In response to the task requirements of a main mobile unit, the Party Committee and Command of Division 325 have been synchronously taking breakthrough measures to raise the quality of training under Resolution 1659-NQ/QUTW by the Central Military Commission (CMC) as the basis for improving the Division’s synergy and combat power.

Under Decision 6012/QĐ-BQP, dated 21 November 2023, by the Minister of National Defence, Division 325 is one of the full-strength main units that remain unchanged after its transfer to Corps 12 - the first “adept, compact, strong” army corps of the Vietnam People’s Army. This is a new development, a great honour, and a heavy responsibility for the Division. In accord with its task requirements in the new situation, the Division has synchronously taken measures to improve its task performance, with the raised quality of training under the CMC’s Resolution 1659-NQ/QUTW, dated 20 December 2022, being seen as a significant breakthrough. With its resolve, strong sense of responsibility, proactivity, and creativity, the Division has surmounted all difficulties and successfully fulfilled all targets and requirements of training and combat readiness. In 2024, all training sections of the Division were rated good; it won high ranks in all-level training contests; it organised and participated in all-level exercises with good results; notably in the Army Corps’ live-fire one-side, two-level command and staff exercise, it was highly appreciated by all-level commanders. More than that, the Division played a vanguard role in helping the people of Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, and Hai Duong provinces with Storm No.3 (Yagi Storm) prevention and response. Those efforts have contributed to bolstering the virtues of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers”; many affiliates from the Division have been given the title of “Good Training Unit”; the Division has been recognised as an “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong unit.

Night-time training at Regiment 101

Those good results have proved the Division’s great determination to grasp and executing the CMC’s Resolution 1659-NQ/QUTW and higher echelons’ directives and orders on training work. However, in the process, there have been several weaknesses pointed out by the Division’s Party Committee and Command during their conference for a final review of the task performance of 2024. To improve the quality of training as the basis for successfully accomplishing all assigned tasks, the Division will continue to make breakthroughs in realising Resolution 1659-NQ/QUTW via practical, specific measures, with a focus on the following.

First of all, enhancing all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction over training work. Based on viewpoints, mottos, tasks, and solutions relating to training work set by the CMC’s Resolution 1659-NQ/QUTW, the Division will direct its offices and units, particularly all-level party committees and commands, to grasp the motto of “basics, practicality, solidity”, step up synchronous, specialised, modernised training, supplement targets in their specialised resolutions on training work, and identify proper lines and measures in accordance with the particularities of their tasks, the requirements of Army Corps building, and the Party’s new thinking on military and defence work. Due attention will be paid to enhancing political, ideological, and tasks-based education to create a positive change in troops’ awareness and responsibility for this important work. At the same time, mechanisms for training management and operation will be renewed in a “focalised, uniform, synchronous, effective” manner; responsibilities for training work will be clearly delegated to each office, unit, and commander; the role of offices in guiding and coordinating training work will be promoted. The Division will actively renew forms and methods of inspection and re-inspection and combine regular and irregular inspection to opportunely detect and rectify drawbacks in training work. To make significant progress, the Division will step up party and political work during training, aligning training with emulation movements and all-level training contests, guaranteeing “substance in training, examination, and results”, taking training results as a criterion for individual and collective assessment and commendation at all levels. Leadership and direction will be concentrated on settling weaknesses pointed out after inspection and identifying causes, responsibilities, and timings for correction.

