Being imbued with Uncle Ho’s teachings: “cadres are the root of all works,” “All works that succeed or fail are due to good or poor officials,” over the years, Military Region 2’s Party Committee and Command have paid special attention to building a contingent of cadres both qualitatively and quantitatively to meet their task requirements.

Being fully aware of the roles of cadres and personnel work in the revolutionary cause and the Homeland construction and protection, over the years, the Military Region’s Party Committee has always focused on directing all-level party committees and organisations to enhance the management, training, and building of cadres at all levels. They have been required to adhere to “the Party’s comprehensive, uniformed leadership over personnel work” as a principle. As a result, up to now, the pool of cadres within the Military Region has been consolidated sufficiently and qualitatively with an appropriate age range and continuous inheritance. Cadres at all levels have been basically trained according to their specialities and positions. There has been an increase in the number of cadres holding bachelor’s degrees and postgraduate degrees. Many cadres have acted as typical examples in terms of morality, lifestyle, professional competence, and working method. The rate of units fully staffed by cadres within the Military Region’s armed forces has been 98.8%. The rate of ethnic minority cadres has been 20.25%. The rate of female cadres has been 0.7%. The rate of cadres holding associate degrees or bachelor’s degrees or above has been 91%. On a yearly basis, more than 95% of cadres have successfully or excellently fulfilled their tasks, and 40% of them have been rewarded at all levels.

A conference on self-criticism and criticism

Currently, the building of “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong Military Region’s armed forces imposes more task requirements on cadres and personnel work, particularly units stationed in isolated, remote, border areas. Meanwhile, the total number of troops tends to decrease. Ethnic minority cadres are in a small number. The number of cadres experiencing combat is reduced year after year. Young cadres have been basically trained, but they lack hands-on experience. Professional competence, prestige, and responsibility of a section of cadres are still limited. Therefore, the building of a contingent of cadres within the Military Region under Uncle Ho’s teachings is a matter of importance and urgency. According to the Resolution of the Military Region Party Organisation’s Congress for 2020-2025 tenure, it is necessary to “build a pool of cadres with political zeal, pure morality and lifestyle, appropriate structure, creative thinking, great leading and commanding capacity and professional knowledge, high prestige, fitness, and proper age range.” To that end, the Military Region Party Committee will focus on well implementing several main measures as follows.

First, strengthen all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction and promote the role of offices and cadres in charge of personnel work. All-level party committees shall continue observing the Party’s uniformed leadership over personnel work and closely managing their cadres in any circumstance. They shall regularly grasp higher echelons’ resolutions, directives, and guiding documents, especially the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 769-NQ/QUTW, dated December 21st, 2012 on “building a contingent of cadres in the period of 2013-2020 and beyond” and Resolution 148-NQ/ĐU, dated May 3rd, 2019 on “building a pool of cadres within Military Region 2, particularly at campaign level to meet the task requirements in the new situation.” Grounded on those documents and their task requirements in the new situation, each unit shall formulate guidelines and measures for carrying out personnel work properly. Offices and units shall proactively review and supplement regulations on leadership over personnel work, clearly identify responsibilities between party committees and their heads as well as between party committee secretaries and commanders for personnel work. Due attention should be paid to building strong personnel offices and a contingent of cadres in charge of personnel work with “loyalty, honesty, exemplification, pure morality,” political zeal, scientific working method, professional competence, a sense of responsibility, impartiality, and capacity to give advice on personnel work and the building of a pool of cadres. At the same time, due regard should be paid to improving knowledge and skills of party committees and cadres in charge of personnel work.

