Tran Phu Missile Regiment, also known as the 213rd Missile Regiment of the 363rd Air Defence Division, Air Defence – Air Force, has been awarded the title “Hero of the People’s Armed Forces” twice by the State. It is entrusted with combat training and readiness, controling and defending the North East airspace of the Homeland. As a result of scattered deployment, mostly in hilly and mountainous areas, soldiers face many difficulties in travelling and accommodation. Its subordinate units are regularly deployed to conduct combat training and readiness, airspace control. This requires ceaseless education to enhance soldiers’ political steadfastness, which will enable them to complete their assigned tasks. Therefore, the Regiment Party Committee and Commanders determine that political education is the key political mission and adopt many measures to improve the effectiveness of this crucial task.

First, the Regiment focuses on strictly grasping resolutions, directives, and instructions of the higher echelons, especially those of the Division Party Committee on political education. On sticking to Training Order of the Commander of Air Defence – Air Force, instructions of the higher echelons, and practical situation of their unit, every year, the Regiment Party Committee and party cells put forward leadership resolutions, which clearly specify objectives, requirements, content, and solutions. Commanders at all levels devise plans, divide forces, and coordinate implementation. Political departments and cadres propose concrete measures and directly instruct, inspect, and supervise political education, ensuring that this task is carried out comprehensively, synchronously with focus and produces practical results. To enhance education quality, the Regiment directs good preparation and grasp of soldiers’ quality; defines educational content suitable to each type of learners; establishes squads of cadres responsible for political education and requests them to prepare lesson plans and practise teaching in a careful, scientific manner. Units have provided the corps of cadres responsible for conducting political education with skills necessary for developing digital lesson plans as well as videotapes, teaching materials, etc., according to the Scheme for Renewing Political Education in Units in the New Period.” Besides, they have invested in material infrastructure, making and repairing teaching aids, cultural institutions, and creating a “regular, green, clean, beautiful” environment in units, which contributes to improving quality of political education.

The Regiment's officers participating in the Good political teacher contest

The development and cultivation of lecturers and propagandists at all levels are key to enhancing quality of political education. The Regiment, therefore, takes great care of this corps of cadres through selecting cadres and party members who possess political steadfastness, good ethics, knowledge, teaching methods, etc., suitable to each content and types of lessons. The corps of lecturers and propagandists are provided with proven teaching content, methods, models, and best practices. The Regiment regards leading cadres’ role in setting shining examples as the main factor in promoting quality of political education.

Apart from seriously adhering to content and programs of political education as stipulated by higher echelons, the Regiment takes initiative in adding content in line with its functions and missions. The Regiment seeks to raise soldiers’ awareness of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality, and style; resolutions and directives of higher echelons and its level on combat training, good order, discipline, and regulations; plots and ruses of hostile forces; and enemy of the Air Defence – Air Force Soldiers. To make soldiers imbued with educational content, the Regiment not only well carries out forms of political education as defined by the Statute on Political Education in Viet Nam People’s Army (VPA) and Militia and Self-Defence Force (promulgated in conjunction with the Decision No. 438/QĐ-CT, dated 21 March 2016, of the Chief of the General Political Department) but also pays attention to conducting propaganda on the occasion of important holidays, major political events of the Party, State, VPA, Air Defence – Air Force, Division, and unit. It closely combines political education with education on traditional history and law as well as continuing education with education according to specialised themes, subjects, and learners. Ideological and administrative management is also successfully carried out in the Regiment. Subordinate units of the Regiment always attach importance to basic training in connection with experience sharing, political, ideological meetings, and good implementation of propaganda on the training grounds and battlefields by means of various forms to create effervescent, comfortable atmosphere, contributing to enhancing cadres’ and soldiers’ practical capabilities.

Good implementation of regulations on political education, the Regiment regularly complies with the Regulation on grassroots level democracy, Political, cultural, and spiritual Day, Law Day; maintains models such as “learning an article of law every week”; organises cultural and sport activities at beak time and days off; holds competitions, forums, and talks such as “The youth with the State law and military discipline,” “The youth with promoting good order, discipline, and traffic safety,” “Learning about tradition” of the Regiment, Division, Service, and so forth. Every week, the Regiment conducts separate political education for cadres, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers. Once a month, the Regiment presents an information brief with content being selected and edited carefully to ensure its congruence with its functions and missions as well as duties of each type of military personnel. Besides, it also combines content delivery in classes with information dissemination through newspapers, radios, and television as well as directives and messages of higher echelons.

One of good ways adopted by the Regiment to improve the effectiveness of political education is to closely this work with ideological and organisational work. The unit concentrates on grasping and strictly realising Resolution of the 4^th Plenum of the Party Central Committee (12^th Tenure) on Party building; Directive No. 05-CT/TW of the Politburo (12^th Tenure) on stepping up studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality, and style; Directive No. 855-CT/QUTW, dated 12 August 2019, of the Central Military Commission’s Standing Committee on intensifying the campaign “Promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new era, etc., by means of practical measures. The Regiment Party Committee and Commanders request the corps of cadres at all levels to set good example of political steadfastness, ideology, dignity, and working style and well fulfill their duties and missions. In addition, the Regiment Party Committee and Commanders maintain emulation work, praise and awards, building of model units, summing up of the experience, and multiplication of prominent examples; strengthen emulation inspection in departments and units, thereby detecting and dealing with shortcomings and weaknesses, summing up experience, and guiding soldiers’ ideology; requests units to keep close contact with soldiers’ families and localities to get to know about feeling and aspirations of individuals, thus working out appropriate education methods and forging strong bonds between cadres and soldiers and their families as well as between units and local party committees and authorities.

Thanks to good conduct of political education, the Regiment has built a corps of cadres and soldiers, who possess political steadfastness and dignity, deeply understand their tasks, and wholeheartedly devote themselves to building of units. This result contributes to enhancing quality of combat training and readiness of the Regiment and enabling it to successfully accomplish all assigned tasks. The Regiment has been graded as a good training unit and awarded Flag of Leading Units in the Determine to Win Movement by the Ministry of National Defence for many consecutive years, making practical contribution to celebrating the 57^th anniversary of the founding of the 213^rd Missile Regiment – the Heroic Tran Phu Missile Regiment (3 February 1964 – 3 February 2021).

Colonel NGUYEN VAN TRUNG, Political Commissar of the Regiment