On 19 August 1974, Mobile Commando Regiment 198, the forerunner of Commando Brigade 198 (hereinafter referred to as the Brigade), under Central Highlands Front Command was founded. Not only a preparation for secret, surprise blows in the 1975 Spring General Offensive and Uprising, the foundation of the Brigade also marked a new development in the art of force organisation and commando combat on the battlefield. Immediately after its foundation, the Brigade quickly consolidated its organisational structure and made all necessary preparations to engage in occupying and holding a lot of crucial targets, thus successfully creating a diversion, containing and isolating the enemy during the Central Highlands Campaign of 1975. Following that victory, the Brigade manoeuvred at higher echelons’ request to occupy and maintain the North West corridor as a favourable condition for our Military’s advance towards Saigon, thus making a worthy contribution to liberating the South and reunifying the country. After the country had been reunified, the Brigade continued to wipe out enemy remnants and maintain political security and social order and safety within the newly-liberated areas; and then it entered a new period of combat, continuously manoeuvring to fight for defending Vietnam’s border in South-western and Northern regions and fulfilling the international mission in Cambodia.

The flag of good training unit in 2022 given to the Brigade

In spite of massive changes in the Brigade’s organisational structure, functions, and tasks, over the past 50 years of construction, combat, and maturity, generations of cadres and soldiers of the Brigade have always overcome hardships and engaged in combat with their courage, indomitable spirit, and ingenuity to achieve brilliant feats and greatly contribute to the development and glorious victory of the heroic Commando Force. Notably, the Brigade, together with 3 collectives and 5 individuals, has been given the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces and many other noble rewards.

Currently, to keep pace with the development of its task requirements, the Brigade has focused on making itself “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong, raising its synergy and combat power, and particularly improving the quality of training and combat readiness as a central task via many practical, effective measures.

First of all, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have strengthened all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction and always considered this work as a deciding factor in the quality of training and combat readiness. Advocating that leadership and direction must be comprehensive but focalised and close to each section and task, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have always grasped higher echelons’ resolutions and directives to formulate creative, effective measures of leadership and direction over training and combat readiness. Importance has been attached to raising all-level party committees and commands’ awareness of the position of training and combat readiness, building up political resolve and a sense of responsibility in the leadership and direction process, and improving all-level party organisations and key cadres’ leadership, management, operation, and performance of this crucial task.

On a yearly basis, the Brigade Party Committee and all-level party committees have issued specialised resolutions on training and combat readiness and regarded this work as a breakthrough in those resolutions. In the process, the Brigade has required all-level party committees and commands to develop action programs and plans for those resolutions in a close, uniform manner. The Brigade has regularly conducted preliminary and final reviews to point out weaknesses, clarify causes, and opportunely adjust measures of leadership and direction over training and combat readiness.

The process of training and combat readiness of the Commando Force demands both psychological and physical endurance, thus easily leading to the fearfulness of hardship among troops. For this reason, the Brigade has frequently conducted political and ideological education to raise cadres and soldiers’ awareness and responsibility in training and combat readiness. Emphasis has been placed on grasping the Commando Corps Commander’s Training Order and higher echelons’ documents on training and combat readiness, identifying objects of struggle, and unmasking hostile forces’ plots and artifices. To enable its troops to clearly understand the necessity of synchronously taking all steps of the training process, the Brigade has regularly introduced training-related viewpoints, principles, connections, and mottos to its troops, while clarifying and illustrating each training matter with units’ training realities in each training section and subject. Significance has been attached to combining training with combat narrative and traditional history education to arouse pride, cement the faith in the Commando Force’s weapons, equipment, military art, and unique combat methods, and build up resolve and a sense of responsibility in training and combat readiness among troops. At the same time, the Brigade has enhanced emulation movements and well maintained the work of spiritual encouragement on the training ground, thereby creating an atmosphere of unity and enthusiastic emulation, opportunely commending typical collectives and individuals, and redressing the signs of misconduct.

