Deeply understanding the significant position and role of the Campaign “For the efficient, durable, safe and cost-effective management and utilisation of weapons and technical equipment and traffic safety” (Campaign 50) in completing the tasks of technical works and enhancing the overall quality, combat strength of the armed forces, in recent years, the Technical Branch of the 9^th Military Region  has played a core role in planning, directing, guiding, and implementing Campaign 50, ensuring its correct, widespread, in-depth, practical, effective, uniformed and sustainable development. This is clearly demonstrated when the Campaign is strictly led by all levels of leadership, with comprehensive and unified direction; the Steering Committees for the Campaign from Military Region to grassroots levels are regularly reinforced, maintaining operational regimes. The Technical Branch of the Military Region has performed well as the permanent agency of the steering committee at all levels, actively adhering to real-life situations, clearly identifying focal points, breakthrough stages to advise, direct, guide, inspect, monitor and organise the implementation of the Campaign. As a result, all objectives of the Campaign are achieved and exceeded the set targets. Furthermore, the management, preservation, maintenance and repair of weapons and technical equipment have seen many innovations, and the quality of these works has been elevated to a new level. Also, the Military Region’s Technical Branch has achieved good results in ensuring the uniformity of technical supplies for the improvement and upgrade of weapons and equipment, and especially the utilisation and mastering of new weapons and technical equipment. In addition, the technical coefficients of weapons and equipment are always ensured in accordance to regulations. There are also clear improvements in ensuring the safety of weapon and technical equipment utilisation, labour safety and traffic safety; and the number of traffic safety incidents due to subjective errors have been gradually lowered year after year, the number of safe kilometres for military vehicles has increased. Additionally, the movement of technical research, innovation, and improvement has been vigorously promoted with many positive results, etc. Thus, the technical units have been able to ensure timely and complete technical support for weapons and equipment for the entire Military Region to perform training tasks, combat readiness, and emergency missions.

Leader of Military Region 9 checks technical work at 301 Warehouse

The results above are attributed to many factors, with the most important one being the Military Region’s constant emphasis on strengthening the leadership and direction of Party committees and commands at all levels; leveraging the core role of the technical contingents and emphasising the responsibility of its officers, service staff, and soldiers in the implementation of the Campaign. Based on the comprehensive understanding of Resolution No. 1656-NQ/QUTW dated 20 December 2022 of the Central Military Commission on “The leadership of technical work by 2030 and the following years”, the Technical Department advises the Party Standing Committee and the Command of the 9^th Military Region to direct the issuance of resolutions on leadership in technical work; with a continued focus on vigorously implementing Campaign 50. To ensure the effectiveness of the work, the Technical Department directs units to review the implementation programmes and plans of the Campaign, timely adding targets and measures for task execution each year, ensuring the work’s feasibility and its alignment with the practical situation of agencies, units, and localities. Technical agencies at all levels play the role of permanent steering committees for the execution of Campaign, providing effective advice to Party committees at the same level in leadership, direction, and serving as the core nucleus in organising task implementation. As a result, the objectives and targets of the Campaign are comprehensively deployed by agencies, units, and localities, ensuring a focus on key areas, especially in addressing weaknesses in technical work and the successful implementation of the movement “Enhance comprehensive quality of the Campaign, create new breakthroughs in mastering modern weapons and equipment and ensuring safety in a proactive, creative, and sustainable manner” initiated by the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence. In particular, the 9^th Military Region integrates the implementation of the Campaign with various emulation movements and other campaigns at all levels, branches, and localities, etc. creating comprehensive strength towards the successful achievement of the set objectives and targets.

Practice experiences have shown that the outcomes of the Campaign heavily depend on the awareness and responsibility of officers and soldiers. Therefore, the Technical Department has advised the Military Region Command to direct agencies, units, and localities to enhance the comprehensive education, propaganda, and dissemination of the Campaign in a practical and effective manner, focusing on grassroots levels and tailoring to each target group (regular units, local troops, and militia detachments). At the same time, the Department actively innovates the content, form, and methods of education and propaganda. Over the years, units within the Military Region have implemented various forms of education and propaganda; combining dissemination through the internal radio broadcasts with dedicated sections in mass media; organising rallies to show support for the Month of Action on Occupational Safety and Health - Fire Prevention and Control; establishing systems of banners and posters in public places; organising competitions, sports events, seminars, cultural exchanges, etc., to convey the meaning, purpose, requirements, content, and objectives as well as to disseminate experiences, models, exemplary practices in implementing the Campaign of the armed forces of the Military Region, etc. Through these practical activities, officers, service staff, and soldiers of the Military Region have deeply understood, fully recognised, and heightened their responsibility in their work, actively and voluntarily implementing and advancing the Campaign to achieve better results.

