Accelerating the emulation movement “the Military logistics follows Uncle Ho’s teachings” is an expedient content and a vivid manifestation of the Politburo’s Directive No. 05-CT/TW (12th tenure) in the General Political Department Office (GPDO), which has gained positive results. Consequently, it has provided a powerful spiritual impetus to the increased quality and effectiveness of logistic work, making a vital contribution to making the GPDO comprehensively strong.

Over the past few years, on clearly grasping the immense importance of the emulation movement “the Military logistics follows Uncle Ho’s teachings” to the fulfillment of logistic mission and political mission of the General Political Department (GPD), the GPDO’s Steering Committee on “the Military logistics follows Uncle Ho’s teachings” has actively advised the GPDO Party Executive Committee to instruct its units to promote their leadership over this movement and consider this as a measure to concretise the Politburo’s Directive No. 05 within the GPDO while bringing into play the core role of the Logistical Department in advice and implementation.

Drawing on previous experience of “the Military follows Uncle Ho’s teachings,” the Logistic Department (thereinafter referred to as Department) has requested units and organisations to enhance propaganda and education to achieve consensus on awareness, consciousness, and responsibility and establish correct motives and determination among cadres and soldiers in the execution of logistics work. Given its advisory role in guiding and realising the movement, the Department has stuck closely to the goals of “one concentration – three breakthroughs” and “five goods” of the whole military and concretised them into content and emulation targets in accordance with specific characteristics of logistics work in a strategic unit. Additionally, it has instructed logistic branches, organisations, and units to include emulation targets in their leading resolutions and working plans. During the implementation process, the Department has advised the Steering Committee on Emulation Movement to actively renew content, form and measures and carry out every emulation content with a focus on performing the key work, addressing shortcomings and weaknesses, and improving quality of logistic work. By means of effective, practical, synchronous measures and creative ways of doing, commensurate with special features of each organisation and unit, “the Military follows Uncle Ho’s teachings” in the GPDO has witnessed innovation and close alignment with the “Determination to Win” Emulation Movement and other emulation movements and campaigns, especially the campaign “Promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho's soldiers,” and the realisation of Resolution No. 623-NQ/QUTW of the Central Military Commission (CMC) on “military logistic work by 2020 and beyond,” creating ebullient emulation in the whole GPD. Accordingly, movements, including “Building units of good catering, good management of military supplies” of the Military Supplies; “Military medical soldiers follow Uncle Ho’s teachings” and “Building 5-good military medical units” of the Military Medicine; “Building and managing standardized, green, clean, and beautiful military barracks the Barrack Construction; “Managing and using petroleum safely, economically, and effectively” and “”Building transportation units of good order, safety, and effectiveness” of the Fuel Supply and Transportation, etc., have  been increasingly in-depth.

The “Military follows Uncle Ho’s teachings” has really become an immense driver for the GPDO’s logistic branch to successfully complete its assigned tasks; establish increasingly good order of logistic work; innovate its logistic, technical support with a focus on promoting quality and fully and opportunely meeting the GPD’s demands for regular, unexpected missions. The most prominent result of the “Military follows Uncle Ho’s teachings” is to encourage and create a favourable environment for logistic officers, personnel, and soldiers in the GPDO to train and improve their comprehensive competence, contributing to building comprehensively strong logistic organisations. In fact, the support demands are great and on the rise, particularly those related to investment on capital construction, fuel, and transportation. There are also many unforeseen missions; scattered support nodes; and highly diversified, special figures (mostly high-ranking officers in strategic-level units). Meanwhile, there remain limitations in the knowledge of a small number of cadres and personnel. Some logistic units are holders of several positions. Material foundation and technical, logistic equipment, despite having been invested, have failed to fully satisfied the demands. They still lack synchronicity, are frequently used and short of annual budget. In order to successfully accomplish its assigned mission, the Logistic Branch has concentrated on leading and instructing comprehensive innovation of logistic work in the direction of giving prominence to professional ethics, sense of service, and giving priorities to offices and units.

