Tank and Armoured is an important offensive force of the infantry - the main fighting force of the Vietnam People's Army. Being aware of that, the Corps Party Committee and High Command have been synchronously and drastically implementing solutions to improve the overall quality and combat power to meet the requirements of synergistic combat to firmly protect the Fatherland. 

Thoroughly grasping and implementing the Party's military and defence viewpoints and lines, particularly the resolutions and directives of the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence on drilling, training, and combat readiness in the new situation, in recent years, the Corps Party Committee and High Command have focused on leading and directing the improvement of the quality of drilling, training, and combat readiness and achieved multiple positive and comprehensive results in all aspects, including: promoted leadership and direction of the Party committees and commanders at all levels; focused, in-depth, orderly, and practically effective content and measures of Party and political work in drilling, training, and combat readiness; renovated methods of direction, management, operation, inspection, drilling, rehearsal, training, and combat readiness to adapt to the Covid-19 pandemic states and levels safely and flexibly; seriously and effectively maintained drilling, training, and combat readiness regimes and regulations; close combination of drilling and training with implementation of regularity, discipline training, and building of comprehensively strong and “exemplary and typical” units; importance attached to competitions, contests, and international military cooperation, etc. Accordingly, the results of drilling, training, and combat readiness have been increasingly improved and firmly stabilised to contribute to improving the overall quality and combat power and ensuring the Corps’ fulfillment of its political regular and unscheduled tasks. At the same time, it has completed its function of advising the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence to lead and direct the training, combat readiness, and construction of the tank and armored force of the whole army to meet the requirements of synergistic combat in modern war conditions.

However, besides the achievements, the awareness of some cadres and soldiers about combat drilling, education, and training is still incomplete, and the quality of training in some units is not uniform. Meanwhile, the training methods of cadres of agencies, new graduates, and cadet administrators are still limited.

In the coming time, it is forecasted that peace, cooperation, and development are still the main trend in the world and the region, but armed conflicts, local wars, disputes over sovereignty and territory, etc. continue to evolve in a complicated way, with multiple new types, forms, and methods of combat. Domestically, hostile forces step up their sabotage activities; meanwhile, natural disasters and epidemics are complicated, and the task of building the Army, strengthening national defence, and protecting the Fatherland develops with increasing demands on the entire Army and the Corps. To continue improving the quality of drilling, training, and combat readiness in safe and flexible adaptation to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Corps will focus on implementing the following basic solutions:

Firstly, strengthening the leadership and direction of the Party committees and commanders at all levels over drilling, training, and combat readiness in the new normal state. The Party committees and commanders at all levels from the Corps to agencies, units, and schools must regularly grasp and creatively apply the superiors’ resolutions, directives, and orders regarding drill, training, and combat readiness to suit the units’ tasks, local characteristics, and the epidemic situation. Concurrently, attention must be paid to renewing and improving the capacities of leadership, direction, management, and administration of combat training, education, and training of Party committees and commanders at all levels; improving the capacity to concretise the superiors’ guidelines and resolutions into its own resolutions, especially thematic resolutions on drilling, training, and combat readiness for implementation; regularly inspecting, properly assessing the actual situation, and specifying the limitations, causes, and responsibilities of each collective and individual in leadership, direction, and implementation; strengthening measures to promote the responsibilities of the Party committees and commanders, especially the responsibilities of the specialised advisory bodies, in implementing the leadership process from the stages of resolution formulation, implementation, inspection, and supervision to briefing, summary, and experience drawing; resolutely overcoming the limitations and shortcomings that have been pointed out through the annual inspection of drilling, training, and combat readiness of the Corps; associating the results of leadership and direction of combat training, education, and training tasks with the results of classification of Party organisations and members and comments, planning, mobilisation, appointment, and rotation of cadres; continuing to renovate contents and forms to improve the quality and effectiveness of Party and political work in drilling, training, and combat readiness; and attaching importance to education of politics, tradition, and combat experience and building of “steel” bravery and belief in weapons, equipment, and art of combat for the Tank and Armoured soldiers.

