As part of the main mobile army corps of the Ministry of National Defence, Division 308 determines to constantly enhance the quality of combat training to meet the evolving demands of the current situation. This is both a task and a crucial measure for the Division to constantly enhance its overall quality, strength, and level of combat readiness to accomplish all assigned tasks.

Due to specific requirements and tasks, Division 308 (Army Corps 1) is organised with both infantry and mechanised infantry forces. During the task implementation, in addition to advantages, the Division also encounters numerous challenges such as the shortage of qualified infantry and technical cadres, the lack of combat experience among all officers, inexperienced young cadres with limited practical skills; limited infrastructure conditions and constrained budget; antiquated weapons and equipment, especially tanks and armoured vehicles with low uniformity and small travel distance, shrunken training grounds, harsh climate conditions, negative impacts of market mechanisms on the soldiers' lives and morale, etc.

Being fully aware of the disadvantages, over the years, the Division’s Party Committee and Command have advocated accelerating the renewal and improvement of the quality of combat training to fit the actual situation, combat subjects, and available weapons and equipment and bring into full play the tradition and combat experience of the Vanguard Corps.

First and foremost, it is necessary to intensify the leadership and direction of party committees and commanders at all levels and bring into play the roles of agencies in advising, managing, and administering the training with a priority given to the training quality. Thoroughly grasping and implementing the resolutions, directives, and instructions of higher echelons and functional agencies on combat training, especially Resolution No. 765-NQ/QUTW issued on 20 December 2012 and Resolution No. 1659-NQ/QUTW issued on 20 December 2022 by the Central Military Commission on enhancing combat training in the 2023-2030 period and the next; Resolution No. 463-NQ/ĐU issued on 30 March 2023 by the Corps’ Party Committees on enhancing combat training in the 2023-2030 period, the Division’s Party Committee has promptly issued thematic Resolution on leading the training until 2030 in accordance with the Unit’s tasks and characteristics. In particular, it is necessary to determine the viewpoint of comprehensive and task-based training with a focus on regular forces responsible for combat readiness; take the training of mechanised infantry and infantry as the centre and land-based operations as the core. Simultaneously, the Division has directed its agencies and units to develop plans and action programmes at the party committee and command levels for this crucial task, in which, the emphasis has been placed on specifying goals, targets, requirements, and appropriate leadership measures based on the units' characteristics, tasks, and organisational structure. In pursuit of the goal of developing well-trained troops with high proficiency in tactics and professional expertise; mastering modern weapons and equipment; and developing creative and decisive thinking, rapid adaptability, and effective actions in addressing various situations, the Division has stepped up the renewal of training content, programs, plans, theoretical frameworks, and directing exercises that closely match the unit's characteristics; attached importance to preparatory work; and assigned tasks to each party committee level. Importance has been attached to intensifying political education and heightening awareness so that all service members can be fully aware of partners, combat subjects, positions, significance, and training requirements; regularly popularising the tradition, combat experience as well as difficulties and challenges so that all cadres and soldiers can have confidence in the available weapons, equipment, and military arts; giving prominence to the responsibility and the building of driving force and determination for high-quality training and strict discipline to accomplish all assigned tasks.

Fire training at the division

To improve the effectiveness of the training management and administration, the Division has regularly supplemented and perfected the mechanism of training management and administration according to the principle of "Concentration, unity, coordination, effectiveness, and non-overlapping". This involves a clear division of the responsibilities of agencies and units according to their functions, tasks, authority, and working relationships. Simultaneously, emphasis has been placed on guidance, inspection, and rectification conducted by commanders and agencies at all levels to address weaknesses. It is important to strictly adhere to training discipline; accurately and objectively evaluate training results; determine to overcome subjective thinking and fear of hardships, underestimate the requirements, reduce training content and programs, and prevent virtual achievements. To maximize the sense of responsibility among leaders, commanders, and each organisation and unit, the Division has taken training outcomes as a fundamental criterion to evaluate the fulfilment of duties of party committees, commanders, political cadres, and units at all levels in assessing and classifying party organisations and, party members, appointing cadres, and make commendations.