Second, making “sufficient, elaborate, comprehensive, but focalised” preparations for training work. Fully aware of the importance of preparation for training, the Division has always attached great value to well performing this work as an important precondition for fulfilling training goals, targets, and programs and ensuring absolute safety. Currently, the Division’s training work has new developments with higher requirements; meanwhile, most of its cadres in charge of training, particularly at detachment level are young officers with limited experience in management and command. Thus, while actively, sufficiently preparing facilities, proactively supplementing and completing the system of lesson plans, and upgrading training models and grounds, the Division will focus on building a contingent of cadres in charge of training, especially at grass-roots level and increasing refresher courses for this contingent via different measures. Grounded on the Army Corps’ training program for cadres in 2025, the Division will proactively review, supplement, and standardise training plans and content for each office, unit, and group of cadres. Great value will be attached to equipping cadres with new developments in tasks, weaponry, and combat arts, drawing lessons, and handling weaknesses in training work. Offices and cadres from regimental level and above will be trained in the shift of combat readiness states, organisation and methods of exercises, and new points in electronic warfare, digital transformation, information safety and cyber security. Meanwhile, cadres at company and battalion levels will be trained in management and operation of training work, methods of two-side tactical exercises, and organisation of live-fire general exercises. Cadres at platoon level and new graduates will be trained to improve their capabilities in practice and role modelling and to provide infantry tactics and combat skills for their troops. In 2025, all cadres shall be able to be in charge of training at their level; over 90% of cadres at battalion level, 85% of cadres at company level, and 80% of cadres at platoon level shall achieve merit or distinction in training work.

Division Command inspects search and rescue training for troops

Third, actively renewing methods of training and exercises relevant to new combat conditions. This is one of the basic measures set by Resolution 1659-NQ/QUTW. Based on lessons and results in 2024, in response to the Army Corps’ new task requirements, the Division will focus on renewing methods of training in a synchronous, specialised, combat reality-based manner. To meet the requirements of a main mobile unit, the Division will concentrate on training its troops in skills and tactics, making its troops expert at independent and joint operations. It will comply with training mottos, viewpoints, principles, and connections, increasing night-time, field, situations-based, military discipline, technical, and logistics training, closely combining infantry tactic and combat skill training with specialised training, intensifying physical training, organising long-distance, loaded field training marches on different types of terrain and in complex weather conditions to improve its troops’ fitness, perseverance, and manoeuvrability. Furthermore, the Division will proactively undertake researches into new forms of warfare from recent armed conflicts worldwide and draw lessons from exercises held by the Army Corps, defensive zone exercises, and other specialised exercises as the basis for renewing and improving all-level exercises. Emphasis will be placed on organising general exercises at detachment level, two-side command and office maps-based exercises at regimental level, and live-fire exercises at battalion and company levels to bring troops close to combat realities, raise cadres’ flexibility and creativity in command and handling of situations, and improve troops’ skills and tactics.

Fourth, intensifying all-level training contests and heightening support work for training and exercises. Adhering to training plans, offices and units will step up the organisation of contests after each training section and period in a close, scientific, substantive, objective fashion so as to encourage troops’ sense of responsibility, activeness, proactivity, and creativity, opportunely commend and multiply effective training methods and models, and make contributions to raising the quality of training. The Division will hold conferences to assess the outcome of training by its offices, units, and all-level cadres, draw lessons, and design refresher courses for the following periods. Moreover, the Division will attach importance to improving the quality of support work for training and undertaking researches into the system of training documents, especially about organisation and methods of training and exercises as well as about new weapons and equipment. It will step up planning, construction, and improvement of its training grounds and shooting ranges, managing and exploiting information technology and television network for operation and inspection of exercises, well maintaining its equipment, effectively dealing with errors of its military hardware, vehicles, and machinery during manoeuvre. It will continue to promote and apply its lessons on logistics - technical support learnt from natural disaster response and search and rescue operations to raising the quality of support work, meeting the increasingly high requirements of training and exercises.

Training is a central, routine task that provides a solid foundation for improving combat readiness capacity and combat power of a unit. Grasping the goals and viewpoints set by the CMC in Resolution 1659-NQ/QUTW, Division 325 will continue to devote efforts to overcoming all hardships and successfully fulfilling all established targets as strong prerequisites for building an “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong Division, making contributions to building an “adept, compact, strong” Army Corps towards modernity, meeting the requirements of Fatherland protection in the new situation.

Sr. Col. NGUYEN HAI NGU

Commander of Division 325