularly reviewed and updated in accordance with regulations, with the application of information technology to manage the accurate quantity, quality, storage history, maintenance, repair, preservation, and transfer of each batch and type of ammunition, to ensure that the Depot meets the "5-good" standard. In addition, the storage, maintenance, repair, and preservation of ammunition have been strictly carried out according to procedures, with plans made, additional training provided, and safety agreements signed. Health checks have been conducted before work and tasks are performed, retrieved, and arranged. During the process, safety supervisors have monitored work to ensure that there are no mistakes or omissions. Active efforts have been made to improve and perfect technological processes and material standards to enhance quality and save labour. Thanks to resolute, synchronous, scientific solutions, from 2018 to 2022, the Depot always achieved 100% of its technical work targets. The work of regularly storing, maintaining, transferring, rearranging, concentrating, distributing, receiving, and processing thousands of tons of ammunition ensured progress, quality, and safety. On the occasion of the 70^th anniversary of its tradition, Depot KV1 was honoured to receive the Third-class Fatherland Protection Medal from the State. This is an important foundation for the Depot to continue improving the quality of its technical work, fulfiling its tasks, and meeting the requirements for building the Army and protecting the Fatherland in the new situation.

Senior Colonel PHAM TRUNG QUY, Chief Commander of the Depot