To efficiently implement the content and targets of the Campaign, the Technical Department proactively advises party committees and leadership at all levels to effectively manage, store, maintain, repair, and service weapons and technical equipment. Accordingly, the Department focuses on reviewing, developing, and strictly implementing regulations and responsibilities in the management, storage, and utilisation of weapons and technical equipment; promoting digital transformation; researching and effectively applying information technology in technical management at all levels. In addition, it implements the standardisation of the system of registration books, statistics sheets by the specialisation of each unit and locality; and establishes an adequate sign system for warehouses, technical areas, creating significant changes in the standardisation of technical work in sectors, agencies, units, and localities. At the same time, the Department maintains strict regimes and practices for preserving, maintaining, repairing, and storing weapons, technical equipment; directs the enhancement of “Technical Days”, “Technical Hours”, especially at the grassroots level; promote the campaign “well maintained, sustainably used”, combining efficient use with effective preservation, maintenance and repair of weapons and technical equipment according to each level; and effectively implements technical inspection regimes and technological procedures. To achieve effectiveness, the Department regularly focuses on building a team of technical officers and service staff, especially those directly managing and operating equipment; organising training, workshops, and development course in the management, preservation, and use of new weapons and technical equipment; regularly organising exams for skills check, specialisation rank promotion and driving tests for automobiles, armoured vehicles and watercraft, contributing to improving the quality of technical support work.

Head of the MR9's Technical Department presides over the acceptance of initiative in 2023

Ensuring safety is the top priority of technical work, one of the key objectives of the Campaign. Therefore, the Technical Department has advised the Military Region Command to comprehensively deploy and coordinate safety measures concerning personnel, weapons, and technical vehicles in all activities. Thorough and extensive efforts have been made to educate and disseminate safety measures to all personnel; the system of regulations, safety provisions, procedures, and technological discipline in storage, repair, maintenance, security, and cyber security have been supplemented, improved, and strictly implemented. The Military Region has also established a system of warehouses that is robust and suitable for terrain conditions to facilitate the storage, distribution and transportation of weapons and technical equipment with sufficient quantity and adequate quality and minimise the negative impact of climate and weather conditions. Additionally, its subordinate units have provide enough protective equipment and gear for workers; implemented and closely maintained measures to ensure the safety of warehouses, workshops; rigorously maintained patrols, guard duties, and monitored personnel access during the process of receiving and issuing weapons and equipment; closely coordinated with local Party committees, authorities, police forces, residents, and other units to grasp the local political security situation, and established buffer zones around warehouses. Furthermore, it has regularly adjusted and supplemented combat readiness plans and training to protect warehouses and prevent lightning, fire, and explosions. Besides, the Technical Department has also enhanced inspection, supervision, and monitoring of the management and use of weapons, technical equipment, and motor vehicles (including personal vehicles) at all levels, ensuring that 100% of vehicles participating in traffic are inspected and meet technical safety standards.

“The practice of cost-saving and prevention of wastefulness” is one of the criteria that the Technical Department of the 9^th Military Region pays special attention to. In guiding and directing technical work, the Technical Department of the Military Region requires agencies, units, and localities to annually develop action plans with specific goals, targets, and appropriate measures; issue regulations on the use of weapons, equipment, efficient technical facility planning and investment to avoid spread-out and wasteful fundings; regularly educate officers, service staff, and soldiers on the spirit of self-reliance and self-improvement; enhance the application of scientific and technological advances and new technological processes. At the same time, the Department promotes technical innovation and improvements in carrying out training tasks, preservation, maintenance, repair, and utilisation of weapons, and equipment to enhance their lifespan and reliability. Furthermore, it effectively uses budget and technical resources for their intended purpose, ensuring timely support for combat readiness tasks, training, and other missions of the armed forces of the Military Region. As a result, many issues in the management, utilisation, preservation, and use of weapons, and technical equipment have been successfully addressed, saving hundreds of billions of VND in the budget. A typical example is the successful installation of various types of weapons on vehicles, meeting the requirements of mobility and combat in riverine areas; through practical training and exercises in border defence, maritime, and island defence, the effectiveness of these innovations has been confirmed by units of the Military Region. These results have contributed to enhancing the combat capabilities of the Military Region, meeting the requirements of regional defence, and firmly protecting the territory, seas, and islands of the southern part of the country.

Inheriting these achievements and experiences, the 9th Military Region’s Technical Department continues to play a core role, elevating the spirit of “initiative, creativity, self-reliance, and self-improvement,” striving to implement Campaign 50 further, actively contributing to building the “elite, compact and strong” armed forces of the Military Region, meeting the requirements of the assigned tasks in the new situation.

Senior Colonel NGUYEN DINH KHANG, Head of the Technical Department of the 9^th Military Region