The Vietnam Coast Guard (VCG) is a specialised force of the State with its core role in law enforcement and protection of national security, order, and safety at sea. In recent years, the VCG’s organisational structure has been expanded together with a lot of modern vessels and means, thereby imposing more demanding task requirements on logistics support. However, the VCG is faced with a dearth of logistics cadres and employees at all levels. Many of its affiliates are stationed far from its Command. Troops in many units encounter a lot of difficulties in accommodation. Against that backdrop, the VCG’s Logistics Branch has grasped higher echelons’ directives, resolutions and guiding documents as well as President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings on the importance of the supply work within the Military to propose and implement many measures for improving the quality and effectiveness of logistics support.

Being imbued with Uncle Ho’s teachings: “cadres are the root of all work,” the VCG’s Logistics Branch has made a breakthrough in its organisational structure, with significance attached to building a contingent of logistics cadres and employees both qualitatively and quantitatively to meet the task requirements. The VCG’s Logistics Department has cooperated with competent offices in reviewing the number of logistics cadres and employees and proposing adjustments in the organisational structure of several units which had been developed or re-organised. At the same time, due attention has been paid to evaluating the existing logistics cadres and employees’ morality and service quality. Besides, the Logistics Department has formulated plans for retraining and deploying cadres to academies and schools both inside and outside the Military, with a view to improving their professional knowledge and their work method and style. Consideration has been given to enhancing logistics cadres’ political zeal, introducing the task to staff members, exchanging experience amongst them, and organising logistics training courses on the spot. It should be noted that the Logistics Department’s Party Committee has given advice to the VCG’s Party Committee Standing Board on recommending higher echelons to deploy logistics graduates and cadres from other units across the Military to the VCG. Logistics cadres and employees from the VCG’s Northern units have been deployed to the South to broaden their hands-on experience. As a result, up to now, the organisational structure of the VCG’s Logistics Branch has been basically consolidated in a balanced way. Logistics cadres and employees’ professional competence has been improved and they have promoted their role in counselling and organising the work of logistics support within units and offices.

The inauguration of the VCG Command Guesthouse on the occasion of the VCG Party Congress for the 2020-2025 tenure

Furthermore, the entire Logistics Branch has well implemented “one-focus, three-breakthrough” and “five-good” measures to opportunely, sufficiently provide logistics materials for the whole VCG’s regular and irregular missions, particularly for the defence of national sovereignty over seas and islands and for epidemic prevention and control (COVID-19). It has always maintained readiness to perform the task of mobilising civilian personnel and vessels to defend the country’s sovereignty and sovereign rights at sea under the Decrees 30/2010/NĐ-CP and 130/2015/NĐ-CP by the Government and the Circular 153/2016/TT-BQP by the Ministry of National Defence. It has actively renewed the method of supplying logistics materials, well implemented the new financial management mechanism within the Military, decentralised logistics support properly, and proactively ensured funding for offices and units’ logistics support amidst fluctuations in price. It has acquired logistics materials under the promulgated technical standards and material limits. Great value has been attached to enhancing inspection and supervision of logistics support, practising thrift, and fighting against wastefulness and negative practices in all logistics operations.

Following Uncle Ho’s teachings, the whole Logistics Branch has stepped up the emulation movement of “building units good at catering and managing military supplies” to ensure troops’ health. To be more specific, the Logistics Department has directed offices and units to design scientific, proper, balanced rations for troops, while directly undertaking researches into a change in the VCG’s uniform in accordance with the VCG’s mission particularities. It has actively, proactively installed the system of electric cookers to replace steam stoves under the roadmap set by the Department of Ordnance (under the General Department of Logistics). It has advised higher echelons to acquire kitchenware for offices and units, especially for vessels. To proactively ensure food on the spot, it has directed offices and units to enhance animal and crop husbandry, encourage them to apply scientific and technological advances to putting fresh, clean vegetables and fruits into troops’ rations, maintain reserves of food for vessels performing contingency missions at sea, with the aim of making a comprehensive, synchronous, steady positive change in the work of taking care of cadres and soldiers’ health and contributing to building a revolutionary, regular, elite, modern, and highly professional VCG. Units across the VCG have re-organised their production and processing zones in line with the planning of their barracks. They selected models of agricultural production in accordance with each region’s climate and soil conditions. Up to now, the VCG has constructed 14 large-scale production and processing zones, many areas for animal husbandry, and 9 semi-hi-tech clean vegetable gardens with a total area of over 6.100 m² (in 2021, it is building 4 hi-tech clean vegetable gardens and 4 areas for animal husbandry). It has been self-sufficient in breeding animals and sources of meat, while taking advantage of the existing ponds and swamps for aquaculture.

With reference to the work of military medicine, the Logistics Department has directed offices and units to step up the movements, namely “military medical soldiers follow Uncle Ho’s teachings” and “five-good military medical unit,” educate troops on epidemic combat, food safety, and hygienic lifestyle, and actively adopt measures for protecting and taking care of troops’ health, particularly at grass-roots level. Over the years, the military medical force within the VCG has been unceasingly consolidated. This force has stringently maintained regulations on managing troops’ health and cooperated with localities’ health sector in quickly detecting, supervising, preventing, and controlling epidemics. Hence, the rate of healthy troops within the entire VCG has always been above 98.8%. Moreover, the military medical force has actively taken part in the mass mobilisation work, especially the Programme entitled “the VCG accompanies fishermen.” It has also provided free medical examination and treatment for fishermen and citizens of coastal localities, thus contributing to building a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds.” In respond to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Logistics Branch has proactively collaborated with functional offices and relevant localities in drastically taking measures to prevent and control this epidemic.

Following Uncle Ho’s teachings, the VCG’s Logistics Branch has surmounted difficulties to ensure accommodation for troops. The Logistics Department has directed offices and units to closely manage national defence land and proactively repair barracks and equipment to meet troops’ basic needs and ensure the absolute safety. At the same time, it has advised and worked with offices and localities to accelerate site clearance and bidding for projects to construct barracks. Those construction projects have been closely directed and supervised to guarantee the quality, progress, and aesthetics. Between 2015 and 2020, the Logistics Department designed, submitted, appraised, and implemented 25 basic construction projects, while fighting against wastefulness and saving investments during those projects.

Realising the movement of “managing and using petroleum safely, economically, effectively,” the Logistics Department has proactively cooperated with the Department of Petroleum (under the General Department of Logistics) and the Military Petroleum Corporation in acquiring and sufficiently, opportunely providing types of petroleum for the VCG’s missions. It has strictly maintained regulations on distribution, settlement and limit of petroleum to avoid wastefulness. Besides, its has proactively recommended higher echelons’ competent offices to invest in upgrading petroleum depots of the VCG’s offices and units to ensure the reserves of petroleum for combat readiness and other missions.

Studying and following Uncle Ho’s teachings to raise the quality and effectiveness of logistics support have really become a routine task of cadres, employees, and soldiers of the VCG’s Logistics Branch. Bringing into play the recorded results, the VCG’s Logistics Branch will keep grasping higher echelons’ directives and resolutions on logistics support to make contributions to building a professional, modern VCG capable of defending the Homeland’s sacred sovereignty over seas and islands.

Sr. Col. LE DONG THUY, Director of the VCG’s Logistics Department