Complex developments of international, regional situation and hostile forces’ sabotage activities require continued building of a “revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled, and gradually modernised military,” laying the foundation for building a modernised military from 2030 onwards, which is politically strong, possesses high comprehensive quality and combat strength, is capable of firmly safeguarding the Homeland in any situations.

Firm defence of the socialist Vietnamese Homeland is an important, regular mission of the Party, State, political system, and the whole people, in which the People’s Army plays the key role. Having perceived this issue, on the basis of deeply grasping the Party’s defence, military guideline, its functions and assigned tasks, in recent years, the Central Military Commission (CMC) and Ministry of National Defence (MND) have led and directed departments, units, and schools in the military to adopt synchronous, drastic solutions to improve comprehensive quality, combat strength and have gained fairly comprehensive outcomes, making vital contribution to firmly protecting the Homeland and creating a peaceful, stable environment for national construction and development.

Sr. Lt. Gen Nguyen Tan Cuong reports at the half-year military and political review of the Ministry of National Defence in 2021 (Photo: qdnd.vn)

In the coming time, political security situation in the world and region is likely to witness further complex developments. Sovereignty disputes over territories, seas, and islands may be more strained and fiercer, especially those in the East Sea. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the global economy to a standstill and plunged the world into a recession. Nontraditional security challenges continue to present complex developments. Peace, stability, freedom of passage, maritime security and safety in the East Sea confront considerable challenges, potentially leading to conflicts. Countries in the region resort to tough measures to protect their sovereignty over seas and islands and national interests. In the country, hostile forces step up the strategy of “peaceful evolution” and inciting “self-evolution,” “self-transformation,” and “depoliticisation” of Viet Nam People’s Army (VPA). There are emerging issues in some key areas on the borders and at sea. These situations require the entire military to concentrate on successfully adopting the following solutions:

1. Further making the VPA politically strong, absolutely faithful to the Homeland, Party, State, and people. To strengthen revolutionary nature, confidence, combat goals, and political direction of the VPA requires party committees and commanders of departments, units, and schools in the entire military to continue to reform and enhance persuasiveness and effectiveness of political education to lead and orientate soldiers’ ideology in the new situation. More importantly, attention should be paid to studying and thoroughly grasping the speech by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on “Some theoretical and practical issues about socialism and the path to socialism in Viet Nam” and special subjects: “Studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality, and style of self-reliance, resilience, and aspiration to develop a prosperous, happy country” and “Bringing into play the fine qualities of Uncle Ho’s Soldiers, resolutely fighting against individualism.” Cadres and soldiers must be cultivated to possess political steadfastness; remain absolutely loyal to the Homeland, Party, State, and people; become immune to plots and sabotage trickery of hostile forces; have great determination; lead a moral, healthy life; manage to overcome difficulties and challenges; and be willing to undertake and complete any assigned tasks. It is necessary to proactively and sensibly struggle to reject wrong, hostile viewpoints, resolving to preserve the Party’s ideological battleground in the VPA; successfully realise missions and solutions to building of a pure, strong, exemplary, representative Military Committee; strictly adhere to principles of Party building, solidarity, unity, and leveraging the leading role of party committees and pioneering, exemplary character of cadres and party members. Guidelines on the military, national defence, building of the VPA, and protection of the Homeland according to the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress and the Resolution of the 11^th Military Party Congress must be grasped and implemented successfully.

It is important to speed up studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality, and style according to the Conclusion No. 01-KL/TW, dated 18 May 2021 of the Politburo (13^th tenure) in connection with implementation of the Resolution of the 4^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (12^th tenure) on Party building and rectification; successfully carry out the campaign: “Promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” in the new situation; attach importance to further materialising the standard of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers,” meeting requirements of building the VPA according to the Resolution of the 11^th Military Party Congress. Prevention and response to corruption, wastefulness, and wrongdoings in the military must be promoted in association with preventing and repelling manifestations of degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle, “self-evolution,” and “self-transformation” within the Party. It is necessary to enhance the effectiveness of party, political work in missions, most notably in training, combat readiness, participating in assisting people to prevent and respond to natural disasters, epidemics, and pandemics, especially the COVID-19 pandemic. Great importance must be attached to strengthening soldiers’ spirits in order to keep them away from pessimism, fear of epidemics, and decline in determination and confidence, which may badly affect their task accomplishment. It is important to well carry out the Determination to Win movement, cadre work, internal security, mass mobilisation, policy work and bring into play the role of mass organisations, creating comprehensive strength to accomplish military, defence missions and building of the VPA in the new normal.