The Department has attached importance to improving professional standard for its corps of cadres and personnel, and strengthening innovation of methods to direct and manage logistic work in the direction of increased power devolution, aligning power devolution with responsibility devolution, and aligning support devolution with management devolution for units. Over the past few years, the Department and the GPD’s organisations and units have strictly maintained regulations on price inspection and control; increased tenders for materials and assets; proactively grasped market situation; and exploited and generated robust, stable support sources, especially those related to food and fuel, opportunely meeting the needs of missions. Material and health support of officers and soldiers has witnessed much progress. In spite of being situated in an urban area, the Department has taken initiative in instructing vegetable farming, breeding, and food processing at suitable scales and forms, and establishing and well managing three concentrated vegetable farming sites. In 2018, the Department supplied messes with 70 per cent of vegetables and 100 per cent of pork, tofu, and bean sprouts. Military medical support has shown many positive results. The GPDO’s military medicine has well fulfilled its task of taking care of soldiers’ health; maintained periodical health examination; and keep files on soldiers’ health, particularly high-ranking officers and foreign students learning at the GPD’s training institutions. For many years, there have not been any epidemics at the GPD. The rate of healthy military personnel has been always over 99 per cent. Given the increased needs for supporting the instruction and examination of party work and political work in the whole military, transportation work has become a vital part in the GPD’s logistic support. To successfully complete this mission, the GPD has actively improved its staffing and vehicles; enhanced storage, maintenance, and repair to preserve good technical factors of vehicles; and well conducted transportation planning, command and coordination. Truck groups have fulfilled millions of safe kilometers to opportunely support the GPD’s missions over time. The emulation movement has also created drivers for the GPD to well perform its barrack work. Accordingly, the Logistics has advised the GPDO leaders and Party Executive Committee to instruct organisations and units to complete their general barrack planning, expedite basic construction, control building quality, provide barracks with electricity, water, and so forth. Consequently, sceneries and environments of the GPD’s units have become ever spacious, green, clean, and beautiful, satisfying the demands of establishing good order. Working and living conditions of officers and soldiers have witnessed significant changes.

“One rice seed or 1 VND is all sweat of our compatriots. Therefore, we have to try our best to practice thrift. Wastefulness is a crime,” said Ho Chi Minh when he was still alive. Being imbued with his teachings, the Steering Committee on the Emulation Movement has advised the GPDO Party Executive Committee to direct its organisations and units to focus their emulation on practicing thrift and preventing wastefulness in every activity, first and foremost the logistic work. Organisations and units have successfully conducted education on sense of thrift practice among officers and soldiers, made major breakthroughs in the management and use of logistic facilities and finance, and improved people’s awareness of good storage, sustainable use, thrift practice, anti-corruption, and anti-wastefulness through positive, effective measures. The Department has instructed branches to closely combine provision with management; strictly comply with logistic regulations; and implement measures to practice thrift, especially those in capital construction and use of electricity, water, and fuel. Every activity of the Military Supplies, Military Medicine, Transportation, Fuel, Barrack Construction, etc., is carefully calculated, effectively balancing supply with demand and taking every potential and advantage to reduce expenditures. All of the units have developed regulations on the use of vehicles, realised two-way transportation, publicised criteria and policies, and allocated targets and norms to each node. The GPD has constantly saved 10 per cent of its fuel limits for years.

The emulation movement to follow Uncle Ho’s teachings has made positive contributions to making the GPD’s Logistic Department comprehensively robust, resulting in vital changes in terms of consciousness, responsibility, and attitude towards service of logistic officers and personnel. The movement is also a good opportunity for logistic commanders at all levels to renew their leading, working style, issue close, specific, meticulous instructions in a concentrated, unified direction, and create comprehensive, vigorous changes in logistic regimes, thereby enabling logistic work to satisfy demands of practical situation. To disseminate this prime example and further bring into play effectiveness of the movement, the GPD has always paid attention to well performing preliminary summing up and summation; discovering, praising, fostering, and multiplying good, creative deeds and prominent examples in logistic work.

Results and experience gained from the “Military logistics follows Uncle Ho’s teachings” within the GPDO are very encouraging. This serves as a premise for the GPD, first and foremost the GPDO’s logistic branch, to continue to bring into play and bring the movement to a new height, which contributes to translating the Politburo’s Directive No. 05 into everyday life, creating drivers to promote quality and effectiveness of logistics work, and ensuring the GPD’s successful accomplishment of its assigned missions.

Senior Colonel Pham Nghia Tinh, Director of the Logistic Department, Deputy Chairman of the Steering Committee on Emulation Movement