Second, well conduct the work of personnel planning, deployment, appointment, and arrangement in a proper, scientific way. This measure serves as a determinant to the efficiency and effectiveness of leadership and direction and the task performance of each office and unit; at the same time, it positively or negatively impacts on cadres and soldiers’ ideology and sentiment. Thus, party committees at all levels shall proactively develop, adjust, and supplement their personnel plans under the motto of being “flexible” and “open” in accordance with the quality of their cadres. Consideration should be given to recommending the Party Central Committee to include military cadres in the planning of key positions at provincial and district levels. Besides, great value should be attached to proactively including qualified cadres and especially ethnic minority cadres in the planning of commanding positions in line with all-level party committees’ personnel. Offices and units shall courageously include young cadres with great capacity and prestige in their personnel planning and deal with a lack of key cadres at all levels. Personnel deployment and appointment must be in line with raising the quality and effectiveness of practical activities. In this regard, priority should be given to fully-staffed units and units stationed in areas mainly inhabited by ethnic minority groups. At the same time, it is important to closely cooperate with localities prior to personnel deployment and appointment, resolutely adjust commanding and managerial positions, and facilitate young cadres’ development. In addition, great weight should be added to proactively preventing and fighting against negative practices, illegal lobbying for positions and powers, partiality, and group interests in personnel work. Offices and units shall resolutely dismiss cadres with poor task performance, incompetence, bad morality, or low prestige.

Third, synchronously implement measures for the training and comprehensive development of cadres. Being imbued with Uncle Ho’s teachings on the training of cadres, the Military Region will continue carefully selecting and sending its cadres to academies and universities both inside and outside the Military for further education. It will focus on raising the quality of selecting and training its cadres to both improve their knowledge and fulfil its plans on personnel training. It will attach significance to organising in-service training courses, encouraging its cadres’ self-study, and bettering its staff members’ practical abilities and working style and method. At the same time, it will select and deploy military officers who have held managerial and commanding positions at platoon and company levels to political schools so that they could become political officers. By 2025, 98% of cadres of the Military Region shall hold bachelor’s degrees, while 3% - 3.5% of them shall master at least one foreign language (English, Chinese, or Lao language). Cadres working in areas mainly inhabited by ethnic minority groups shall master ethnic languages.

Fourth, make substantive assessments of cadres as the basis for personnel appointment and arrangement. All-level party committees shall heighten a sense of responsibility for renewing methods of evaluating cadres on a regular basis and in each mission to ensure objectivity, democracy, openness, and equality. It is vital to assess cadres’ qualities, competence, and prestige and take the task performance of units and individuals as an important yardstick for personnel evaluation. Party committees at all levels shall accurately assess the task performance of each cadre and align personnel evaluation with analyses of the quality of party members. Due attention should be paid to enhancing the work of inspection and supervision, heightening a sense of responsibility of party committees, and promoting the roles of heads of units and competent offices in assessing cadres. The implementation of the 13th Party Central Committee’s Conclusion 21-KL/TW, dated October 25th, 2021 on the Party building and rectification and the 13th Politburo’s Conclusion 01-KL/TW, dated May 18th, 2021 on studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle will be a criterion for yearly personnel evaluation and appointment. There should be measures for opportunely settling cadres’ weaknesses and shortcomings, realising the breakthrough in “raising cadres and party members’ competence and role model-setting responsibility,” and encouraging superiors to set good examples for inferiors to follow so as to create a huge positive change in all-level cadres’ self-improvement.

Fifth, continue well implementing policies for cadres and their families. Grounded on current policies of the Party and the State for the Military, the Military Region will keep supplementing and perfecting its preferential treatment policies for cadres working in difficult, isolated, remote, and border areas. It will proactively collaborate with localities in developing housing projects for its staff members and well implementing policies on insurance and medical examination and treatment for its cadres and their families so that its cadres will always keep their mind on their work. Besides, all-level party committees shall continue realising resolutions, directives, and regulations in accordance with the particularities of their offices, units, and cadres, while resolutely settling weaknesses in personnel work to contribute to building a comprehensively strong contingent of cadres as the basis for making the Military Region’s armed forces “revolutionary, regular, seasoned, gradually modern,” and capable of meeting the requirements set by the Homeland protection in the new situation.

Lt. Gen. PHAM DUC DUYEN, Commissar of the Military Region