On the foundation of the Order on military work of the High Commander of Army Corps 1 and the training programmes and plans of higher echelons, the Division has directed Staff Office to propose renovating and arranging training content to accord with each target and unit’s characteristics in specific periods. Closely adhering to actual situations, the Division, annually, conducts polls in agencies and units to map out appropriate training contents and programmes. In particular, sticking to the training motto of being “fundamental, practical and firm grasp of knowledge with synchronous and in-depth training at the core” as well as the viewpoints, principles, and combinations, the Division has concentrated on renovating and improving the quality of command and staff training; delving into operational planning and training; and updating knowledge to match the task requirements, and practical characteristics of each unit. To satisfy the requirements of modern warfare, the Division has intensified the duration of practice, night training, field exercises, obstacle crossing, camouflage, etc. with numerous situations to forge the agility of commanders and units. At the same time, the Division has detached cadres of functional agencies to instruct and supervise units, especially those responsible for important tasks. Notably, during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Division directed its agencies and units to flexibly adjust training contents and methods to adapt to the practical situation. Additionally, the Division established specific regulations and plans for extra-curricular training with a focus on long-range marches carrying heavy loads across various terrains and environments, and crossing multiple obstacles. Efforts have been made to innovate and improve the quality of exercises by incorporating information technology into the entire process, from preparatory work to the practical handling of situations, especially in command exercises, combined exercises, arms and services exercises, and live-fire tactical exercises, etc., thereby, enhancing the qualifications and combat capabilities of cadres and units so that they can excel in independent and combined operations and adapt to modern warfare.

On the foundation of the position and roles of cadres in charge of training, the Division has attached importance to training and cultivating cadres in charge of training, especially at company and platoon levels. Over the years, closely adhering to Plan No. 1287/KH-TM issued on 8 June 2022 by the Staff Office of Army Corps 1 on organising forces, the Division has inspected and evaluated the actual quality and adjusted the contingent of cadres to fit the structure and specific training tasks. Cadres have been sent to training courses organised by the Army Corps, while those who have inappropriate expertise have been sent for retraining. Simultaneously, importance has been attached to opening courses for cadres directly involved in training, ranging from section commanders and battery commanders to cadres of the Division, especially for newly-graduated cadres with limited experience. In particular, the courses concentrate on weaknesses and new contents; provide organisational approaches, training methods, and skills in training administration, especially in tactical training, categories of exercises, shooting exercises on vehicles, and types of infantry firepower, etc. Another effective measure to improve the competencies of cadres is the Division's attention to selecting and developing several comrades who possess good knowledge and practical operational capabilities to participate in the compilation of training documents for the Ministry of National Defence and the Army Division. Accordingly, a core contingent of cadres has been developed to cultivate and appoint to higher leadership positions. At the same time, this contingent functions as the core force to accomplish the task of combat training in each unit, and a motivating factor to foster a positive learning spirit and improve the competencies of all cadres in the Division. In 2021, the Division participated in the research and compilation of various documents for the training of cadres, including documents on the utilisation of the VRU 812S - a modern radio transmission device on infantry combat vehicles, which ensured quality, met practical requirements, and received high appreciation from various levels.

In addition to the building of human resources, the Division has directed its agencies and units to pay much attention to conducting preparatory work and training assurance. The focus has been placed on ensuring weapons, equipment, and military hardware; actively repairing and renewing various models, training tools, and training grounds. The Division has also directed engineering units to coordinate with units and local authorities to conduct reconnaissance and develop plans for the reinforcement and repair of mobile routes, ferry docks, and crossings for vehicles. It is necessary to actively maintain and repair weapons and equipment with a technical coefficient of Kt=1. The initiatives and renovation of training models and tools have been widely promoted. Since 2013, the Division has conducted 200 initiatives and renovated multiple training tools, which significantly contributes to improving the quality of training and exercises within the Unit. Additionally, the Division has mobilised hundreds of millions of dong and thousands of labour days for repairing and upgrading classrooms, crossing systems, mobile routes, target positions, tactical and technical exercise areas, and more. To address the shortage of training grounds, the Division has established close coordination with units in the local area, thereby meeting the requirements of training grounds.

Thanks to the flexible application of the aforementioned measures, from 2012 to 2022, the combat training of the Division represented high achievements, especially in examination results and shooting exercises. The Division participated in various competitions at the Ministry and Army Corps levels and received multiple rewards. These achievements serve as the foundation for the Division to continue to apply and develop in accordance with new requirements and tasks, thereby constantly improving overall quality and combat power to accomplish the task of a strategic mobile unit of the Ministry of National Defence.

Colonel NGUYEN HAI ANH, Commander of Division 308