The ideological work in the military represents a part of the Party’s ideological work and a central area of the party and political work. Successful implementation of this work will directly contribute to the maintained and strengthened leadership of the Party over the military and making it politically strong, thereby enhancing its synergy and combat strength.

President Ho Chi Minh ever said: “Leadership over ideology is the most important thing. It is necessary to understand each cadre’s thought to support them in their work. When one’s thought is clear, they will successfully carry out their work or vice versa”. He also stressed that the work of political and ideological education in the military “must make each soldier clearly understand and keep faith in our force and primitive weapons, then make  them fully aware of their glorious task”.

Perceiving that spirit, over the past years, under the leadership and direction of the Politburo, the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat, first and foremost the Ministry of National Defence (MND) and the General Department of Politics, grasping the situation of the world, the country and the military, party committees, commissars, commanders and political agencies at all levels have focused on leadership and direction over the adoption of sound, creative measures to enhance the quality and the efficiency of the ideological work. As a result, those have directly contributed to raising cadres and troops’ awareness of politics, improving and cultivating the qualities of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”, proactively preventing the degrading of political ideology, ethics and lifestyle, and bringing about a sense of unity within units and the whole military.

Senior Lieutenant General Luong Cuong chairing a conference on reviewing the military's ideological work in the first 6 months of 2017

In the face of complicated developments of the global and regional situations as well as difficulties of the country and the military, cadres and troops always remain steadfast in their combat ideal of national independence and socialism, promoting the nature and tradition of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”, building revolutionary, regular, seasoned, gradually modern People’s Army to deserve to be the absolutely loyal, credible fighting and political force of the Party, State and people.

However, the ideological work in the military has still exposed limitations. A number of party committee members and commanders have yet to be fully aware of the ideological work’s position and role. Content, measures and forms to conduct this work have been renewed slowly, thus the effectiveness has been still limited. Several cadres, party members and troops have yet to keep their mind in their work, even having signs of egalitarianism. The practice of the State’s law and the military’s discipline have not been stable yet. Those limitations have directly impacted on the task performance of several agencies and units.

In the upcoming time, alongside opportunities and advantages, we will be faced with intertwined difficulties and challenges considerably, regularly, multi-dimensionally impacting on the ideological work in the military. It should be noted that the global and regional situation will continue to witness complicated, unpredictable developments. The increasingly deepened international integration and the information boom under the impact of the scientific and technological revolution are imposing new requirements for the ideological work, particularly the orientating of troops’ awareness and thought against sensitive, complicated and wrongful information. Dissemination and introduction of the Party and State’s policy and the Central Military Commission and MND’s guideline to troops, particularly units stationed in remote, isolated areas, border areas, seas and islands should be carried out more opportunely and deeply. In the hi-tech warfare, the building of troops’ morale and faith in victory is posing new challenges. Hostile forces are stepping up the “Peaceful Evolution” strategy, provoking “self-evolution”, “self-transformation”, “depoliticized” and “civilianized” Army, defaming the image of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”, distorting information and inciting people to undermine internal solidarity and people’s faith in the Party, State and military. Moreover, the infiltration of pragmatic lifestyle and evil culture as well as the dark side of market economy are day by day negatively impacting on soldiers’ awareness, ideology, morals, lifestyle and qualities.

To improve the quality and the efficiency of the ideological work to meet the military’s requirements in the new situation, party committees, commissars, commanders, and political agencies at all levels should take the basic measures as follows.

First, thoroughly grasping the Party’s lines, keeping a close eye on realities and defence and security tasks to successfully carry out the ideological work. This is an issue of principle ensuring that the ideological work in the military would be implemented in line with the Party’s guideline, the Party’s policy and law, the Central Military Commission and MND’s line, the General Political Department’s direction and guidance as well as agencies and units’ realities. In the present situation, the ideological work in the military should continue to thoroughly grasp basic points of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s thought, the Party’s guideline, and the tasks of defence and security, military building, and Homeland protection, particularly the Resolution of the 12^th National Party Congress, the Resolution of the 10^th Party Central Committee’s 5^th Plenum on the ideological, theoretical and press work in the face of new requirements, the Resolution of the 11^th Party Central Committee’s 8^th Plenum on the Strategy to defend the Homeland in the new situation, and the Resolution of the 10^th Military Party Congress. Party committees, commanders, commissars and political agencies at all levels should attach great importance to the ideological work, regularly grasping the ideological situation in their agency and unit to lay down sound guidelines and measures for leadership and direction, and opportunely overcome shortcomings. Measures for leadership and direction over the ideological work must be concrete and stuck by higher authorities’ guidance and direction as well as units’ realities, opportunely detecting and solving arising ideological issues and difficulties, achieving a sense of high consistency in awareness and action, preventing passivity of ideology, and strengthening cadres and troops’ faith.

Second, continuing to renew content, forms and methods of the work of political education in units and enhance its quality and effectiveness. The work of political education must be regarded as a central, regular task of party committees, commanders and political agencies at all levels. It is necessary to continue to successfully implement the Project “Renewing the work of political education in units in the new situation”, the Regulations on political education regarding the Vietnam People’s Army and Militia and Self-Defence Force as well as directives and guidance on this work, and attach political education to the implementation of the tasks of training, combat readiness, discipline practice, regularity building as well as cultural and arts activities in the military. Due attention should be paid to further stepping up the work of education and grasping of the situation, the introduction of the tasks of the revolution and the military, clearly analyzing the nature, plots and new ruses of hostile forces, and making troops fully aware of the revolution’s opponents and partners, opportunities and challenges of the Homeland construction and protection cause. At the same time, great importance should be attached to education of socialist patriotism, national history, tradition, cultural identity as well as the Party, military, unit and localities’ glorious revolutionary tradition.  

