Being imbued with Uncle Ho’s teachings on the important role of the engineering force in enabling the infantry to annihilate enemies, the Engineering Brigade 270 under the Military Region 5 has always brought into play its tradition of “being pioneering, active, and resilient; successfully opening routes” to overcome all difficulties and excellently fulfil its assigned mission.

Founded on November 1st, 1971 on the battlefield of the war zone 5 against the U.S., the Engineering Regiment 270 (the present-day Engineering Brigade 270) was tasked with constructing routes and fighting to protect corridors for transporting weapons and food and ensuring combat manoeuvre of the war zone 5’s units, thus making contributions to liberating the South and reunifying the country. In the war to defend the Southwestern border, the Brigade built roads and bridges for our services and corps to launch campaigns to liberate the people of Cambodia from genocide, while constructing defence works after the liberation. After 10 years of international mission, the Brigade came back to our country and entered a new period with numerous difficulties and challenges. It took part in settling the post-war consequences, clearing bombs and mines, and repairing bridges, roads, and railways across the Military Region 5. In the past 50 years of construction, combat, and development, with its special achievements, the Brigade has been given the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces in the renewal period, the First-Class Homeland Protection Order, and many other noble orders by the State.

Currently, the Brigade is focusing on raising the quality of training and combat readiness, building defence works and border patrol roads, clearing obstacles, participating in natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue as well as performing other missions. Under the spirit of readily preparing personnel, materiel, and means for missions, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have grasped and strictly implemented higher echelons’ directives on combat readiness. The Brigade has stringently maintained regulations on command, office, and combat duty, patrol, and guard to protect its barracks and stationed area, particularly on national holidays. It has developed, completed, and regularly practised combat plans to defend seas and islands as well as projects for fire and explosion prevention and control. It has organised training courses on river crossing for the Military Region 5’s units during exercises, taken part in dealing with the A2 situation during defensive zone exercises, and practised handling fires, explosions, and oil spills. As a result, its troops’ combat readiness capacity has been unceasingly improved.

The training work has been seen as one of the central breakthroughs that have been effectively implemented by all-level party committees and commands. Accordingly, the Brigade has focused on upgrading tactical training grounds and equipment. It has provided training courses for each group of troops in accordance with combat plans. Great value has been attached to organising synchronous and intensive training courses, particularly on river crossing, natural disaster prevention and control, and search and rescue. The Brigade has always accomplished its annual training programmes. All cadres of the Brigade have been able to take charge of training at their levels. Over 90% of its battalion-level cadres and 75% of its cadres at platoon and company levels have achieved merit or distinction in the training work. Since 2011, it has been continuously recognised as a good training unit.

Providing support for river crossing during an exercise

It is worth noting that the Brigade has excellently fulfilled its construction task, raised the technical and architectural quality, and ensured the absolute safety and secrecy of works. It has constructed provincial-level and district-level headquarters and 85-mm artillery bunkers especially when most of such constructions have been located in the mountainous, sea, and island areas. In spite of facing a lot of difficulties and dangers due to the complex mountainous terrain and limited transport lines for materials, with its responsibility and resolve, the Brigade has successfully fulfilled the construction task. Up to now, it has built and handed over 2 border patrol roads, opened a 13-km-long public service route, constructed more than 10,500 cubic metres of slope, and spread 7,886 cubic metres of concrete on roads with the good quality. It has handed over 12 provincial-level and district-level headquarters and it is now building 5 other ones.

Being stationed in the South Central Coast, the Brigade has considered natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue as a “combat mission in peacetime” and a “command from the heart.” On a yearly basis, the Brigade develops and practises specialised plans and projects for this work to avoid falling into passivity. Over the years, it has deployed tens of its affiliates and vehicles to deal with storms and floods, while cooperating with localities in implementing the “four on-the-spot” measures (on-the-spot command, on-the-spot force, on-the-spot means, and on-the-spot logistics support) during natural disaster prevention and control. It has employed its personnel and vehicles to transport citizens and supplies and serve all-level cadres’ inspection and direction during natural disaster prevention, control, and mitigation. Due regard has been paid to carrying out the mass mobilisation work to help local authorities and citizens to settle the consequences of natural disasters, dredge the mud, clean up the environment, repair rural roads, harvest crops, and rebuild the people’s houses and schools. In 2020, a series of storms and floods caused an avalanche burying many citizens in the village No.1, Tra Leng commune, Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam province; after 22 days and nights of wrestling with heavy rains and storms, cadres and soldiers of the Brigade together with local forces and friendly units rescued 33 people and found 9 dead bodies. For those achievements, provincial party committees and authorities of Quang Nam and the Prime Minister presented the Brigade with certificates of merit.

