Building of People’s Army, strengthening of national defence, and protection of the Fatherland today have been posing higher demands for the entire military in general, the Military Engineering Corps in particular. To accomplish its tasks in the coming time, together with stepping up organisational restructuring, Military Engineering Corps’ Party Committee and Command seek to further adopt leadership measures to enhance training quality aimed at making breakthroughs in improving its overall quality and combat power.

On clearly perceiving the special role of training in promoting units’ comprehensive quality and combat power and deeply grasping Resolution No. 765-NQ/QUTW of the Central Military Commission (CMC) on leading “increased training quality in the 2013-2020 period and beyond”, the Military Engineering Corps’ Party Committee has developed and promulgated Resolution No. 274-NQ/DU on leading increased quality of this crucial work, in which emphasis is placed on reforming and raising training quality in a “basic, practical, firm” direction, and importance is attached to synchronous and intensive training and practice. The Corps delivers comprehensive training with focuses; makes effort to renew training contents and methods; takes increased training quality of cadres as core. Moreover, its Party Committee instructs all party committees and party organisations of its departments, units, and colleges to popularise the Resolution among cadres and soldiers; formulate plans and programs of action for carrying out the Resolution in a way suitable to their characteristics, organisation, staffing, functions, and missions.

Given high sense of responsibility and creative, scientific solutions, after 10 years’ implementation of the Resolution, the quality of training and combat readiness has witnessed positive changes. Party committees’, commanders’, cadres’, and soldiers’ awareness of training mission has been promoted. The management of training has changed positively and closely followed requirements and missions of each subject, unit, area, and region. Proper attention has been paid to reform of training contents, programs, and methods. Tactical, operational training and exercises are linked with defensive area exercises and civil defence exercises step-by-step. During the training process, units always attach importance to training in mastering weapon systems and equipment, especially the new, modern ones; successfully combine command-department training with training of units and soldiers; combine training with combat readiness, construction of defence facilities, bomb and mine clearance, prevention and response to floods and storms, search and rescue, response to consequences caused by building collapses, prevention and response to terrorism, and participation in UN peacekeeping operations. Leaders of the Party, State, and Ministry of National Defence (MND) highly appreciate their efforts.

There remain several limitations in leading the management and conduct of training. Some party committees and commanders fail to fully comprehend the training mission. Management of some training contents is not unanimous and synchronous among levels. The training method has been reformed but lacks comprehensiveness. Application of science and technology to training and education is still ineffective. The training quality is not even and sustainable among different types of units. Training support fails to meet requirements.

Engineering troops conduct training on anti-amphibious attack

In the coming years, the cause of building the People’s Army, strengthening of national defence, and protection of the Fatherland poses higher demands on the Corps. Although the country is in peacetime, its troops are still present in places full of difficulties and hardships. They both conduct training and execute combat readiness, both construct defence facilities, clear mines and bombs, and be prepared for dealing with building collapses and search and rescue in strategic areas. To complete their tasks, the Corps’ Party Committee and Command adopt comprehensive measures, in which increased training quality is vital one and serves to make a breakthrough in units’ integrated quality and combat power.

First, it is necessary to promote comprehension and effective implementation of Resolution No. 1659-NQ/QUTW, dated 20 December 2022, of the CMC on raising training quality in the 2023 – 2030 period and beyond in the entire Corps. Accordingly, the Corps’ Party Committee develops a resolution on this crucial task and requests its units to carry out the resolution in connection with its objectives, targets, requirements, and mission of combat in peacetime. To do so requires party committees and commanders at all levels in the Corps to further grasp the Party’s military, defence guidelines; resolutions and directives of the CMC and MND, thereby promoting political, ideological education aimed at making drastic changes in cadres’ and soldiers’ awareness of training mission. There is a general awareness in the entire Corps that training is a regular political mission, under the direct leadership of party committees, commanders, and commissars at all levels; increasing training quality is the responsibility of all organisations, cadres, and soldiers. Training not only serves to meet requirements and mission of combat readiness but also aims to successfully complete the Corps’ functions and missions in peacetime such as response to nontraditional security challenges. Drawing on results and experience from summation of 10 years’ implementation of Resolution No. 765-NQ/QUTW, party committees and commanders in all units continue to renew their thinking on leadership of training with a focus on new issues, shortcomings, and weaknesses. They must also further review and supplement targets and measures in implementation programs and plans, ensuring high feasibility and suitability for practical situations; enhance the effectiveness of party work and political work in training and task performance; resolve to deal with signs of relaxing leadership, subjectivity, shortening training contents and time, lowering demands, and thirst for achievements.

