Building an all-people national defence in general and in Dien Bien province, in particular, is a pivotal and regular task of the party committees, the authorities, the whole political system, and the whole people with the armed forces serving as the core. To promote this role, the Provincial Military Command has focused on directing and implementing this task by taking synchronous and appropriate measures, contributing to firmly protecting the area and creating favourable conditions to successfully complete the socio-economic development goals set out in the Resolution of the 19^th Provincial Party Congress.

As a mountainous province situated on the northwestern border of the country, Dien Bien holds an important national defence and security position in the overall defence posture of Military Region 2 and the whole country. Over the years, by thoroughly grasping the Party’s military and national defence viewpoints and guidelines, the provincial armed forces (PAF) of Dien Bien have consistently promoted their core role. Together with the province’s party committee, authority, and people of various ethnic groups, they have concentrated all efforts on building a robust all-people national defence, leading to significant achievements. The Provincial Military Command has advised the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Committee to thoroughly grasp, develop, and implement numerous resolutions, directives, and legal documents to enhance the quality of military and national defence work and build the all-people national defence. There have been positive changes in the awareness, consciousness, and sense of responsibility among cadres at all levels, sectors, the political system, and the people of various strata regarding the task of national defence. The leadership, direction, management, and administration capabilities of party committees and authorities at all levels in the field of military and national defence have seen continuous improvements. The PAF have been comprehensively strengthened and are capable of fulfilling all assigned tasks. Defensive areas at all levels are increasingly solidified while the all-people national defence posture, particularly the “people’s hearts and minds posture”, has taken a significant step forward. The unity bloc of ethnic groups has been reinforced, and the economy continues to grow well, improving people’s standards of living. Social welfare is ensured while there have been notable developments in culture, education, healthcare, etc., providing a solid foundation for building national defence and security capabilities and maintaining the safety of the region.

Leader of the province awards forces participating in the defensive area exercise in 2021

However, the awareness and responsibility of some cadres, party members, and people about the task of national protection in general and building the all-people national defence, in particular, are still incomplete. There are shortcomings in building political bases and potential for national defence. The economic development is not evenly distributed, and there are difficulties existing in the living conditions of ethnic minorities. These factors have had a non-negligible impact on the process of building the all-people national defence of the province. That situation requires the party committee, authority, the whole political system, and the people, with the PAF as the core, to continue to grasp, advise, and successfully implement the Party’s policy of building the all-people national defence with high political determination as well as synchronous and appropriate measures.

First and foremost, it is crucial to strengthen the leadership, direction, management, and administration of party committees and authorities at all levels regarding the task of building the all-people national defence. This is the most important and decisive factor for ensuring the quality and effectiveness of building a robust all-people national defence. With this awareness and based on a clear identification of their pivotal role, the PAF have actively and proactively advised local party committees and authorities to thoroughly grasp, concretise, and successfully implement resolutions, conclusions, and directives of the Party, State, Military Region Command, Provincial Party Committee, Provincial People’s Committee on military and national defence tasks, with a focus on the Resolution of the 8^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (11^th tenure) on “Strategy for national protection in the new situation”, Resolution No. 05-NQ/TU dated May 7, 2021, of the Provincial Party Committee on national defence and security tasks for the 2021-2025 period, etc. The focus should be on providing thorough advice and effectively implementing the principles of the Party’s “absolute and direct leadership over all aspects” of the people’s armed forces and the tasks of national defence and security within the area and the mechanisms of the Party’s leadership, government’s management and administration, with departments, branches, and mass organisations providing advice and implementing while the PAF serve as the backbone. It is important to build a cohesive and unified system and harness the capacity and responsibilities of party organisations in leading national defence work from the provincial level to the grassroots level. This includes reorganising and leveraging the role of the Defensive Area Command, the People’s Air Defence Command, and councils related to military service, national defence and security education, etc. ensuring unified contents and methods of coordination among levels, sectors, forces, and localities in building the all-people national defence. Importance is attached to advising and implementing state management measures regarding national defence. Moreover, it is crucial to strengthen the mechanisms for inspection and supervision by the Fatherland Front and other relevant agencies in building, managing, and mobilising resources, as well as establishing and maintaining the operations of the PAF and building the all-people national defence. Thoroughly grasping and strictly implementing the necessary steps in leading local military and national defence work, and focusing on reviewing, summarising, and drawing lessons, while attaching responsibilities of party committees, authorities, and the PAF to the outcomes of building the all-people national defence.

