Making the organisational structure of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) “compact, strong and flexible” represents a strategy of our Party and State and provides an important foundation for building a “revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern VPA with several services, corps, and forces moving straight to modernity and modernising the entire VPA from 2030” to serve the task of national protection in the new situation.

Grasping the Party’s military-defence policies and guidelines on building the people’s armed forces, particularly the 12^th Politburo’s Conclusion 16-KL/TW, dated July 7^th, 2017 on the organisation of the VPA towards 2021 and the 12^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution 18-NQ/TW, dated October 25^th, 2017 on “a number of issues relating to the continued renewal and rearrangement of the apparatus of the political system to make it compact, efficient, and effective,” the Central Military Commission (CMC) has released the Resolution 606-NQ/QUTW, dated June 16^th, 2018 on leadership over the execution of the Politburo’s Conclusion 16-KL/TW, while directing competent offices to develop action plans and programmes for the 12^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.6 and the Project on adjusting the VPA’s organisation in the period of 2018-2021. At the same time, it has reviewed the organisational structure of offices and units across the Military and focused on directing them to take measures synchronously for building a compact, strong VPA with a high level of manoeuvrability and combat readiness.

Illustrative photo (qdnd.vn)

With political resolve and drastic, synchronous, proper measures, up to now, basically, the VPA’s structure has been adjusted in accordance with the Determination to Defend the Socialist Vietnamese Homeland. There has been a balance between services and corps, between offices and units, as well as between the standing force and the reserve force. To be more specific, within offices at strategic and campaign levels, the number of assistance affiliates and intermediate steps have been reduced, while an overlap of function and task between affiliates has been settled. In addition to merging, streamlining, and dissolving a number of units, the Ministry of National Defence (MND) has reviewed and reorganised the infantry force to increase its combat strength and manoeuvrability. Priority has been given to establishing and upgrading several strategic reserve units under specialised corps and forces in accordance with the development of task and the adjustments in strategic disposition in regions and areas, particularly in the key ones of defence and security. Besides, the organisational structure of schools, public non-business units, production units, and economic-defence corps have been adjusted to make them relevant to the goal and requirements of defence consolidation, military build-up and the Homeland defence.

A part from good results, there have been weaknesses in the process. A number of cadres and party members’ awareness of this task has yet to be really sufficient. Leadership and direction exercised by several party committees and commands, especially at strategic offices over the force adjustment and the settlement of redundancy have yet to be drastic. Meanwhile, legal normative documents on policies and entitlements have yet to be synchronous, leading to difficulties in performing this task.

In the time to come, peace, cooperation and development will still be the mainstream. However, the situation in the region and the world, particularly in the East Sea will be complex and unpredictable. The world will continue to change sharply with the appearance of multipolar and multicentric orders. Major powers will cooperate, negotiate and compete with one another. The world economy will continue to be severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestically, the protection of the Homeland and especially the national sovereignty over seas, islands, and border are imposing demanding requirements on the Military. Under the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress, by 2025, we shall finish building a compact, strong, flexible VPA with its proper structure to be the core force in the Homeland defence as the basis for modernising the whole Military from 2030. To that end, it is necessary to well implement several basic measures as follows.

First of all, well conduct the work of propagation and education to raise the responsibility of cadres and soldiers, particularly all-level party committees and commands for this task. Focuses of propagation and education should be placed on disseminating and clarifying viewpoints of the Party and the CMC as well as higher echelons’ directives and guiding documents on adjusting the VPA’s structure, especially the 12^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.6 on “the continued renewal and rearrangement of the apparatus of the political system to make it compact, efficient, and effective” and the Resolutions of the 11^th Military Party Congress and the 13^th National Party Congress on the goals and guidelines for building a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern VPA with several services, corps and forces moving straight to modernity. It is important to be fully aware that by 2030, a number of services, corps and forces shall be modernised, while the entire VPA shall be modernised from 2030. Thus, all-level party committees and commands should well carry out the work of task introduction and ideological management for their cadres and soldiers. They shall anticipate and readily deal with situations during the process of adjustment, merger, and equitisation to ensure a sense of unity and consensus within offices and units and across the Military. Besides, offices and units shall heighten party committee members and commanders’ role model-setting responsibility, encourage the participation of all organisations, combine the ideological work with the organisational and personnel work, and resolutely fight against all signs of subjectivity and impatience to give an incentive to this important task.