Besides, it is essential to closely combine innovation of contents of education with that of forms and methods to encourage troops’ activeness and creativity, with a focus on enhancing the quality of political, ideological study and meetings, Political and Spiritual Day, political and news briefings, democratic dialogues. There is a need to proactively apply information technology and system of equipment to political education in units, promote the role of cultural institutions, system of museums, traditional houses, Ho Chi Minh’s halls, and mass media, particularly news agencies and press in the military to communicate the content of political education, improve its quality and step up the struggle in the ideological, theoretical and cultural fields.

Third, strengthening the work of troops’ ideological management, bringing about a sense of high consensus in awareness and action of cadres and troops, contributing to thwarting plots and artifices of hostile forces and political opportunists. Units at all levels should focus on leadership and direction over introduction and successful implementation of content, procedures and steps of ideological management, regularly grasping their troops’ ideological situation and developments, analyzing, assessing and opportunely, effectively dealing with arising ideological issues to maintain stability in ideology and consensus within their unit. Throughout training, study, work, meetings, units should make their troops more understand opponents, partners, and new tasks, and more believe in our tactics, weapons and equipment. Also, units should closely combine the management of ideology with that of discipline, persuasion with punishment, opportunely applauding and rewarding good examples, while strictly punishing violations of law and discipline, clarifying the accountability of commanders, and drawing on experience in the wok of education and management of discipline in agencies and units.

What is more, it is necessary to raise cadres and troops’ vigilance and make them proactively fight to foil plots and tricks of hostile forces and political opportunists. Press agencies, publishing houses, academies, schools, strategic staff, scientists, journalists and editors in the whole military should heighten their responsibility, being active and creative in ideological and theoretical struggle, proactively repudiating wrongful views and thoughts and distorted arguments of hostile forces, reactionaries, and political opportunists, particularly those on the Internet and social networks, making contribution to defending and developing Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh’s thought, the Party’s lines and the State’s law and policy. Attention should be paid to the management of internal politics and strict maintenance of regulations on information security, spokesperson, recruitment and positioning of cadres and staff, particularly for important and secret agencies, press, publishing, cultural, literature and art activities.  

Fourth, closely combining the ideological work with the work of organization and policy, building pure, strong party organizations, comprehensively strong agencies and units, improving troops’ material and spiritual life, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the ideological work. Party committees and organizations serve as one of the most important factors deciding the quality of the ideological work in units. Therefore, enhancing the leadership capacity and combat strength of party committees and grass-roots organizations and making them pure and strong represent a top requirement for the improved quality of the ideological work in agencies, units and the entire military. Party committees and organizations should thoroughly grasp resolutions, directives and guidance of higher authorities to make strong changes in the Party building. They should grasp and seriously implement the Resolution of the 12^th Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum on enhancing Party building and rectification, preventing and expelling degradation on political ideology, ethics and lifestyle as well as manifestations of internal “self-evolution”, “self-transformation” in tandem with the 12^th Politburo’s Directive No.5-CT/TW, the Central Military Commission Standing Committee’s Directive No.87-CT/QUTW on “acceleration of studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, ethics and lifestyle”, and the Campaign “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”. In addition, party committees and organizations should strictly maintain regulations on party meeting, improve the quality of introduction and implementation of resolutions, step up inspection, supervision, self-criticism and criticism, preserve and consolidate solidarity and unity.

Together with the work of Party building, it is necessary to build comprehensively strong agencies and units, accelerate administration reform, regularity building, discipline practice, and build up cultural lifestyle for cadres and troops. There should be a focus on introducing and effectively implementing  the Resolution of the 11^th Party Central Committee’s 9^th Plenum on “building and developing Vietnamese culture and people to meet the requirements of national sustainable development”, and accelerating the Campaign “building fine, healthy, diverse military cultural environment” in line with the campaign “all people unite to build cultural lifestyle”.

Fifth, regularly raising responsibility of party committees, commanders, commissars, political agencies and cadre staff at all levels, promoting the combined strength in the implementation of the ideological work. To comprehensively and effectively carry out this work, it is necessary to attach responsibility of party committees, commanders, commissars and political agencies at all levels to the work, and encourage the participation of mass organizations, soldiers’ councils and all cadres and party members, with commissars, political agencies and cadres at all levels as the core force.

Agencies and units should heighten responsibility of organizations and forces in the implementation of the ideological work, while promoting the role of mass organizations at grass-roots level. It is necessary to focus on building proper structure of cadre staff and political agencies, regularly enhancing their leadership and management capacity to conduct the ideological work, particularly methods and experience to settle ideological issues arising from realities, as well as capabilities to struggle in the ideological and theoretical fields. There is a need to build, complete and effectively run regulations and mechanisms for coordination between the military and Central committees, ministries, organizations, local party committees, authorities and organizations to successfully carry out the ideological work, meeting the requirements of tasks in the new situation.

Senior Lieutenant General Luong Cuong

Member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat

Member of the Central Military Commission Standing Committee

General Director of the General Department of Politics, the VPA