2. Proactively grasping, assessing correctly, and predicting early situations to propose strategic measures for the Party and State to successfully handle situations, without being passive and surprised. Given high demand of safeguarding national sovereignty across all domains (land, air, sea, and cyberspace), strategic research and staff bodies (Institute for Defence Strategy, Operations Department, Foreign Relations Department, General Department of Defence Intelligence, 86^th Command, etc.,) work closely with units (Navy, Air Defence-Air Force, Coast Guard, Border Guard, military regions, arms), academies, schools, and Public Security to continue to study, assess, and forecast situations correctly and provide fundamental ground for the CMC and MND to advise the Party and State and coordinate effective implementation of overall, basic, long-term policies, solutions, measures for political, diplomatic, legal, defence struggle, etc., aimed at deterring, repelling, and defusing risks of war, conflict to defend the Homeland from afar without being passive and surprised. Additionally, it is important to align preliminary summing-up of 5 years’ implementation of the Resolution No. 347-NQ/QUTW, dated 23 May 2015, of the CMC on improving the quality of strategic advice with stepping up practical summing-up, research, and development of theories about military, national defence, building of the VPA, and protection of the Homeland in the context of globalisation, international integration, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Programs and plans to realise resolutions and strategies, especially the National Defence Strategy, Military Strategy, Strategy to Safeguard National Borders, Strategy to Safeguard the Homeland in Cyberspace, etc., must be further operationalised in a proactive, effective manner in accordance with specific characteristics and missions of each force. It is necessary strictly maintain regulations concerning combat readiness, close management of airspace, waters, borders, the interior and cyberspace; timely and effectively respond to situations, notably those occurring at sea, islands, and key areas, ensuring that maritime economic activities are safely protected; take initiative in preventing, responding, and overcoming consequences of natural disasters, epidemics, environmental catastrophes, conducting search and rescue operations, etc., to create favourable conditions for national building and development.

3. Promoting solutions to restructure the VPA in an adept, compact, strong direction, laying firm ground for building a modernised military from 2030 onwards. It is important to focus on reviewing and completing the goals of organising the VPA by 2021 according to Conclusion No. 16-KL/TW, dated 7 July 2017 of the Politburo; developing and effectively carrying out the project: Organisation of Viet Nam People’s Army for the period of 2021 – 2025 and beyond; formulating and issuing a new organisation and staffing table as well as circulars and decisions on functions and missions of bodies and units, ensuring synchronicity, unity in the entire military. Attention should be paid to researching and developing criteria for building a modernised military; improving and submitting the Decree on the system of basic position groups in Viet Nam People’s Army to the Government for promulgation. Management and use of military personnel must strictly comply with regulations, ensuring that the strengths of units in charge of combat training and readiness and fully manned infantry units reach at least 95 per cent and 100 per cent respectively. It is necessary to enhance the quality of recruitment; enroll and train commanding non-commissioned officers and specialised, technical employees; carry out policies on retirement, demobilisation, dismissal, and so on. The Reserve is built in a robust direction with proper structure, high quality, and readiness for mobilisation in case of emergencies. Resources in every aspect are prioritised for forces advancing straight to modernity to achieve the goal of building an adept, compact, strong military by 2025, laying firm foundation for building a modernised military from 2030 onwards.

4. Making a breakthrough in enhancing training quality, promoting good order and discipline. Party committees and commanders of bodies, units, and schools continue to grasp and adopt many measures to effectively realise the Conclusion No. 60-KL/QUTW, dated 18 January 2019, on further implementing the Resolution No. 765-NQ/QUTW, dated 20 December 2012, of the CMC on improving training quality in the 2013 – 2020 timeframe and beyond. They need to reform contents, organisation, and methodologies of training and conducting exercises for all types of participants, ensuring close-to-combat scenarios. Importance is attached to night training, maneuvering training, training to skillfully handle new, modern weapons and equipment, and training to deal with nontraditional security situation. It is necessary to strictly follow the staff, training, combat manuals; effectively apply viewpoints, principles, and combination in training; intensify unplanned inspections to timely address weaknesses. In the short run, attention should be paid to well carrying out the theme of the year 2021: “Improving quality and effectiveness of exercises and competitions at home and abroad”; conduct inspections of commanders and commissars of infantry divisions as well as commanders and commissars of provincial, municipal border commands; directing the training of teams participating in the 2021 international military festival and accomplishing the role as a host nation of rescue and sniper events under the framework of the International Army Games held by Russian Federation in our country; proactively developing plans, making good preparation, and conducting exercises on various scales and forms, ensuring close coordination, safety, and improvement of combat readiness of soldiers, notably those of the main force.