Additionally, the Brigade has required all-level cadres to both well perform the task of management and operation and effectively carry out party and political work during training and combat readiness. Great value has been attached to well executing Regulations on managing troop ideology, grasping and orientating public opinion within the Vietnam People’s Army as well as maintaining regulations on grasping, anticipating, managing, and dealing with ideological issues. The Brigade has directed its offices and units to opportunely detect and handle issues arising from the performance of tasks and closely collaborate with troops’ localities and families to find out the ideological root and then adopt effective measures of education and encouragement.

It should be noted that the Brigade has always paid due regard to making preparations for training and combat readiness. The Brigade has mobilised all resources to construct facilities for training and exercises, while closely managing budget for training under regulations. Offices and units have promoted their internal strength and the movement on technical initiatives and innovations, designed combat readiness documents, and consolidated training equipment, halls, and grounds.

Furthermore, special importance has been attached to training cadres, particularly at detachment level. On an annual basis, the Brigade has conducted the classification of its cadres to identify content, forms, and methods of general and specialised training for groups of cadres. Great value has been attached to equipping cadres with knowledge of new tasks and developments in weaponry and combat art and improving unit commanders’ skills in organisation and command in difficult, complex conditions.

With its determination to completely settle weaknesses in training work, the Brigade has combined self-training with organised training, required superiors to train their subordinates, and considered the training of cadres via training realities as the main measure. At the same time, it has encouraged self-training and self-study among its cadres and organised contests to create a robust positive change in the comprehensive capability of its cadres, especially cadres in charge of training work. Up to now, all of its cadres have been able to take charge of training work at their levels, and more than 70% of them have achieved merit or distinction in this work.

To raise the quality of training, the Brigade has actively renewed content and methods of training and exercises in accordance with its operational area and objects of struggle. Emphasis has been placed on renewing the work of directing, managing, and operating training and exercises in a focalised, uniform, synchronous, effective way without any overlapping points; combat training has been directed via orders, managed by regulations, and operated by plans together with all-level inspections and supervisions. The Brigade has applied information technology to the process of managing and operating training and exercises, while regularly inspecting its offices and units’ performance of this work. During the training process, it has always grasped and strictly adhered to the Commando Corps Commander’s combat training Order and higher echelons’ guiding documents; it has also organised basic training programs in accordance with each unit’s organisational structure, weapons, equipment, functions, tasks, and particularities. Consideration has been given to training troops to master weapons, equipment, combat techniques, shooting skills, martial art, tactics from squad to company levels, and combat coordination at battalion level. The Brigade has provided synchronous training for its cadres, offices, and units, while increasing night-time, manoeuvre, situations-based, tasks-based, and camouflage training to enhance the combat capability of its troops, particularly the forces in charge of A2 task and anti-terrorism. It has also closely combined training with joint combat coordination exercises on dealing with situations and improving manoeuvrability. On a yearly basis, all troops and affiliates of the Brigade have got pass, and 80% of them have achieved merit or distinction in training work. It is worth noting that the Brigade was given the Flag of Good Training Unit in 2020, 2022, and 2023 by the Ministry of National Defence.

In addition to raising the quality of training, the Brigade has always attached importance to combat readiness work. Grounded on the Corps Commander’s directives and orders, the Brigade has stringently maintained regulations on combat readiness duty at all levels and required all affiliates to proactively, effectively respond to situations to avoid falling into passivity. It has opportunely supplemented, completed, and practised combat readiness projects. Besides, it has cooperated with local party committees and authorities and friendly units in carrying out reconnaissance of stationed areas, A, A2, A3, and anti-terrorism targets, and Central Highlands provinces’ border areas, conducting surveys and planning of combat bases in Central and Central Highlands regions, and taking part in MT-22, BV-22, TC-23, and A3-23 exercises. Coordination has been maintained to closely manage the assigned targets. Moreover, the Brigade has designed and completed combat resolutions and plans, organised projects-based exercises, and made preparations for participating in search and rescue operations as well as in flood, fire, explosive, and forest fire prevention and control. Doing so has enabled the Brigade to keep raising its affiliates’ combat readiness capability as a solid foundation for bolstering its heroic tradition of “deep penetration, untiring perseverance, hitting the target accurately” in the new period.

Sr. Col. PHAM NGOC HUNG

Commander of the Brigade