In the face of the urgent request of the Central Highlands battlefield, on September 20^th, 1972, Division 10 (the 3^rd Army Corps) was formed. Immediately after its inception from the Central Highlands Front’s main regiments on the fierce battlefield, the Division quickly stabilised its organisation, immediately entered the battle, made excellent achievements in Plei Can, Dak Siêng, Dak Pét, and Non Nuoc, and expanded the liberated area in North Kon Tum to contribute to creating a new posture and power for the Central Highlands battlefield. During the Central Highlands Campaign, the Division was an assault unit that crossed mountains and forests and opened fire to start the campaign, won a quick victory in Duc Lap, and, along with other units, liberated Buon Ma Thuot Town, Cam Ranh Military Port, and the whole Khanh Hoa Province. Particularly, in the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign, the Division successfully completed its task to contribute to destroying two of five main targets, including Tan Son Nhat Airport and the Sai Gon puppet's General Staff Headquarters. After the complete liberation of the South, the Division was tasked with mobilising the masses, chasing the FULRO, fighting to protect the Southwest border, doing international mission in Cambodia, and participating in combat to protect the Northern border. In the new era, the Division performs training tasks and combat readiness to protect the strategic area of the Central Highlands.                 

During fifty years of building, fighting, developing, and growing, by their blood, sweat, effort, and wisdom, generations of the Division’s cadres and soldiers have built up the tradition of “Solidarity, Unity, Resilience, and Determination-to-win”. Thanks to exceptional achievements, the Division has been awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces twice (in 1975 and 1979), one Ho Chi Minh Medal, 12 Orders of Military Merit, 37 Orders of Victory of all classes by  the State of Viet Nam and the First-Class Fatherland Protection Order by the State of Cambodia. The Division has also had 3 regiments, 6 battalions, 7 companies, and 12 individuals honoured with the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces.

Those results have been crystallised by multiple factors, of which constantly improving the quality of combat training is important and decisive to contribute to improving the overall quality, qualifications, and combat readiness of the Division. By thoroughly grasping and concretising the Central Military Commission’s Resolution No.765-NQ/QUTW dated December 20^th, 2012 and the Corps’ Party Committee’s Resolution No.570-NQ/ĐU, the Division Party Committee issued Resolution No.459-NQ/ĐU, dated April 8^th, 2013, on “Leading to improve the quality of training in the period of 2013 - 2020 and beyond”. Every year, the Division Party Committee promulgate conclusions on leading and directing Party committees to issue thematic resolutions on leadership to improve the quality of training. In the resolutions, the objectives, targets, and measures to lead the training work have been specified. Meanwhile, the commanders at all levels have developed implementation plans to be close to the characteristics of the situation and each training object through specific solutions.

First of all, the Division Party Committee and commanders have focused on leading and directing the good implementation of education work to raise awareness of the position, and role of combat training for cadres and soldiers. This is an essential content in the cognitive and ideological orientation for soldiers in performing tasks in general and combat training, in particular. Therefore, the Division has directed subordinate agencies and units to focus on educating soldiers to firmly grasp the key contents of the superiors’ resolution on “improving the quality of training in the period of 2013 - 2020 and beyond”, the Corps Commander’s training orders, and the mission of the Unit to drastically change the awareness and sense of responsibility of the commissioners, commanders, political commissars, junior political commissars, organisations, cadres, and soldiers about the position, significance, and importance of the training task. The Division Party committees and commanders have requested the commissioners, political commissars, junior political commissars, commanders, and political agencies at all levels to regularly adhere to the actual situation and requirements of the tasks of the Unit to lead and direct the good implementation of the political education work and closely combined forms of political education to help cadres and soldiers to realise the honour, responsibility, and pride of being soldiers of the Division. In the educational process, importance has been attached to practical reference, ideological orientation, action guidance; building political bravery and fostering life skills for cadres and soldiers; and well implementing emulation activities in training in association with the Determination-to-Win Emulation movement and the drives of the sectors. As a result, cadres and soldiers have had the right thinking and awareness of the position, role, and importance of the training task in the current situation and specified it as the central political task of the Division and each unit, the responsibility of every organisation and soldier, and one of the top conditions to ensure the Division’s fulfilment of assigned tasks.

