The K822 Warehouse under the Department of Military Weaponry, General Department of Technology is tasked with receiving, managing, storing, technical assurance, and supplying ammunition for training and combat readiness for units in the whole army. As a level 1 warehouse of the Ministry of National Defence, the ammunition under its management is large in quantity and diverse in types, has been stored for long time and repaired many times. Meanwhile, the qualifications and capacity of its staff are not equal; its allocated funds, materials and petrol are limited; its working environment and conditions are hard, hazardous and dangerous; safety requirements for safety and secrecy are high, etc. Fully aware of this, the Party Committee and Commanders of the warehouse have always paid close attention to all tasks and deployed several measures to improve the quality of technical work in accordance with the characteristics and tasks of the unit and considered this an important content in the implementation of Directive No. 05/CT-TW, dated May 15, 2016 of the Politburo (12^th tenure) on promoting the learning and following of Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality and style, which the Party Committee of GDP is implementing.

When alive, President Ho Chi Minh taught us that: “We need to take good care of our weapons, equipment, and vehicles; save ammunition and gasoline; treasure people's strength and power". In order to study and follow his teachings in a self-conscious and effective manner, the Party Committee and commanders of the warehouse focus on leading and directing to completely repel the "irresponsible" way of thinking and doing. Accordingly, along with promoting propaganda, thoroughly grasping the directives of superiors on the management and exploitation of weapon and equipment in a durable, safe and economical manner, the safety of warehousing, labour hygiene; regulations on political security protection, secret protection, safety assurance, etc., every year, the Party Committee of the warehouse develops a thematic resolution leading technical work, a resolution leading the implementation of the Campaign 50. In addition, it promotes the implementation of the Campaign 50 in association with the Drive of promoting tradition, dedicating talents, deserving "Uncle Ho's soldier" in the new period.

Thoroughly grasping Uncle Ho's teaching that: "saving is to save human labour, time, and State budget...” over the past time, the warehouse has paid special attention to and improved the efficiency in management; combine quality with thrifty in technical assurance. All technical activities are planned by agencies and units with specific and accurate targets, ensuring smooth and stable work flow.

Checking the maintenance of ammunition

Every year, implementing the technical work plan, the warehouse conducts checks of its inventory at 0:00 on January 1 and July 1 in a strict manner; regularly reviews the system of books and management forms to use and update in accordance with the regulations. Promote the application of information technology to the management of quantity, quality, history of preservation, maintenance, repair, storage, etc. to ensure accuracy and connection with the ammunition database army wide. As a result, from 2015 to 2020, the warehouse supplied and received nearly 2,700 tons of ammunition; treated and destroyed more than 1,000 tons of ammunition in accordance with regulations; maintained an available ammunition rate of above 06%; 100% of its warehouses meet management standards according to 05 contents; the unit was kept in absolute safety.

Its agencies and units proactively determine the need for ammunition rotation, check, repair and forecast the technical assurance period one month in advance so that the maintenance, repair and storing of ammunition can be carried out strictly following procedures. During the implementation, there are officers monitoring the entire procedures on the working line to avoid mistakes, negligence and carelessness. At the same time, it actively builds and perfects the technological process, material norm in technical assurance to improve quality, save labour, manage and distribute supplies, petrol and oil in accordance with the norms; exploit on the spot material resources to produce some auxiliary materials to save budget; encourages technical staff to research and apply technical innovations to increase productivity and save human labour; builds the "young creative team" as the core and pioneer in implementation, thereby, saving labour and significantly reducing the danger and toxicity for workers. Besides, the warehouse also actively mobilises resources, especially promoting internal resources, innovation and upgrading its facilities to make it easy for the preservation of ammunition. In order to create a breakthrough in technical infrastructure, it cooperates with relevant authorities to survey the situation, develop the warehouse plan for the 2015 – 2020 period, with a vision to 2030, and actively implements the KA-10 projects of the superior level. In the period of 2015 - 2020, the warehouse always fulfilled 100% of targets of technical work; stored over 47,000 tons, maintained nearly 6,400 tons, repaired nearly 950 tons, transferred and stacked nearly 13,000 tons, checked nearly 400 tons of ammunition, and conducted chemical testing on 2,600 samples of propellant. ...in a timely, good and safe manner. In particular, in coordinating the implementation of the KA-10 project, the warehouse transported thousands of tons of ammunition (4,000 tons in the first quarter of 2021 alone), strictly managed the construction workers in the technical zone, and helped the project management board and the contractor complete dozens of new warehouse projects in a timely and safe manner.

Due to its specificity, if unsafe incident of ammunition occurs, there will be no chance for remediation; the warehouse considers safety as a permanent issue in all activities. Being imbued with Uncle Ho's teaching that: "Striving for fast, mass, good and cheap production must be accompanied with ensuring labor safety and protecting workforce. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the protection of machinery...", during working time, all its officers and technical staff are equipped with and strictly carry personal protective equipment (PPE) according to regulations; they are trained in workplace safety precautions before new tasks. The stores, depots, laboratories are equipped with sufficient firefighting equipment with the best quality as prescribed in combination with the high pressure firefighting system of the technical zone. Besides, it regularly clears patrol roads and technical areas to create fire-proof corridors and large observation areas; inspects and repairs lightning protection systems; sprays water on the roofs of the warehouse in hot days; monitors the quality progress of all propellant batches, early detects and prevents fire hazard. The warehouse strictly maintains the commanding, on-duty and combat duty regimes; strictly control people going in and out the technical zone; increases patrol and guard; actively practices plans for fire prevention and fighting, search and rescue; maintains smooth communication to all levels; always stays ready to handle all incidents of insecurity, fire and explosion, resolutely not to be passive or surprised.

Surrounding the technical zone are high mountains, making natural barrier to ensure the safety of residents in the area. However this makes the warehouse vulnerable to forest fire on the mountain. To cope with this, the warehouse actively contacts the locality to develop fire prevention and fighting plan on the mountains surrounding the Unit. To implement the plan, the warehouse deployed hundreds of its soldiers to make trails up the mountains, parking locations for fire trucks, pumping systems, etc., for ready to extinguish fire if it is the case. Moreover it actively propagates and persuades people to strictly abide by the regulations on cultivation to ensure the safety along the warehouse belt, and be ready to join hands with the troops in the event of fires.

Along with the above contents, the warehouse focuses on building a contingent of qualified, capable and responsible officers and technical staff. The Party Committee and Commander of the warehouse attach great importance to personnel work to ensure compliance with requirements, standards and suitability. Every year, it holds training, retraining, and technical contests. The content focuses on managerial skills; technology for maintenance and minor repair of ammunition; labour safety and protective measures. The method employed is using highly skilled technical staff to both perform tasks, guide and impart skills and experience. The warehouse performs mandatory training for the working team before performing repair tasks, ammunition handling to confirm their working skills and ensure that no errors occur. As a result, its staff has attained high capabilities and professional skills; they have always successfully completed their assigned tasks. Many of them have participated in competitions at all levels and won high prizes.

Promoting the learning and following of Uncle Ho is the basis and foundation for Warehouse K822 to improve the quality of technical work, to ensure the reception, management, storage and distribution of ammunition for training and combat readiness in absolute safety in people, weapons and technical equipment.

Senior Colonel TRAN TRONG PHAN, Head of the Warehouse