Military academies and schools concentrate on reforming and enhancing quality of education, training, scientific management, and research; linking training institutions with units according to the guideline: “Training quality at schools makes combat readiness of units”. They need to perfect and carry out the project of “Building the corps of teachers and education management cadres in the military to meet requirements of reforming education and training in the 2021 - 2030 timeframe in a basic, comprehensive manner,” contributing to cultivation of high-quality human resources in the VPA. Bodies, units, and schools need to make major breakthroughs in building comprehensively strong, “exemplary, representative” units; promote good order and discipline; step up emulation movements, including: “Cadres are examples for performing duties, missions, and working regulations” and “All military personnel set examples for abiding by State law, military discipline, and ensuring traffic safety,” creating stability in terms of discipline and substantial progress in promoting good order and trickly complying with orders of commanders at all levels.

5. Promoting research and development of military art, preparing every aspect carefully for combat readiness and for winning any wars in any situations. To meet requirements of modern warfare and defence mission in the new situation, strategic research and staff bodies must coordinate closely with units, academies, and schools to further study and develop Vietnamese military art, including military strategy, operational art, and tactics, ensuring suitability for characteristics of adversaries, operational domains, force structure, weapons and equipment of each force, and the all-people national defence posture in each region, area, and nationwide, which is ready to be transformed into the posture of people’s war should war occur. Greater effort should be put into researching, developing, and sharpening theories about new types of strategic operations such as integrated offensive operations, cyber operations, and so forth; conducting research into fighting methods of newly-formed forces, modern combat methods of the Navy and Air Defence – Air Force; developing the art of collaboration among on-site forces in military region defence and strategic defence in connection with materialising strategies (National Defence Strategy, Military Strategy, Strategy to Safeguard National Borders, etc.,) and new operational concepts of the signal, electronic warfare, cipher, and so on.

It is necessary to continue to operationalise the plan to implement the Resolution No. 15-NQ/TW, dated 1 August 2017, of the Politburo on providing weapons and equipment for the military; formulate and complete the strategy and planning for weapon, equipment development and acquisition through 2025, with a vision towards 2030. Efforts must be concentrated on providing sufficient, synchronised, timely, high-quality weapons and equipment for missions; effectively carrying out projects on repairing, upgrading, and modernising weapons and technical equipment in association with stepping up implementation of the Campaign 50 in the entire military. Regulations on weapon and equipment acquisition are to be designed and improved to ensure tightness, effectiveness, and in compliance with State law and rules of the MND. Materials and logistics need to be provided sufficiently and timely for missions, especially those concerning training, combat readiness, prevention and response to natural disasters, epidemics, search and rescue. It is important to promote gardening and animal breeding for food production, contributing to the improvement of soldiers’ standard of living; actively work with forces at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19, regarding this as the combat mission in peacetime; resolutely keep epidemics away from units and strive to have the rate of healthy soldiers exceeding 98.5%. Military units are to collaborate with the Ministry of Health to carry out the COVID-19 vaccination campaign; speed up clinical trial for the Nanocovax. There needs to set up and carry out some projects on logistics; plan and develop the system of strategic logistical warehouses; review the plan for staff housing to improve soldiers’ standard of living.

On leveraging the traditions of a heroic military, in any conditions and circumstances, Viet Nam People’s Army always makes every effort to enhance its comprehensive quality, combat readiness, and combat power, excellently accomplishing the lofty historic mission entrusted by the Party, State, and people, namely firm protection of independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the socialist Vietnamese Homeland.

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Tan Cuong, Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the CMC’s Standing Committee, Chief of the General Staff, Viet Nam People’s Army, Deputy Minister of National Defence.