Training new soldiers, a crucial task with high demands, is the first stage to build a solid foundation and directly contribute to improving the overall quality and combat power of all units. Clearly understanding this, Division 316, under Military Region 2 (MR2), has regularly paid attention to leading, directing and implementing many practical and effective guidelines and solutions in doing this important task and gaining many active results. Despite having countless difficulties i.e. the stationed areas are widely located in many provinces; new soldiers have unequally qualified with most of them being from ethnic minorities; the training capability and competence, the managing and commanding experience of some cadres are limited; the support of materials, training and drill grounds has not always kept up with the task changes, etc., the Division has still achieved good annual training results of new soldiers, assuring the absolute safety.
To achieve these results, at first, the Division Party Committee and Command strengthen the leadership and direction of all-level party committees and commands on the task of training new soldiers. Accordingly, the Division has made an intense grasp of the seniors’ directives and instructions, required all units assigned with managing and training new soldiers to build their specialised resolutions and issue the documents to guide the task performance practically to the reality; the Division has directed all units, the ones directly training new soldiers in particular, to enhance the propaganda and education, clarify the position and meanings of the new-soldier training, clearly grasp all directives, guidelines, plans, contents, aims and requirements by the Division. To improve the effectiveness, the Division has required offices and units to attach the responsibility of the party committee members and presiding cadres to the training results, taking them as one of the criteria to evaluate their annual task accomplishment; enhanced the inspection and supervision to timely discover and strictly solve any signs of slackening the leadership and direction. Especially, the Division has asked offices and units to seriously learn from experience after each training period, timely find limitations, and build suitable plans for coming years, etc.
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| Leader of the Division checks the reception of new recruits |
The training preparation for new soldiers, especially the preparation of humans, materials and training grounds is highly considered by the Division. Annually, together with proactively and closely coordinating with the source-delivering localities, the Division directs offices and units to carefully select cadres, taking it as the decisive factor to improve the training quality for new soldiers, focusing on inspecting and selecting cadres who have enough competence, high responsibility and experience to strengthen the training frame. At the same time, it assigns their tasks, boosts their spirit and morale, trains and cultivates the managing and commanding ability, training and practising methods, and skills of solving any mental problems that new soldiers encounter, etc. In recent years, the Division has made several new ideas including the requirement of achieving good practice of “3 explosions” and new training frame for new soldiers. Together, to make new soldiers quickly keep pace and connect with their units, the Division has required junior cadres to maintain “4 togethers” with soldiers; set good examples in all tasks in the spirit of camaraderie; guide and correct their behaviours and conduct, daily and weekly routines, and strictly solve any manifestations of militarism both in words and actions.
Together with the preparation in personnel, the Division requires its units to make full preparation of facilities, documents, lesson plans, statistic books as prescribed; mobilises all sources and thousands of soldiers’ working days to build, repair and improve the systems of firing targets, teachings aids, training grounds with modern equipment, providing enough conditions for training new soldiers, etc. Especially, the Division has regularly promoted the movement of technical initiatives and innovations for training widely to each office and unit. Hence, many initiatives have been made and applied into training, gaining good results. With these practical solutions, the Division’s training preparation in general, training new soldiers in particular has been fully assured. In 2024, the Division attended the MR2 Contest of Training Preparation, and won the first prize.
