Engineering Brigade 279 – also known as the August Engineering Unit, under the Engineering Corps, is tasked with training and combat readiness; constructing military works; clearing bombs, mines, and explosives; and participating in natural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue, handling of work collapse incidents and other unexpected tasks. Due to its diverse tasks and dispersed forces on a large area and far from the leadership and management of the Party committees and commanders at all levels, particularly detachments stationing and on duty in areas with complex situations and high risk of insecurity, ... the Unit’s completion of tasks, especially the soldiers’ observance of law and discipline, is negatively affected. Therefore, along with implementing well all aspects of work, the Brigade Party Committee and commanders have always focused on leading, directing, and organising the implementation of law dissemination and education in various innovative, practical, and highly effective forms and methods. Thereby, the awareness, sense of responsibility, and actions of each cadre and soldier in the observance of State laws and military discipline have been improved to contribute to building the comprehensively strong, “typical and exemplary” Unit and fulfilling all assigned tasks.

Firstly, the Brigade Party Committee and commanders have attached importance to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of leadership and direction in law dissemination and education. Accordingly, the Brigade has required the Party commissioners, commissars, and commanders at all levels to regularly grasp the superiors’ resolutions, directives, and written directions and instructions on the work of law dissemination and education at all levels, particularly Conclusion No.80-KL/TW issued on June 20th, 2020 by the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee (the 12th Tenure) on continuing to implementing Directive No.32-CT/TW issued on December 9th, 2003 by the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee (the 9th Tenure) on strengthening the Party's leadership in law dissemination and education and raising the awareness of law observance of cadres and people; Law Dissemination and Education 2012; Resolution No.500-NQ/ĐU issued on March 26th, 2019 by the Engineering Corps’ Party Committee on improving the quality of regularity building and discipline and law observance within the Corps in the 2019 - 2025 period and beyond, etc., At the same time, law dissemination and education has been considered important content in the resolutions for leading the performance of regular tasks by the Brigade’s party committees at all levels to create a basis for agencies and units to formulate plans and implement according to decentralisation, with orientations, tasks, contents, forms, time, and objects of dissemination and propaganda clearly defined, to make it specific, scientific, and practical. To increase the effectiveness and efficiency in leading and directing, the Brigade has requested subordinate agencies and units to observe Plan No.236/KH-HDPL issued on February 15th, 2011 by the Corps’ Council for Coordination in Law Dissemination and Education on implementing the “Law Day” within the Corps to actively develop plans and implement orderly and in compliance with regulations.

Launching emulation movement in training in 2021

In the process of implementation, the Party Committees and commanders of agencies and units have always adhered to the situation of tasks of each year and period to lead, direct, supplement, adjust, and enrich the contents, forms, and methods of propagation and education and thoroughly handled all manifestations of underestimating or considering the law dissemination and education work as the responsibility of political agencies and political cadres. The Brigade has paid regular attention to leading and directing the consolidation, fostering, and improvement of qualifications, capabilities, methods, and responsibilities for the contingent of law propagandists and reporters and fostering and educating them to be exemplary in ethics, lifestyle, sense of organisation and discipline, methods, and working styles to create trust and pedagogy and improve effectiveness in propagation and education. Annually, the Brigade conduct preliminary review, summary, and lesson drawing to promote advantages and thoroughly handle the shortcomings and weaknesses; attaches responsibility to collectives and individuals; and takes the implementation results as criteria for commendation and classification and assessment of Party organisations and members.

Along with that, the Brigade Party Committee has also attached great importance to directing subordinate agencies and units to actively renovate contents and diversify forms of law propagation, dissemination, and education. By clearly defining the purposes, requirements, and contents of the work, the Brigade has thoroughly briefed its cadres and soldiers about legal documents, decrees, circulars, and instructions of the State, the Ministry of National Defence, and Corps, particularly legal themes such as: Law on military service 2015; Law on non-commissioned officers and defence workers and officials 2015; Law on road traffic 2008; Law on denunciation 2018; Law on prevention and control of harmful effect of alcohol 2019; Cybersecurity Law; and Circular No.56/2020/TT-BQP issued on May 5th, 2020 by the Ministry of National Defence on regulations on management and assurance of information safety and cybersecurity within the Ministry of National Defence, and annual themes on law dissemination and education. Regarding recruits, in addition to the general contents, the Brigade focuses on thoroughly propagating and educating the contents of the Regulations on Management of Soldiers of the Vietnam People's Army, 10 military oaths of honour, and 12 disciplines when dealing with the people.