Second, the Corps concentrates on leading reform of mechanisms to enhance effectiveness of training management. Functional departments take initiative in monitoring practical situations to advise the Corps’ Party Committee and Command to instruct units and schools to renew the training work according to new thinking on national defence and military of the Party and the Military Engineering’s requirements and missions in the new situation. There needs to continue to develop and improve mechanisms of training management in a centralised, unified, synchronous, effective direction without overlap; strictly maintain regulations on training, studying, working, and complying with military discipline and State law; promote examination to timely detect and address shortcomings and weaknesses in training and task performance with a view to bringing about drastic changes in discipline compliance and establishment of good order.

On closely sticking to objectives, targets, and guidelines of Resolution No. 1659-NQ/QUTW, the Military Order from Chief of the General Staff, functions, and missions, departments and units of the Corps as well as military engineering units in the entire military need to have a good understanding of situations, especially new tricks, methods, weapons, and equipment of adversaries as well as characteristics of areas, our organisation, strength, weapons, and equipment, which serves to adjust, supplement, improve, and standardise training contents, programs, and situations. In the short term, effort should be put into promoting effectiveness of implementing the Project on reforming training contents and methodologies, in which priorities are given to betterment of basic training program for soldiers according to the 2021 Basic Program and newly issued materials used for training infantry techniques, tactics, military engineers. Cadres and soldiers are to be regularly updated with development of science and technology as well as operational art of the People’s Army in accordance with requirements of military engineering support in the context of the enemy’s use of high-tech weapons. Besides, more effort should be put into training the military engineering to be capable of completing its participation in UN peacekeeping missions according to decisions of the MND.

During the training process, units need to step up renewing contents and ways of organisation in an effective, practical direction. Training is delivered comprehensively with focuses. Efforts are to be focused on improving military engineering battalions’ and ASEAN response team’s skills at responding to building collapses, search and rescue; training in military engineering reconnaissance and placement of obstacles to counter amphibious operations; enhancing knowledge of fire prevention and response according to plans. Accordingly, commanders and departments, efforts are to be concentrated on improving military engineering command and staff, training staff, contents and methods to conduct tabletop commander-department excercises, field exercises, and company- and battalion-level integrated tactical exercises. Regarding units, training is concentrated on promoting soldiers’ ability to master weapons and technical equipment, especially the new ones; making them proficient in specialised techniques and tactics; facilitating their rapid, flexible maneuver and ability to conduct military engineering support in both daytime and nighttime under difficult, complex conditions and on short notice, ensuring capability to complete missions should situations occur. The training institutions of the Corps continue to renew contents, programs, forms of organisation, and teaching-learning methodologies under the motto “Schools’ training quality is units’ combat readiness”. It is important to actively apply information technology and simulation technology to training and education; closely combine curricular and extracurricular training; associate theory with training, combat realities in units as well as production realities at factories.

In addition to the above-mentioned solutions, the Military Engineering seeks to combine budgets allocated by higher echelons with leveraging the internal strength in order to conduct training support well; directs departments and units to increase quality of company- and battalion-level integrated exercises, exercises in combined arms formations, provincial, municipal defensive zones’ exercises, and live fire exercises according to directives and coordination of all levels. It is to regularly renew methods to conduct competitions and participate in international Army Games, striving for high achievements; effectively apply lessons learnt from participation in international Army Games to military engineering training and competitions in the entire military, contributing to increased training quality and ability to perform “combat mission in peacetime” of the heroic Military Engineering troops in line with requirements and missions of building the People’s Army and safeguarding the Fatherland in the new situation.

Major General TRAN TRUNG HOA, Commander of the Military Engineering Corps