In training, the Division requires all units to closely follow the “basic, practical, solid” motto, taking basis as the key from the beginning. Accordingly, together with strictly maintaining the regulations; conduct the training of fundamental subjects right from the early days and weeks; flexibly applying the training viewpoints, principles and combinations, all units have intensely renewed the training contents and methods to suit new soldiers, such as: increasing the use of e-lessons, video clips, active training methods and interactions between teachers and learners; closely combining between theoretical training with the direct instructions on the teaching facilities, the usage of modeling actions, groups and clips, etc. to make it interesting, easy and understandable to new soldiers. Cadres at all levels have regularly grasped the training quality, timely graded learners, held the basic training from easy to difficult levels, simple to more complicated steps; patiently instructed and timely corrected any errors for each soldier, not letting the errors be “chronic diseases”, especially for subjects of line-up regulations, techniques of firing, grenade throwing, installing explosive-igniting tools, etc. Together, all units have strictly maintained the practice of contests and examinations at all levels as scheduled, taking it as an important factor to improve the training quality, which helps train new soldiers, improve their military skills, psychology and courage; also helps all-level commanders clearly hold the quality of soldiers in order to timely adjust and assign officers to give further training. Together, the Division has strictly maintained the supervision of training and class accompany of all-level cadres to timely discover and correct any shortcomings in training of all units. Therefore, the training results of new soldiers in the Division have seen distinct changes. In 2024, the results of lesson 1 AK-machinegun firing were over 78% good and excellent, 4 out of 23 companies were excellently graded, which was 16% higher than that of 2023; 100% units got excellent results in the grenade throwing and explosive usage. The Division won the 1st prize in the MR2 contest for new soldiers.
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| A weapon handling contest held for new recruits |
Along with that, the Division pays a special attention to ensuring safety, especially safety in training since most of new soldiers were confused due to their first contact with the weapons. On clearly understanding that, together with asking the commanders of all units to closely follow, timely discover, prevent and solve any cases of unsafety, the Division has directed all units to thoroughly grasp all safety precautions before each lesson; train soldiers to comprehend all possibly arising situations of unsafety and ways to deal with; organise the drills to build appropriate skills and reactions when having bad situations. Hence, since 2020, the Division has continuously gained the absolute safety of humans, weapons and equipment in training new soldiers.
In order to continuously improve the quality of managing and training new soldiers, the Division promotes political education, holds and timely solves any ideological problems arising in training and daily activities. Accordingly, right after receiving new soldiers, the Division has enhanced the grasp and dissemination of tasks and regulations of the units; held visits to the traditional house, exchanges between new soldiers and old ones who are doing their tasks to build the honour, pride, responsibility and unity spirit in the units. At the same time, it properly handled the relationships, built the atmosphere of unity and friendship between cadres and soldiers, preventing any local factions and variabilities. Notably, all units have especially appreciated and conducted the managing and solving of new soldiers’ thought with many practical and effective solutions, such as: making “Records of soldiers’ details” with personal information of hobbies, strong points, friends, relatives, expectations, etc.; making “roll calls when soldiers are on leave”; “cultivating life skills and communication skills for cadres and youth union members”, etc., at the same time, made a close coordination with the localities and families of soldiers in managing and training new recruits. All companies and battalions have organised the warm welcome, created favourable conditions for families to visit their children on their days off, exchanging information to help train the recruits. The Division also invites the local governments and families of soldiers who achieve excellent results to attend the oath-taking ceremony for new soldiers, thereby enhancing the responsible connection between units and soldiers’ families, encouraging and spreading the honour and pride for cadres and soldiers. Therefore, since 2020, 100% of its new soldiers have been committed to their tasks, without any case of desertion.
Together with the above solutions, the Division Party Committee and Command takes special care of material and spiritual life for new soldiers. All unit have been installed with a full system of panels and signs of propaganda and cultural institutions serving soldiers’ daily life and activities including Ho Chi Minh Room, bookcases and law bookshelves with thousands of books; sports facilities and equipment, systems of stereo audio, karaoke, etc. creating a healthy and beneficial environment for both cadres and soldiers. Besides, the Division has directed all units to give priorities to ensuring the best living conditions for new soldiers, especially the healthy diet, propaganda, instructions of disease and epidemic prevention, environmental sanitation; at the same time, closely follow any activities, timely make the encouragement, health check and treatment when needed so that they have a good feeling and health to overcome any difficulties in training, especially in their very first days and weeks in the military environment.
These above experience and solutions are being implemented by Division 316 in the “training season” for new soldiers in the year 2025 with the determination of excellently accomplishing this crucial task, making a contribution to building the comprehensively strong, “exemplary, typical” unit being able to successfully accomplish all assigned tasks.
Senior Colonel BUI THE DUNG, Division Commander