Second, it is necessary to improve the effectiveness of advisory work in building the potential for the all-people national defence, especially the strong political and economic potential. To strengthen political potential, the province concentrates on implementing measures to build a strong local political system in the spirit of Resolution No. 04-NQ/TW, dated May 7, 2021, of the Provincial Party Committee on “Enhancing the leadership capacity and combat strength of grassroots party organisations to reinforce the political system at the grassroots level in the 2021-2025 period”. Special attention should be given to consolidating and improving the quality of the political system in 29 communes, wards, and towns in key border areas and inland communes with complicated security situations. Promoting the pivotal role of the PAF in sticking to the areas and people, grasping, and forecasting the situation, and mobilising people to adhere to the Party’s guidelines, the State’s laws and policies, and to actively participate in combating crime and social evils. Additionally, the PAF should contribute to the building of local party committees and authorities, strengthening the unity bloc of the whole people, building the “people’s hearts and minds posture”, and enhancing the strength of the grassroots political system. Proactively advising and effectively implementing measures to combine the development and preservation of cultural identities of ethnic groups with the conservation and promotion of historical, traditional, and cultural values of the heroic province of Dien Bien, contributing to enhancing political, spiritual, and cultural potentials which serve as internal force and driving force for socio-economic development and ensuring the safety of the region.

The collection of martyr's remains from Lao battlefield back to the province

Thoroughly grasping and implementing the policy of combining economy with national defence, the PAF should closely coordinate with relevant departments and sectors to review, adjust, and effectively implement the comprehensive defence planning across the province, aligning it with the planning, goals, tasks, and measures for socio-economic development of each locality. Strengthening the process of inspection, appraisal, and management of projects and foreign investing in socio-economic development in the area, not only to ensure compliance with national defence and security regulations and laws but also to mobilise resources to promote national defence and security development. Proactively coordinating and promoting the roles of economic-defence units in the region during economic restructuring, supporting agriculture, capital, and technology transfer, and developing high-efficiency economic models. Integrating social welfare policies with activities such as “Gratitude”, hunger eradication, poverty reduction, disaster recovery, search and rescue, etc. of the armed forces can contribute to maintaining political security, social order and safety, thus creating favourable conditions for rapid and sustainable socio-economic development.

Third, continuing to build strong PAF to firmly defend the area in all situations. Given the high requirements of the task of national defence, military agencies at all levels should focus on advising local party committees and authorities in implementing strategies and measures to build and adjust the regular forces in an “elite, compact, and strong” manner. This includes having a well-structured and balanced organisation with the encouragement of reserves and self-defence forces, ensuring high combat readiness, and prioritising the allocation of more than 95% of the troop strength for units engaged in training and combat readiness missions. Preparations should be made for the merger of logistics and technical agencies at various levels according to the defined plans and roadmaps. Moreover, enhancing the quality of regularity building, discipline training, and building comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical” units and agencies. The PAF should play a pivotal role in national defence and security education and the construction of defensive areas in the region. Alongside the development of regular forces, the province prioritises the development of a strong reserve force that is ready to be mobilised for regular forces when necessary. Continuing to strengthen the self-defence forces, ensuring that they are “strong and widespread” with reasonable structure and high-quality personnel that are suitable for the characteristics and tasks of each locality. Emphasis needs to be placed on training and exercises to improve the quality and effectiveness of the self-defence forces in strategic border areas and areas with complicated political security situations. Close coordination with the Public Security should be maintained in light of Decree No. 03/2019/NĐ-CP dated September 5, 2019, of the Government to promptly and effectively handle national defence and security situations at the grassroots level.

Fourth, attaching importance to building the all-people national defence posture that serves as a strong foundation for the development of the all-people national defence. To productively carry out this important task, the PAF should promote their advisory role and successfully implement the planning, formulation, management, exploitation, and utilisation of military components within defensive areas (including combat bases, command posts, artillery positions, border patrol routes, warehouses, logistics and technical stations, etc.) that are suitable to the deployment of the armed forces and the defensive posture of the Military Region 2. Formulating and synchronously implementing national defence mobilisation plans, fully ensuring the demand for material and technical reserves for combat readiness missions. Coordinating with departments, agencies, and sectors to formulate and adjust the plans to relocate command posts, mobilise the economy in the early war period, and change the locality from peacetime mode to wartime mode. Enhancing surveys and taking measures to improve the capability to mobilise manpower and technical resources from the national economy for defence purposes. The building of the all-people national defence should be closely linked to the strong people’s security posture at the local level.  Promoting foreign affairs activities and friendly exchanges at the border to contribute to firmly protecting the key areas of Military Region 2 and the whole country.

Senior Colonel NGO QUANG TUAN, Commander of the Provincial Military Command