Commander of the corps gives directions at Tank Brigade 201

Secondly, making breakthroughs in innovation to improve the training quality, qualifications, and combat readiness capacity to meet the requirements of combat in the new situation. This is a basic, motivating solution that directly contributes to improving the overall quality and combat power of the Corps. Therefore, the Party committees and commanders at all levels must focus on leading and directing to accelerate the renewal of programs, contents, and methods as well as management, administration, and training assurance. Particularly, great importance must be attached to preparing sufficient and qualified personnel, weapons, equipment, facilities, and training grounds. Besides, it is necessary to combine consolidating the staffing and adjusting the forces under the Politburo’s Resolution No.05-NQ/TW, the Central Military Commission’s Resolution No.230-NQ/QUTW, and plans of the Ministry of National Defence and the Corps with training and retraining to improve capacity, qualifications, and methods of training for cadres, especially those who directly participate in training, managing, and administrating to meet the requirements of building the “elite, compact, strong, and gradually modern” Tank and Armoured. The training contents must be comprehensive in terms of politics, military affairs, logistics, techniques, search and rescue, etc., but it must also focus on the central and key contents, such as shooting, driving and mastering of new tanks, tank platoon and company tactics, maneuver training, night training, avoidance and counterattack, training of teams to participate in international military games, etc. During the training process, it is required to implement and apply creatively and effectively the viewpoints, mottos, principles, combinations, regimes, and regulations of the Charter of the training and combat advisory work; focus on combining drilling with physical training, disciplines, and regularity construction and flexible adjustment of contents, programs, and methods under different epidemic conditions and levels; strengthen the application of information technology to training management and administration as decentralised to ensure “concentration, unity, closeness, synchronisation, efficiency, and non-overlapping”; promote training examination, supervision, and inspection and combine regular with unscheduled inspection, particularly unscheduled inspection, to detect and correct errors and inappropriateness in a timely manner to serve a basis for directing to improve the quality of the next training process; actively develop plans, coordinate, and organise synergistic combat drills with infantry divisions, map and field command and staff drills; and combine training, practice, and rehearsals with organising competitions and contests, focusing on participating in the international Army Games sports, to contribute to raising the position and prestige of the Corps and the Army in the world arena.

Thirdly, attaching importance to education, training, and building of strong Tank and Armoured forces within the entire Army to meet the requirements of tasks. The competent agencies and schools within the Corps must continue thoroughly grasping and effectively implementing the resolutions, strategies, and directives on education and training in the Army, particularly the motto that “The training quality of schools is the combat readiness of units”. Through coordinating with functional agencies of the Ministry of National Defence, agencies and units within the whole Army should review the demand for quantity and quality of Tank and Armoured cadres and personnel under the new payroll to serve as a basis for admission and approval of training entrance. It is also advisable to improve the quality of the teaching contingent, drastically renovate the contents, organisation, and methods of teaching, learning management, and education to improve the quality of training; organise education and training with adequate content and time for objects under the prescribed programs; enhance skills of practice on specialised tank and armour equipment and vehicles; actively participate in Olympiad competitions; improve the quality of the course final rehearsals in association with the positions and responsibilities of cadets upon graduation; and continue researching and compiling training syllabuses and textbooks to suit the organisation, payroll, new equipment, and tank and armored combat arts and the development of combat objects.

Finally, ensuring adequate and timely techniques and logistics to meet the requirements of drilling, training, and combat readiness tasks. It is necessary to continue thoroughly grasping and strictly implementing Conclusion No.763-KL/QUTW issued on December 19th, 2012 by the Central Military Commission on the leadership of technical work in the new situation; closely combine the compilation of technical assurance documents and plans with the improvement of the quality of preservation, maintenance, repair, storage, and restoration of weapons and technical equipment to ensure high combat readiness conditions; and actively improve the efficiency of research, application of technical innovations and improvements and complete schemes as planned to put into operation and use in drilling, training, and combat readiness. The units must closely coordinate with technical agencies to ensure adequate and timely quantity, type, and quality of tanks and armoured vehicles to ensure the combat readiness vehicles’ technical coefficient kt=1 with attention paid and priority given to the task of synergistic training exercises, prevention of terrorism, riots, and subversion, etc., under the motto of uniformity in terms of technique, camouflage, and secrecy.

Logistics assurance must be proactively implemented from the very beginning at all levels and throughout the course of combat training, education, and training in terms of human resources, funding, facilities, equipment, and handling plans. During the implementation process, it is a must to thoroughly grasp and strictly observe Directive No.4740/CT-BTL, issued on November 7th, 2021 by the Corps Commander on “Safe and flexible adaptation and effective control of the Covid-19 pandemic in combat readiness, drilling, education, training, regularity construction, and discipline management”; pay attention to ensuring a good material and spiritual life for the soldiers; and continue promoting studying and review of wars to serve as a scientific basis to propose plans for logistics assurance for the tank and armoured combat tasks in the new situation to contribute to increasing the combat power the Tank and Armoured in particular and Vietnam People's Army in general.

Major General DO DINH THANH, Commander of the Corps