Besides, the Brigade has closely coordinated with the Regional Military Procuracy and Military Court, the Corps’ Criminal Investigation Agency, and the Public Security of Tam Diep City, Ninh Binh Province, in communicating the theme of the discipline and law observance inside and outside the Army to orient and help cadres and soldiers to voluntarily raise their sense of learning and observance of the Army's discipline and the State's laws. Concurrently, cultural institutions, such as: libraries, reading rooms, Ho Chi Minh rooms, internal radio systems, youth bookcases, legal bookshelves, etc., have been regularly invested and strengthened by the Brigade both in terms of human resources and facilities. So far, 100% of the Brigade’s battalions have sufficient legal bookcases as prescribed with 150-200 legal books to better meet the cadres and soldiers’ needs for law studying. In addition to the form of concentrated classes with themes as specified by the Ministry of National Defence’s Council for Law Dissemination and Education Coordination, at conferences, meetings, etc., the subordinate agencies and units have regularly communicated and promptly notified the situation of violations of law and discipline in the Army, the Corps, and the stationing areas to draw lessons, orient thoughts, create strong changes in both awareness and action, and improve senses of responsibility and law and discipline observance for cadres and soldiers.

To unify the soldiers' awareness and actions, the Brigade has closely combined law dissemination and education with disciplining, regularity building, and emulation movements. As its subordinates are stationed in scattered areas, in long-term periods, and far from its management and command, the Brigade has attached special importance to improving the efficiency of the work of grasping and managing the soldiers’ thoughts and relationships, particularly non-commissioned officers and soldiers during the period before demobilisation and non-commanding officers and soldiers who operate outside, in construction units, remote and scattered detachments, difficult tasks, and time when the violations are likely to occur. It has also directed the subordinate agencies and units to develop action plans and strictly implement the task of classifying, screening, and managing the thoughts of soldiers with difficult circumstances, complicated relationships, or lack of effort at work to have separate educational measures. The units have required their soldiers to register for striving to well perform the assigned tasks and avoid committing social evils and for the Party committees and commanders at all levels to take responsibility for violations committed by soldiers under their authority. It has also promoted the role of psychological and legal advisory groups and maintained regular democratic dialogues at all levels; required its cadres to stay close to their soldiers and strengthen contact and coordination with soldiers’ localities and families in firmly grasping the soldiers’ thoughts to promptly handle abnormal symptoms; maintained the movements of the training, discipline observance, and building regularity and healthy cultural environment in each agency and unit. The Brigade Party Committee and commanders have led and directed its agencies and units to combine the work of law propagation, dissemination, and education with political and ideological education, learning and following Ho Chi Minh's thoughts, ethics, and style, the drive entitled Promoting tradition, dedicating talents, and being worthy of the title of “Uncle Ho's soldier” in the new period and the Determination-to-Win emulation movement to create a strong spillover effect that directly affects the consciousness and observance of law of the soldiers. As a result, the situation of discipline observance and regularity building of the Brigade has seen solid and comprehensive changes. The Unit is safe in all respects with internal solidarity and unity; meanwhile, the harmonious relationship between cadres and soldiers has been preserved.

Thanks to the above-mentioned measures and methods, the work of law dissemination and education of the Brigade has been highly efficient to create a positive change in the awareness and sense of observance of the Army's discipline and the State's laws among cadres and soldiers, and the rate of common discipline violations of the soldiers has decreased to below 0.2%, that has contributed to building the Brigade Party Committee pure, strong and typical, and the Brigade all-strong “exemplary and typical”, and its mass organisations strong and excellent to create synergy for the Unit to fulfil all assigned tasks and embellish the tradition of “Opening the path to victory” of the heroic Vietnamese Engineering Soldiers.

Senior Colonel TRINH HUNG HIEN, the Brigade Commissar