The Brigade performs its task when its forces are regularly scattered mainly in the remote, isolated, border, sea, island areas together with difficulties in accommodation and dangers. Meanwhile, most of its weapons and technical equipment are old-fashioned with their unstable technical coefficients and the work of technical support has yet to keep pace with the task requirements. Against that backdrop, following Uncle Ho’s teachings: “engineering units shall courageously fight enemies and serve combat, resolutely overcome difficulties, show no fear of sacrifices, and resolutely move forward to bigger victories,” the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have enhanced their leadership and direction over the adoption of synchronous measures to determinedly surmount all difficulties and fulfil the assigned task. Due attention has been paid to promoting the synergy of all organisations, actively, proactively, creatively executing resolutions, exercising close direction, heightening democracy, and opportunely encouraging cadres and soldiers to raise their task performance. At the same time, significance has been attached to effectively using the existing weapons and equipment, mobilising resources to modernise materiel comprehensively, and stepping up the movement of research to apply technical initiatives to increasing productivity and construction quality and decreasing troops’ labour.

In response to a dearth of cadres and technicians, an imbalance of their professions, and a difference in their educational background, the Brigade has paid due regard to building a contingent of “both red and expert” cadres and technicians as a determinant to its task performance. To that end, the Brigade has strictly implemented regulations on the organisational structure, while enhancing the military standard order building and discipline management and ensuring safety. Consideration has been given to building “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong affiliates and politically, ideologically, morally, and organisationally strong party organisations at all levels. The Brigade’s Party Committee has promulgated the Statutes on leadership over the personnel work relevant to the Brigade’s task. Moreover, the Brigade has adhered to the principles for personnel training and appointment, stepped up the planning and training of cadres and technicians at all levels, diversified forms of training, well organised on-the-spot refresher courses, and heightened self-study throughout practical work. Importance has been attached to frequently renewing the working method and style and promoting the role of leaderships, commands, cadres, and party members. Emphasis has been placed on raising all-level cadres’ responsibility to set good examples and encouraging staff members to dare to think, dare to do, and dare to take responsibility in the performance of missions, particularly the contingency, hard, difficult ones. Due attention has been paid to tightening discipline, building a sense of unity from within, and heightening the spirit of self-criticism and criticism.

Being fully aware of Uncle Ho’s instructions on preserving weapons, equipment, vehicles, saving ammunition and petroleum, and treasuring the people’s human and material resources, the Brigade has always well maintained and effectively exploited weapons and equipment, actively practised thrift, and combated wastefulness. This is one of the central goals and missions of the Brigade, particularly for its affiliates tasked with combat readiness and defence construction. To do so, it has proactively conducted reviews, proactively removed obsolete equipment having no spare parts, and carefully received, distributed, transferred, and withdrawn weapons and technical equipment. It has promoted the role of its staff members in managing, maintaining, and repairing weapons and technical equipment. It has strictly maintained the technical standard order, raised the quality of the “Technical Hour” and the “Technical Day,” and combined technical support with the contents and targets of the Campaign 50. Besides, it has stepped up a reform in the contents, method, and procedure of technical support, applied information technology to the technical work, and enhanced the work of inspection and testing to avoid degeneration, fire, and explosion.

Those above-mentioned achievements will provide an incentive for the heroic Engineering Brigade 270 to bolster its tradition of “being pioneering, active, and resilient; successfully opening routes” in the upcoming time.

Sr. Col. HUYNH VAN CHINH, Commissar of the Brigade