Profound influence of international and regional security, political situation and hostile forces’ sabotage plots against our country require the military to ceaselessly heighten revolutionary vigilance and build itself comprehensively strong with a focus on taking political building as a basis, cultivating overall quality and increased combat power, capable of firmly safeguarding the Homeland in any situation.

On deeply gasping the Party’s defence and military guidelines, especially the policy on building the “revolutionary, regular, highly-skilled, gradually modernised” Viet Nam People’s Army (VPA)” with some forces advancing straight to modernity, over the past few years, departments, units, and schools in the entire military have taken many synchronous, drastic measures with a view to improving combat power and meeting the requirement of national defence. Many relatively comprehensive, concrete results have been produced. Cadres and soldiers in the entire military possess political steadfastness and display absolute faithfulness to the Party’s objectives and ideals as well as have confidence in the reform process of the country and the cause of national defence.

Brigade 101 (Naval Region 4) practices landing

Nevertheless, apart from recorded achievements, quality of situation assessment and forecast in some cases is inadequate. Solutions to reduce redundancy are not drastic enough. Political education, ideological management, and compliance with discipline, law, and traffic safety have witnessed positive developments but remained unstable. Some training contents and programmes, particularly training in using new weapon systems and equipment and responding to non-traditional security situations at schools, have failed to keep pace with practical missions of units.

International and regional contexts in the coming time will continue to undergo rapid, complex changes. Strategic competition and trade wars among major powers will be further escalated. Global economy is likely to plunge deeper into recession as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some major powers intervene openly and directly in the East Sea issue from the aspects of diplomacy, international law, and in the field, further complicating situations. Waters in the Southwest and some strategic areas run the risk of instability. May new types of war and operating environment emerge, which lead to changes in our types of strategic operations. Non-traditional security challenges such as cyber security, maritime security, natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, etc., hostile forces’ stern sabotage through strategy of “peaceful evolution,” incitement to “self-evolution” and “self-transformation,” and developments of national defence mission require the military to strengthen its combat power, ensuring its capability to defeat the scheme of combining destructive actions from within with invention of pretext from outside, firmly safeguarding the Homeland in any situation.

First, it is necessary to concentrate on making the military politically strong, laying the foundation for promoting overall quality and combat power. The entire military seeks to successfully conduct political education, ideological guidance and increase cadres’ and soldiers’ awareness of their missions; continues to effectively carry out the project of “reforming political education in units in the new period” by means of various concrete contents, forms, and measures suitable to learners, characteristics, and missions of departments, units, and schools. Quality of education about Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s thought, revolutionary nature, tradition and missions of the military and units, partners of cooperation and objects of struggle, hostile forces’ plots and schemes, and the senses of adhering to military discipline and state law is to be enhanced. There needs to foster soldiers’ political steadfastness, absolute faithfulness to the Homeland, high determination, and readiness to undertake and accomplish all assigned tasks. It is important to proactively struggle to defeat the hostile forces’ strategy of “peaceful evolution” and incitement to “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” within the Party in connection with implementing the project: “The military prevents and counters peaceful evolution in ideological, cultural fields,” resolutely defending the Party’s ideological front in the military. Leadership and combat power of party committees and organisations at all levels must be strengthened. The building of pure, robust party organisations is aligned with the building of comprehensively strong, “exemplary, representative,” absolutely safe departments and units.

The entire military further promotes implementation of programmes and campaigns in connection with enhancing the effectiveness of emulation, praise and reward, and propaganda about prominent examples in order to create a deep and wide pervasiveness not only in the military but also in the whole society. Units are also requested to promote internal political protection, policy work regarding military families; renew contents and methods as well as enhance quality and operating effectiveness of party work and political work in missions, especially in combat training, readiness, and helping people to overcome consequences of natural disasters, epidemics, and pandemics; establish and bring into full play the roles of mass organisations and military personnel’s council in task implementation.

Second, improving strategic research, forecast, and recommendation to the Party and State on military, defence missions. Departments in charge of strategic research and recommendation work closely with units and schools throughout the military to proactively study, evaluate, and correctly forecast security situation in the world, region, and country, especially shifts in defence strategy, security strategy, and diplomatic strategy of major powers and their impacts on Viet Nam. This will enable them to make timely recommendations to the Party and State on policies and solutions to emerging situations without letting the country fall into passivity and surprise, disputes escalate into armed conflicts and wars. More effort should be put into proposing solutions to tightly control borders, airspace, waters, islands, and cyberspace; flexibly and effectively addressing issues regarding the East Sea, waters in the Southwest, and national boundaries; properly deal with international relations, contributing to firmly preserving sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests and creating a peaceful, stable environment for national construction and development. There needs to speed up practical summarisation, theoretical research and development, and institutionalisation of the Party’s leadership and State’s management of national defence during globalisation, international integration, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution through amending and promulgating some laws and legal documents. Programmes and plans to implement resolutions, conclusions, strategies, and projects regarding military building and strengthening of national defence are further promoted effectively.

