As the main and mobile unit of the Military Region 2, Division 316 is tasked with training, combat readiness, and other ad hoc duties, such as: taking part in preventing, responding, and overcoming natural disasters and epidemics, search and rescue, etc. Recognising its important tasks, over the past years, the Division Party Committee and commanders have led, directed, and organised the comprehensive, strict, and scientific implementation of all work aspects and promoted the overall power to build a comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical” unit, capable of fulfilling all tasks assigned. In April 2020, the Division was selected and assigned by the Military Region with the task of building a comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical” model unit. Such great honor and heavy responsibility have posed to the Division new requirements with much effort and high determination.

Practising combat readiness at Regiment 98

The Division Party Committee and commanders have always determined that to fulfill the task of building a comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical” model unit, the close and strict leadership and direction must be the leading rule and the most important solution. Accordingly, right after receiving the Military Region’s directives and instructions, the Division Party Committee has quickly issued a thematic resolution, and the Division commanders have promptly developed and issued directives and plans and assigned tasks to agencies and subordinate units for drastic implementation. In particular, the Division has specified the contents, measures, and targets for each task and unit towards five basic standards, including politically strong and typical building, “streamlined, compact, and strong” organisation, good training, and high combat readiness; regularity building and law and discipline observance; and good logistics and technical guarantee. To be effective, right from the stage of issuing resolutions and planning, the Division Party Committee and commanders have requested the Party committees and commanders of subordinate agencies and units to properly assess the situation and status of tasks and propose leadership and direction guidelines and measures which are close, correct, and highly feasible. At the same time, importance has been attached to leading, directing, and doing well the work of education to raise awareness for cadres and soldiers, especially the Party committees and commanders at all levels, build determination, and turn awareness into actions, responsibility, and self-awareness in leadership, direction, and implementation. Besides, agencies and units have been regularly inspected and guided to perform each task, and the performance of functions and tasks has been associated with the promotion of the exemplary, pioneering role of cadres and Party members, especially the Party commissioners and leaders at all levels. This is an important factor to make the Division always be the flagship of the Military Region's Determination-to-Win Emulation movement.

Based on the identified leadership and direction guidelines, the Division has focused its overall power on implementing the five standards for comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical” unit building by specific measures in accordance with the characteristics and situation of the Division.

Politically strong and typical building is the most important content and criterion. In implementing this issue, the Division has paid attention to building organisations, particularly the clean and strong Party organisations; building a contingent of high-quality cadres to meet the requirements of tasks and functions; and promoting the Determination-to-Win Emulation movement, the Drive entitled “Promoting tradition, dedicating talent, deserving “Uncle Ho's soldiers” in the new period into the motivation for the units’ activities, etc. Particularly, the Division has attached great importance to learning, thoroughly grasping, and implementing the Party's resolutions and directives, the State's policies, and laws, and the tasks of the Army, Military Region and units; educating and raising political awareness and consolidating the ideological battlefield for cadres and soldiers to suit each object. Therefore, the soldiers have always absolutely trusted in the leadership of the Party. The Division has always been a collective that is united and highly determined in fulfilling tasks, without manifestations of internal “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”. The Division has directed 100% of the Party cells and committees to successfully organise the 2020-2025 term congresses. Among which, the Regiment 98 Party Committee and the Division Party Committee held model congresses at the grassroots and above-grassroots levels and were highly appreciated by the Central Military Commission and Military Region High Command for their excellent completion of duty.

As the main and core unit of the Military Region, the Division has determined that training and combat readiness are the central political tasks that must be fulfilled with appropriate measures to ensure good training and maintain a high combat readiness level in all situations. Accordingly, the Division has innovated the implementation of breakthroughs in training and improving overall quality; and thoroughly grasping and concretising the implementation of the superiors’ resolutions, directives, and orders, especially the Central Military Commission’s Resolution No.765-NQ/QUTW and Conclusion No.60-KL/QUTW and the Military Region Party Committee’s Resolution No.56-NQ/ĐU on “Improving the training quality in the 2013 – 2020 period and beyond” to be close to each training object and unit task. To achieve the set targets in training, in the context of social distancing under the instructions of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of National Defence due to the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak since the beginning of 2020, the Unit has carried out training and prevention of and the pandemic concurrently, so the Division Party Committee and commanders have proposed practical solutions to adjust the training contents, programs, times, and locations, arrange staff, and organise the training at the platoon level. At the same time, they have enhanced the inspection and prevented the thoughts and manifestations of taking advantage of the pandemic to lower the training requirements, etc. To bring into play that result, the Party committees, and commanders at all levels have done well in educating and raising the awareness of cadres and soldiers on the task of combat readiness; recognising the conspiracies and tricks of the enemies and combat objects. They have also grasped, forecasted, and properly assessed the situation; actively reviewed, adjusted, and supplemented combat documents; strictly maintained the combat readiness order and regime; fully prepared forces and means and organised the practice for mastery of the plans; and timely handled situations without being passive and unexpected to contribute to maintaining the political security, social order, and safety in the area.

To build a comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical” model unit, the Division has made a breakthrough in the regularity building and discipline training. First of all, it has focused on thoroughly grasping the resolutions, directives, and regulations of the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence and, the Military Region on regularity building and law and discipline observance. The Party committees and cells have issued thematic resolutions, held conferences and meetings to assess the substance of the situation of discipline, determining causes and responsibilities, and proposed solutions as “Say no to violations of the law and discipline”. In the implementation, they have enhanced forms and measures of education that are intuitive, easy-to-remember, easy-to-understand, and easy-to-implement under several creative models and methods. At the same time, education has been closely combined with thought management and strict maintenance of the addressing and greeting order and regime. The results of discipline observance and safety assurance are taken as the criteria for assessing the quality of the Party organisations, cadres, and Party members as well as the results of task fulfillment of agencies and units. Therefore, the discipline observance has improved and transformed from compulsory observance to self-discipline. The disciplinary violation rate in the first 9 months of 2020 was only 0.03%.

With a large number of troops, the Division has regularly directed its subordinate units to increase the production work to ensure that 100% of kitchens meet the standard of “Excellent military kitchen and good management of military supplies”. Troop living standard has been improved with the rate of healthy soldiers reaching 99.13% (increasing 0.13%). Weapons and technical equipment have been managed, seriously monitored under their hierarchies, and arranged neatly in accordance with regulations to prevent damages, losses, fires, and explosions. All damages and defects have been promptly repaired to improve the technical coefficient for training, drills, and maneuvers.

The Division has also focused on doing well the work of summary, review, and experience drawing; detected and promptly praised and rewarded collectives and individuals for their good and effective practices and replicated within the entire Division, etc. This is an important basis for the Division to continue researching, applying, and completing at the highest level the standards of comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical” unit building to contribute to excellently fulfilling all assigned tasks and being worthy of the main and strong mobile force of the Military Region 2 in the strategic northwestern area of ​​the country.

Senior Colonel NGUYEN VAN XUAN, Division Commander