Due to their assigned functions and tasks, border guards are mainly stationed in remote and border areas with difficult terrains and harsh weather and climate. However, above all, cadres and soldiers in the whole force have always adhered to the grassroots, closely associated with the people, and fulfiled assigned tasks to shine the qualities of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” in the border areas of the Fatherland.

Engraving Uncle Ho's teachings that “Sacrificing for the nation, being loyal to the Party, and being devoted to the people” and based on the principle that “The border station is home, the border is the homeland, and the people of different ethnicities are siblings”, the Border Guard has implemented many practical models and initiatives over the years to contribute to building strong border areas while excellently accomplishing their management tasks of firmly protecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national border security. They have also improved the material and mental lives of the people, thereby enhancing their confidence in the Party, State, and Army, helping people work and live with peace of mind, and building a strong “people's defence” posture while connecting with the border area and contributing to building a peaceful, stable, friendly, cooperative, and developed border area.

“Lighting up” the border areas

Currently, although the border areas have seen progress in many aspects, there remain multiple difficulties compared to the national average, especially in terms of the level of education and awareness of the people, which poses a major obstacle to the socio-economic development and border defence work in particular. In light of this, improving the awareness and knowledge of the people in the border areas has always been identified as the focal point of the Border Guard's work. In accordance with Program 633/CTr-BTLBP-BGDĐT dated March 2^nd, 2018, a collaboration program between the Border Guard High Command and the Ministry of Education and Training, in recent years, the Border Guard Party Committee and High Command have consistently led and directed agencies and units to proactively coordinate to improve the quality of education and training for ethnic minority people in the border areas, especially in organising literacy classes. In addition, the Border Guard has participated in providing elementary education to ethnic people in the border and island areas, propagating and mobilising children of school age to attend school, and encouraging dropouts to return to school. It has also coordinated with other organisations in building, renovating, and upgrading schools and providing teaching equipment, transport means, scholarships, and educational materials for students in difficult circumstances in the border areas, with tens of billions of VND in value. In particular, every year, with the motto “Sincerity, Substance, Responsibility, and Effectiveness,” the Border Guard has implemented the program “Support children’s schooling - Border Post's Foster Child”, with funding from the cadres and soldiers of the whole force to support nearly 3,000 students in difficult circumstances, orphans etc., to attend school (up to grade 12), including nearly 200 students from neighboring countries Laos and Cambodia in the border areas. Over 10 years of implementation, the program has mobilised the strength of the entire political system and people to participate and has achieved many valuable results to become a Border Guard’s highlight that has been recognised and highly appreciated by the leadership of the Party, State, Central committees, Ministries, Central Military Party Commission, and Ministry of National Defence and agreed and supported by the Party Committees, authorities, and people in the border areas. As a result, basically, the students in difficult circumstances in the border areas have been supported and provided with the necessary conditions to attend school, and the annual dropout rate has decreased significantly.  Simultaneously, the Program has demonstrated the affection, responsibility, and gratitude of the Border Guard cadres and soldiers towards the people of various ethnic groups living in border areas and islands to contribute to improving people's intellectual standards, enhancing their livelihoods, strengthening the unity between the military and the people, and promoting the noble qualities and good traditions of the “Uncle Ho's soldiers” in the new era.

Tutoring children at border areas

Solid fulcrum

The practice in the border areas has shown that the effectiveness of some party committees, authorities, and organisations is not high; meanwhile, the specific capacity to implement the superiors’ policies and solutions is still limited; the activities of party committees and organisations in border villages and hamlets have not been regularly maintained, etc. This directly affects the implementation of political tasks, socio-economic development, and consolidation of national defence and security in the areas. To implement the superiors’ resolutions and directives, especially Conclusion No.68-KL/TW, dated February 5^th, 2020, of the Party Central Secretary Committee on the policy of increasing Border Guard cadres’ participation in the district and commune-level party committees in border areas, seas, and islands, in recent years, the Border Guard Party Committees and High Command of provinces have agreed with the provincial and municipal Party Committees to increase the number of Border Guard cadres joining the local political system, including many key positions in the local party committees and government at the communal level. In their working positions, the Border Guard cadres and party members have well performed their roles and responsibilities assigned, together with the party committees of communes, wards, and border towns, to propose many policies and solutions to enhance the leadership capacity and fighting spirit of grassroots party organisations and the quality of the cadres and party members. They have directly advised and assist the village party cells in maintaining and renewing the quality of party activties; focused on training and promoting the leadership role, responsibility, and capacity of party commissioners; managed and trained the cadre team and improve the effectiveness of party development work, especially for party members of ethnic minority groups; eliminated 365 “non-party-member and organisations villages” to gradually build a strong grassroots cadre contingent and party organisations to meet the leadership requirements in the new situation. In addition, the Border Guard has regularly reviewed and advised the local party committees and authorities to select qualified cadres from ethnic minority groups for the local governments to contribute to building and consolidating a strong political system.

Moreover, Border Guard cadres participating in the People's Councils have made important contributions to decision-making on local issues. They have monitored the implementation of economic, social, defence, and security policies; regularly maintained close connections with voters; mobilised the people to implement policies to contribute to building strong government at all levels.