Second, continue to grasp and strictly, effectively execute the Project on organising the VPA in the period of 2021-2025, with a focus on making the Military’s organisational structure “compact and strong,” ensuring a balance between components and forces, reducing intermediate steps, and synchronising materiel with personnel and logistics-technical support. To do so, offices and units, especially at strategic and campaign levels, shall make accurate forecasts about the global, regional, and domestic situation as the basis for giving instructions, advice, and directions in accordance with the Military build-up, while reviewing and supplementing relevant legal normative documents. In the process, it is important to be consistent with the preset goal and develop action plans and programmes in a close, scientific, synchronous fashion from grass-roots to strategic levels. Moreover, the VPA’s General Staff shall propose breakthrough measures to raise the quality of military call-up and university entrance examination to attract high-calibre human resources to the Military. Emphasis should be placed on reducing 10% of offices’ strength to deploy more staff members to units tasked with training and combat readiness or units stationed in the strategic, border, sea, island areas. Due attention should be paid to increasing the infantry force’s combat power, manoeuvrability, and capacity to deal with possible situations, adjusting the strategic reserve force within some corps, and consolidating the specialised forces to serve the combat missions in the new situation. The system of schools, factories, repair facilities, and economic-defence corps shall be rearranged in accordance with national defence consolidation, the Military build-up, and the Homeland protection.

Third, actively mobilise resources to manufacture and acquire modern weapons and technical equipment. The rapid development of technology and knowledge-based economy has greatly impacted on the military field and changed many issues on warfare and military organisation. Hence, in order to modernise the VPA, it is vital to enhance the effectiveness of exploiting the existing weapons and technical equipment, while it is a must to equip the Military with modern materiel to make it capable of protecting the Homeland in any situation. At the same time, it is essential to exploit all strengths of the country and people of Vietnam and promote the spirit of self-reliance to overcome all difficulties and creatively renovate and effectively use the existing weapons and equipment. Competent offices shall actively advise the CMC and the MND on establishing the criteria for building a modern VPA and propose the foundation of units that will move straight to modernity, while reviewing and assessing the situation of units in comparison with the preset criteria to opportunely, properly make adjustments.

In the process, due regard should be paid to developing defence industry and building advanced military facilities and technologies. In the short term, the MND shall focus on advising the Government to approve the action Plan for the Project on “developing defence and security industries to meet the requirements of national construction and protection in the new situation” and the Plan to build and develop dual-purpose, modern, self-reliant defence industry towards 2025, with a vision towards 2035 in order to turn it into a key part of the national industry and make contributions to increasing the country’s military potential and power.

Fourth, focus on building an elite, modern VPA, especially making it politically strong, and increasing its tactical and combat readiness capacity to successfully fulfil its task in both peacetime and wartime. Offices and units shall build up their staff members’ political zeal, absolute loyalty to the Party, the Homeland, and the people, great professional competence, scientific working method and style, sense of discipline, and determination to surmount all difficulties and successfully fulfil all assigned missions. In this regard, significance should be attached to building a contingent of leaders, commanders, managers, heads of offices and units, cadres at campaign and strategic levels, and key cadres of sectors, while policies to attract and develop military talents and experts should be well implemented to prepare for a transition between generations of cadres but maintain a high level of combat readiness. The VPA’s manoeuvrability, combat readiness capacity, and military art should continue to developed in line with the new combat requirements. Great value should be attached to renewing the organisation, contents, and methods of training relevant to the Military’s weapons, equipment,  and means as well as the development of Vietnam’s military science and the people’s warfare in the new period. Cadres and soldiers at all levels shall be trained to master strategic projects and situations. They shall be expert in fighting enemies with the existing weapons and good at joint operations in each area, defensive zone and strategic direction and all over the country. The entire VPA shall enhance the management work to make a huge positive change in the military standard order building and the observance of the Military’s discipline and the State’s law, while resolutely preventing violations of discipline from negatively impacting on the VPA’s combat strength and tradition. Due attention should be paid to building the military standard order in a comprehensive but focalised manner, especially during training courses and combat readiness duties.

Consolidating the VPA’s organisational structure towards modernity under the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress is the responsibility of the entire Party, Military, people, and political system. The successful fulfilment of this task will directly contribute to protecting the country from afar, safeguarding national independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity, defending the Party, the State, and the people, and maintaining peace and stability for the country’s construction and development.

Lt. Gen. NGUYEN VAN NGHIA, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the VPA