Third, gradually fulfilling the streamlining of organisations to build an “adept, lean, and highly efficient” military. The entire military concentrates effort on completing goals and criteria for organising the military by 2021 according to Conclusion No. 16-KL/TW, dated 7 July 2017, and Resolution No. 15-NQ/TW, dated 1 August 2017, of the Politburo. It is also required to continue to effectively implement the Project on organising the VPA in the new situation (for the 2020-2025 period) and reorganise the military in an “adept, lean, highly efficient” direction with proper structure among services and synchronisation between weapons, humans, and support work. Priorities are given to providing sufficient strength to units in charge of combat readiness, particularly those deployed in key areas, on the borders, at sea, and on islands. At the same time, there needs to pay attention to reorganising the system of military schools, factories, technical facilities, and economic-defence corps as well as the newly established forces; researching and completing a set of criteria for building a modern military from 2030, field manuals, training materials, military dictionaries, etc., in accordance with new organisations.

Fourth, new breakthroughs must be made in improving quality of combat training and readiness. The entire military continues to grasp and effectively realise resolutions, directives, and orders regarding combat training and readiness, notably Conclusion No. 60-KL/QUTW, dated 18 January 2019, of the Central Military Commission (CMC) on further implementing Resolution No. 765-NQ/QUTW, dated 20 December 2013, on enhancing training quality in the new era; creatively apply goals, requirements, standpoints, principles, and solutions to improve quality of combat training and readiness. Training management is carried out in the direction of “concentration, unity, comprehensiveness, effectiveness, without overlap” and under a “basic, practical, solid” motto with a focus on comprehensive, intensive, close-to-real-thing training. Contents, methods, and support work for training and drill are to be innovated vigorously in a practical, effective direction suitable to realities. Military academies, colleges, and schools must improve quality of training, education, and scientific research to satisfy demands of building high-quality human resources for the cause of building the VPA, strengthening national defence, and protecting the Homeland.

Additionally, strategic-level departments work closely with units and schools to step up research and development of military art in accordance with modern warfare, combining sharpening of forte fighting methods of regular soldiers, local soldiers, militia and self-defence force with research, development, and application of new types of strategic operations, including integrated offensive, electronic operations, cyber operations, etc., contributing to improving the VPA’s combat power.

Fifth, special importance is attached to logistical, technical support for combat readiness. The entire military brings into play its self-reliance and resilience in providing sufficient, timely logistical support for all missions, most notably combat training and readiness, protection of sovereignty over waters, islands, and borders, prevention and response to natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, search and rescue; collaborates with localities to enhance logistical support in defence zones, particularly in strategic, key areas. There needs to continue planning and construction of logistical facilities, fuel depots, and system of hospitals in the military; bring part of the Military Medicine straight to modernity, meeting requirements of diagnosis and treatment of diseases for soldiers and people. Units throughout the military must successfully accomplish epidemic prevention and response – their combat mission in peacetime; speed up production activities to improve soldiers’ lives; actively reform and perfect methods to provide logistical support in a timely, safe, effective manner; examine and evaluate garrison areas near lakes and dams to work out safety measures during rainy seasons.

As for technical work, the entire military continues to grasp and implement programmes and objectives of Resolution No. 382-NQ/DUQSTW, dated 29 November 2007, of the Central Military Committee (known today as Central Military Commission) on technical work in the new situation and the Campaign 50 on “Good, durable, safe, economical management and exploitation of weapon systems and equipment and traffic safety.” Investment in procurement and modernisation is combined with research, production, and innovation of weapon systems and equipment with a focus on promoting capability to master technologies and use new generation weapons and equipment. It is necessary to effectively carry out technical support projects and plans as well as military technical cooperation programmes with foreign countries while exploring possibilities to renew mechanisms and methods to provide technical support in a “sufficient, timely, comprehensive, highly-qualified direction,” meeting requirements of combat training and readiness.

Successful adoption of the above-mentioned solutions will make practical contribution to the building of a strong military with comprehensive quality and increased combat power, capable of firmly safeguarding the socialist Vietnamese Homeland.

Lieutenant General Huynh Chien Thang, PCC and CMC member, Vice Chief of General Staff, Viet Nam People’s Army