Practise river crossing

The Division has determined that to improve the quality of training, it must focus on the work of preparation for training. In particular, great importance should be attached to the staff training which should always be considered a key stage and a basis for improving the quality of the important task. This is because, if and only when there are good staff, there will be good units. Besides, the Division has directed the units to focus on  the work of planning and preparing instructors, model teams, and training grounds. Before the training time, instructors and models teams have been carefully prepared, approved, and trained to ensure mastery of training content, organisation, and methods. The training and fostering contents focus on the weak and limited aspects, such as night training, river crossing tactical training, and platoon and company tactical training, etc. Every year, the Division opens from 60 to 70 training classes for different objects to unify training content and methods, particularly limited contents of the previous year; conducted compensatory training to ensure 100% of the number of participants. During the training process, the Division has resolutely overcome the situation of “non-practice”, “hasty”, and unrealistic training; actively consolidated and made new learning models and tools; upgraded and repaired the training grounds, especially infantry shooting ranges and grenade, explosive, and tactical training fields; organised training preparing contests at the divisional and regimental levels; and directed agencies and units to mobilise cadres and soldiers to actively promote technical initiatives and improvements for training and combat readiness. Annually, before training, the Division launches the emulation movement entitled “Promoting initiatives, improving learning tools and models, and doing well in training preparation”. Accordingly, many models and technical improvement initiatives have been applied in practice to contribute to improving the quality of training and combat readiness of the Division.

As the ethnic minority soldiers account for a high proportion (more than 50% of the total number of troops), the Division directs its units to apply several good, creative, and effective measures and practices to improve the quality of training, such as staffing the soldiers speaking the same languages in the same squads and  platoon; selecting and staffing squad and platoon leaders appropriately; and paying attention to using visual models and practicing model movements in training. In addition, the Division has also organised “supplemental teaching for re-illiterate comrades” to improve the ability to acquire knowledge in training. During the training process, agencies and units have adhered to the motto of “Basics, practice, and solidity”; organised comprehensive, synchronous, and intensive training; paid attention to practical training, night training, and training soldiers to carry heavy load and march in various terrains to increase physical health and flexibility; trained soldiers to master newly-staffed weapons and equipment to be close to combat objects and areas and reality; and flexibly apply views, principles, and combinations and organise and implement training closely to each object. The Division has directed agencies and units to well implement the motto that “the superiors teach the subordinates; the commanders teach the units”, and the cadres have much experience and good training methods and practices foster inexperienced cadres, especially platoon commanders and newly-graduated young cadres; maintained the regimes of lesson plan approval, fostering staff on Fridays (the recruits are fostered on Saturdays) every week; and combined “self-study and self-training” with organising lecture comment and competitions after every hour and every day of training to promptly point out weak stages and aspects, draw experience lessons, and correct right at the training fields. In addition, the Division’s units have also actively conducted field trips to do mass mobilisation work in remote and border areas to help people produce and guide to cultivate high-yielding plant varieties... to contribute to eradicating hunger, reducing poverty, stabilising people's lives in the Central Highlands, and maintaining political security and social order and safety in the stationed area.

The Division has also focused on improving the quality of competitions, contests, and drills at all levels, especially two-level one-sided agency-command field drills, live-fire company and battalion-level general loop drills, and combined arms drills. The training process has been closely combined with physical training, regularity building, and combat readiness plan training to improve the level of combat command organisation for cadres at all levels, especially platoons, companies, and battalions, combat coordination, and maneuverability of detachments and forces to ensure the Division’s readiness to receive and fulfil all tasks in all conditions and circumstances.

The achievements in the training have directly built the Division’s cadres and soldiers’ stable political stuff, high technical and tactical levels, and good professional expertise to meet the requirements and tasks in the new situation and contribute to building a pure, strong, and typical Division Party Committee and  a  comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical” Unit.  This is an important premise for Division 10 to continue its heroic tradition, constantly improve the overall quality and combat power, and fulfil the assigned tasks.

Senior Colonel HA VIET LIEN, Division Commander