Shouldering the local tasks with responsibility, affection, capacity, and efficiency, cadres and soldiers of the Border Guard have clearly demonstrated the noble qualities of “Uncle Ho's Soldiers”. They are truly the reliable support of the Party committees, government and people in the border areas to contribute to building political and spiritual strength, national defence capability, and strengthening the people's trust in the Party, State, Army, and committees and authorities at all levels and building a strong “people's heart-and-mind border”.

Standing with the people

Due to many reasons, the socio-economic development level in the border areas is still slow and the lives of ethnic groups are difficult. Therefore, the Border Guard Party Committee and High Command have identified that effectively implementing programs and projects for the socio-economic development of the border areas and improving the material and mental lives of the people is a regular, long-term, and crucial political task of the entire force. Accordingly, the Border Guard of provinces and cities have actively consulted and coordinated with the local Party committees and authorities in reviewing and assessing the specific situation of the local socio-economic development, proposing orientations, solutions, and investment support proposals that are appropriate and effective for each stage. At the same time, they have also implemented cooperative programs aimed at the people in the border areas, such as “Breeding cows to help the poor in the border areas”, “Warm Border Guard for villagers”, or “Accompanying women in the border areas”, which have mobilised and donated nearly 25,100 breeding cows along with hundreds of billions of VND to support livelihood models, startup capital, civil construction projects, savings accounts, and animal husbandry to directly contribute to creating a foundation for the people to rise out of poverty and stabilise their lives.

Implementing the motto “Three-stick and Four-together” (stick to the unit; stick to the area; stick to guidelines and policies, and eating together; living together; working together; and speaking the ethnic minority languages together), the Border Guards have coordinated with the local committees and authorities to propagate, mobilise, and guide people in border areas to transfer techniques for breeding livestock,  poultry, fisheries, seafood, and growing crops of high economic value. Thousands of Border Guard cadres and soldiers have joined with the local government and people in restructuring agriculture and forestry associated with new rural construction, strengthening forest planting and protection, and creating green border belts.

To improve the health of the people, the Border Guards have worked closely with the local health sector to maintain and improve the operational efficiency of combined military-civilian medical clinics and stations to conduct medical examination and treatment and health care for soldiers and people in remote and border areas; organised training for hundreds of commune, village, and hamlet health workers; and promoted propaganda on hygiene and epidemiology and mobilised people to participate in environmental protection, disease prevention and control, population programs for family planning, reproductive health, and prevention and control of social evils. In particular, in the prevention and control of the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of cadres and soldiers have overcome all difficulties to perform tasks on border lines to both manage and protect territorial sovereignty and focus on preventing illegal entry and exit; promptly supported people with food, medical masks,... with a value of tens of billions of VND for early and remote pandemic prevention and control, making an important contribution to the country's effective disease control.

Continue to shine the quality of “Uncle’s Ho Soldiers” in the new situation

In the coming time, there are potential complexities on the border routes. The hostile forces' sabotage activities are becoming fiercer; the criminal activities are increasing; non-traditional security challenges continue to evolve; although the people's lives in the border areas have been improved, there are still many difficulties, and so on. To continue promoting the role of the core force in managing and protecting the national borders, the Border Guard Party Committee and High Command have concentrated their leadership and directed efforts to strengthen propaganda and education to improve the awareness of cadres and soldiers to fulfil well the border protection tasks in general and mass mobilisation in general. It is determined that helping the people is both a responsibility and a sentiment, which is an important factor in fulfiling all assigned tasks effectively.

Accordingly, party committees and organisations have strengthened their leadership and direction to promote the “Determination-to-Win” drive and patriotic movements and campaigns, particularly focusing on promoting learning and following Ho Chi Minh thoughts, ethics, and style, the Movement of Promoting tradition, dedicating talents, and deserving the title of “Uncle Ho's Soldiers” in the new era. They have also attached importance to implementing the Party's resolutions and directives on Party building, rectification, and setting examples, and prohibiting behaviours that party members are not allowed to do. Resolution No.847-NQ/QUTW dated December 28^th, 2021, of the Central Military Commission on promoting the qualities of “Uncle Ho's Soldiers” and firmly resisting individualism in the new situation is also emphasised. They have focused on building clean and strong party organisations and comprehensively strong units; adhering the local area, closely bonding with the people, and proactively grasping the situation, advising the local party committees and authorities to effectively handle complex situations and incidents related to rural security and ethnic and religious issues in border areas. They have also continued to train and improve the quality of the grassroots border guard cadres and soldiers who participate in activities in village and hamlet party cells and are responsible for families in the border areas to consolidate the political situation at the grassroots level.

The entire force is to vigorously carry out propaganda work and mobilised the people to strictly comply with the Party's line and policies, the State’s laws, and local regulations, especially the policy of implementing the Program for Socio-economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas in the 2021-2025 period the State, the Vietnamese Border Guard Law, and other legal documents. They should coordinate with the people to participate in preventing and fighting against illegal entry and exit, ending the situation of Vietnamese fishing vessels illegally exploiting seafood without declaration and not complying with regulations (IUU). They are also to continue to effectively implement exemplary programs, models, and movements to help people develop their economy and society. At the same time, they are required to promote the effectiveness of foreign affairs activities at border posts, people diplomacy, and twining between communities on both sides of the border to contribute to building a peaceful, stable, friendly, cooperative, and developed border area. These efforts will help them further affirm the core value and constantly promote the noble qualities of “Uncle Ho's soldiers” - Border Guard soldiers in the new era.

Major General NGUYEN ANH TUAN, Commissar of the Border Guard