Thoroughly grasping the Resolution of the 8^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (11^th tenure) on “Strategy to defend the Homeland in the new situation” and the assigned task, Naval Region 1 Party Committee and Command have focused on making the Unit comprehensively strong to enhance combat power to meet the requirements of the task to protect the sovereignty over seas and islands of the Homeland in any situations.

Implementing the guideline to build “revolutionary, regular, elite, modernized” Navy, over the past years, the Naval Region 1 has been given support for enhancing its synergy and combat power. However, complex developments of global and regional situations, particularly in the East Sea, are imposing increasingly higher requirements for the Navy in general, the Naval Region 1 in particular. Grasping the situations, functions and assigned tasks, the Naval Region 1 Party Committee and Command have led and directed the Unit to take synchronous measures to make it comprehensively strong and successfully perform its role as the core in management and protection of seas and islands, with a focus on the following ones.  

First, improving the quality of training and combat readiness. This is an important measure that directly decides the Region’s combat power. Grasping and implementing the Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW of the Central Military Commission and the Resolution 1050-NQ/ĐUQC of the Navy’s Party Committee on “Improving the quality of training in the period of 2013-2020 and beyond”, the Region has made a breakthrough in training under the motto “basic, mastering weapons and technical equipment and following safety rules”, taking the improvement of management and protection of sovereignty over seas, islands, and continental shelf of the Homeland and the building of regular, modern Service and Region as the goal of training. In this regard, the Region has speeded up renewing leadership, direction and operation of training as well as content, forms and methods of training at all levels. So far, the Region has adopted synchronously measures to enhance the effectiveness of leadership and direction of party committees and commanders at all levels over training work, being proactive in preparation for training, maintaining the process of training for forces, namely warship, marine, coastal defence missile. During the process of training, the Region has stuck to the guideline “basic, practicalities, thorough-grasp”, focusing on overall, specialized training and making it relevant to combat reality, opponents, organizational structure and existing equipment. For warship force, due to the diversity of groups of warship staff, to improve the quality of training, the Region has classified groups of training according to speciality and length of working time. Specifically, for below-5 year seniority, it has provided basic training; for 5-10 year seniority, it has focused on training to exploit, use and master weapons; for above-10 year seniority, it has given specialized training. As for marine force, alongside training according to units’ program, it has organized sea training and training in coordination with other forces outside the Region. As for coastal defence missile force, it has focused on training to enhance technical and tactical capabilities and maneuverability by various means, such as land, rail, and sea. The Region has directed its units to step up training in night and complex weather conditions, while attaching great importance to training to enhance the capabilities of coordination among warships, detachments, warship forces and coastal defence forces as well as forces of the Service and those of other services and arms. Moreover, to meet the requirements set by the guideline “moving forward to modernity”, the Region has always been proactive in preparation of human resources, being ready to receive, exploit and use new-generation weapons and equipment.

Together with training, the Region has actively adopted measures to enhance its combat readiness. To this end, it has paid due attention to grasping the situation, opportunely detecting new moves and intrigues of “foreign forces”, thereby studying to complete its system of combat plans and resolution. As operation in the sea takes place quickly, which requires close coordination among warships and forces, the Region has frequently trained combat projects and held exercises in coordination with Air Defence - Air Forces and other forces, while seriously maintaining forces, means and regulations for combat readiness.

Snr. Col. Tran Ngoc Quyet presenting awards to collectives and individuals with excellent achievements in 2016 (photo: baohaiquanvietnam.vn)

Second, improving the quality of logistic and technical support. Since the Navy is a technical service, being equipped with modern weapons and equipment, operating in harsh condition, technical support is of utmost importance. Fully perceiving that, the Region has accelerated the implementation of two breakthrough points of the Naval Technical Sector, namely technical regularity building and mastery of weapons and technical equipment. It has stepped up training work, improved the capabilities to exploit and master weapons and equipment, accelerated translation and compilation of documents, enhanced repair capacity of technical stations, factories and centres, and mobilized all available resources to sufficiently and opportunely provide warships, vehicles, weapons and equipment for tasks, particularly for combat readiness, management and protection of national sovereignty over seas and islands. Besides, the Region has seriously maintained the regulation on “Technical Day” and maintenance, while frequently holding competition among warships, vehicles, depots, stations at all levels. Consequently, professional capability of cadres and technical staff has improved. They are now capable of exploiting and mastering assigned weapons and equipment, thereby enhancing units’ combat readiness.

Also, due attention has been paid to logistics support for tasks, with the task of combat readiness first. In this regard, the Region has successfully built the logistics posture in both lines: coastal line and maritime line, proactively providing sufficient reserve volume for the task of combat readiness, drawing up logistics plans for warships, especially mobile ones that operate independently in long time. Moreover, it has directed medical agency to successfully carry out the work of food safety and hygiene management, epidemic prevention and control to ensure that troops be fit enough to fulfil the task in all situations.

Third, focusing on building and making the Region politically and ideologically strong. It is a measure of central importance that provides basis for enhanced synergy and combat power of the Region. First and foremost, the Region has focused on educating its troops on the Party and the State’s views, guidelines, policies and counter-tactics to settle the East Sea issues, higher authorities’ resolutions, directives and commands on military, defence, Homeland protection tasks as well as the Region’s tasks; while opportunely giving information to its troops to make them fully aware of partners, opponents, plots and ruses of hostile forces. On such basis, the Region has focused on political and ideological education, speeding up the Project “Innovating units’ political and ideological education in the new period”.

As a result, cadres and troops always achieve the consensus between awareness and action, being ready to take and successfully fulfil the assigned tasks and sacrifice to protect the sovereignty over seas and islands of the Homeland. Moreover, the Region has been proactive in management of ideology, internal political protection and implementation of Grass-Roots Level Democratic Regulations, opportunely detecting and solving the emerging issues, building up strong solidarity and unity within the unit. Quarterly, commanders of the Region’s Command democratically talk with troops in the Political, Cultural, Spiritual Day. Before a talk, the Region’s Command sends representatives of functional agencies to grasp the situation and opinions. Moreover, the Region has requested its cadres at all levels to raise democracy in leadership and command, and promote their vanguard and exemplary role. Consequently, in the past years, the entire Region has always achieved a high consensus in awareness and action.

As Naval troops often operate independently and in long time in the sea, the role of party committees and commanders, with captains and commissars of the warship first, is of importance, and decides task fulfilment. Fully understanding that, the Region has focused on completing the structure of party committees and organizations, enhancing their leadership capacity and combat power, attaching the building of party committees and organizations to that of key cadres, ensuring that 100% of warships have party executive committees. It has directed realization of the guideline “2 qualitatives”, “2 heightens” in Party meeting and the building of party cells according to the criteria of a “4-good-thing party cell”, while accelerating the Party building and rectification in light of the Resolution of the 4^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (12^th tenure) and the 12^th Politburo’s Directive No.5-CT/TW, making sure that the Region always maintain the Party leadership in all situations. As a result, annually, 100% of the Region’s party organizations successfully fulfils the task; 100% of its party members fulfils their task.

Promoting recorded results, the Naval Region 1 will continue to thoroughly grasp its task and make it comprehensively strong to further enhance its synergy, combat power, combat readiness, satisfying the demand for safeguarding the sovereignty over sacred seas and islands of the Homeland.

Senior Colonel Tran Ngoc Quyet

Commander of the Naval Region 1