Under the leadership and direction of the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence, directly the Commando Corps’ Party Committee and High Command, over the past 50 years, generations of cadres and soldiers of the Commando Staff Department have brought into play their stuff and intelligence in fulfilling their assigned tasks to make an important contribution to the growth, maturity, and glorious victories of the heroic Commando Corps.

The Staff Department was established together with the foundation of the Commando Corps on March 24^th, 1967 to assume the role of an advisory office and directly direct the work of training, fighting, force building, and weapons and equipment of the Commando Corps. Immediately after its establishment, the cadres and soldiers of the Staff Department thoroughly grasped the Party's military policies, actively researched, and advised the Corps’ Party Committee and High Command to gradually build up and develop the “Specially elite” Commando force to meet the requirements of combating on different battlefields. To implement the assigned functions and tasks, the Staff Department advised the Corps and coordinated with the military zones and fronts to develop forces, combat determinations, and plans to use the Commando force in campaigns and operations throughout the Southern battlefield. Hundreds of the cadres of the Staff Department directly entered the battlefields and closely adhered to the soldiers’ activities and the reality both to exchange experiences in commanding organisation and use of forces in combat and research, summarise, and develop theories of the commando combat arts to form a clever, daring, unique fighting strategy of the heroic Commando Corps.

Sr. Gen. Phan Van Giang, Deputy Minister of National Defence, Chief of the General Staff, visits the exhibition of the Commando's weaponry

The resounding victories of the Commando in the war against the US were all attributed to the Staff Department. Typically, the victories of the Commando in Sac Forest, Saigon Rangers, sinking enemy ships in Cua Viet estuary, the Tet General Offensive and Uprising in 1968, the Road 9 - Southern Laos Campaign in 1971, the Spring-Summer Strategic Attack in 1972, ... were fierce attacks to eliminate thousands of enemies, destroy and damage hundreds of headquarters at all levels, destroy hundreds of thousands of tons of weapons, technical equipment, means of war, and logistic bases of the enemy to shake their will of invasion and shock the whole U.S. During the General Offensive and Uprising in the Spring of 1975, the Staff Department developed combat determinations and plans to advise the Corps to send forces to the opening battle in the Central Highlands Campaign and organise attacks on key targets and capture and hold several important bridges to create a corridor for the main corps to quickly enter Saigon and reunify the country. During the border protection war, the Staff Department made creative use of experiences accumulated in the war against the US and actively cooperated with agencies to advise the Corps to use forces in fighting and firmly protecting every inch of the border land and fulfill international duties.

With its outstanding achievements, in 2020, the Commando Corps’ Staff Department was awarded by the State with the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces. It has also received the Emulation Flag awarded by the Prime Minister for five consecutive years (2014 - 2019). These are great sources of encouragement for generations of cadres and soldiers of the Staff Department and the motivation to continue striving and fulfilling  all assigned tasks.

In the coming years, the world and regional situation continues developing complicatedly and unpredictably. Meanwhile, sovereignty disputes, ethnic, national, and religious conflicts, terrorism, and non-traditional security challenges are becoming increasingly fierce. The East Sea situation is also potentially unpredictable. The hostile and reactionary forces continue pushing forward their strategy of “peaceful evolution” and promoting “self-evolution”, “self-transformation” internally, and “Military de-politicisation” with sophisticated tricks. Such context challenges the entire Army in general and the Commando in particular with very high requirements. To fulfill the assigned important tasks, the Staff Department Party Committee has determined to “Focus on breakthroughs to enhance the capacity to advise the Corps’ Party Committee and High Command to promote the building of an elite, compact, and strong force; improve the quality of training, and combat readiness; and summarise and develop combat theory and arts of the Commando to meet the requirements and tasks in the new situation”. Accordingly, the Staff Department has further improved the quality of research and forecasts, especially at the strategic level and focused on researching, advising, and directing the good implementation of identified breakthroughs. First of all, it has advised the Corps to develop and effectively implement the Scheme entitled “Building, developing, and using the Commando Force within the entire Army to 2025 and beyond to meet the requirements of protecting the Fatherland in the new situation”. Importance has been attached to building and developing the Commando force to participate in protection of the sovereignty over sea and islands, riot and terrorism prevention, and search and rescue and proposing the procurement of new and modern weapons, with priority given to commando units specialised in counter-terrorism, water commando units, ... to meet the requirements of combat in modern war conditions and effectively manage the situations that might occur.

Captain Nguyen Van Chien, a Commando fighter, won 2 medals in the 2020 International Army Games

Attention has also been paid to directing to improve the quality of training combat readiness. Thoroughly grasping and implementing Resolution No.765-NQ/QUTW of the Central Military Commission and Resolution No.627-NQ/ĐU of the Corps’ Party Committee on “Improving the quality of training in the period of 2013 - 2020 and beyond”, the Staff Department has directed the Commando force within the whole Army to improve the training level, maintain, and promote the “Prestige” of the Commando soldiers. The units have organised comprehensive training with focus on new strategies and ways of fighting for each force, especially in the implementation of A2 task, counter-terrorism, parachuting, air landing, combat in protecting the sovereignty over sea and islands, etc. Special importance has been attached to the training of the Land Commando, Water Commando, and Ranger Commando to proficiently use all kinds of existing, new, and modern weapons and equipment, master techniques and tactics, and be good at independent combat, separate combat, and combat behind and deep in the enemy formation. Night training and field training in extreme conditions have been strengthened to improve mobility, survival, and soldiers’ endurance for long-term operations at sea. It has also presided and coordinated with other forces in organising regular and extraordinary annual planned drills, counter-terrorism drills under the direction of the General Staff Department to improve the combat advisory level of commanders, agencies, and units. Agencies, units, and schools have been directed to renovate education and training contents and programs suitable for the reality of training, combat readiness, and combat at the units to improve the quality of training so that division-level graduate officers are able to command all commando specialties, and fighters are good at professional skills and capable of fulfilling the assigned tasks.

Inheriting the traditional fighting style and forte of the Commando, the Staff Department has actively researched and summarised the theory and practice to advise and propose new, suitable, effective ways of fighting to neutralise the conspiracies and tricks of the hostile forces in new battlefield conditions, at sea, and on islands. Agencies and units have been directed to grasp and forecast the situations, build and perfect the operational documents, strictly maintain the combat readiness duty regime to well handle situations, especially Situation A2, counter-terrorism, protection of sea and islands, and participate in protection of important political events of the country. They have been also directed to strictly observe the directives and regulations on building comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical” units and focus on breakthroughs to make clear changes in regularity building, discipline training, maintenance of regulations, orders, and rules, and strengthening of soldier management.

Being honored and proud of the tradition of the Heroic Unit of the People's Armed Forces, the cadres soldiers of the Commando Arm Staff Department continue striving to fulfill their assigned tasks to be worthy of the advisory and directing focal of the Corps to contribute to the cause of building and protecting the Fatherland in the new situation.

Senior Colonel HOANG MINH SON, Deputy Commander, Chief of Staff of the Corps