The 297th Air Defence Brigade, a successor of the 256th Regiment, 2nd Military Region, was established on 27 June 1972 – the fiercest time in the fight against U.S. bombing raids on North Viet Nam. Over the past 50 years’ building, combat, and development, generations of its cadres and soldiers have constantly brought into play fine dignity and traditions of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” to successfully accomplish their assigned tasks, cultivating the tradition of “Faithfulness, solidarity, bravery, victory.” The Brigade, therefore, was awarded the Hero of the People’s Armed Forces in 2014 and many other noble rewards.

Given today’s high requirement of managing and protecting national airspace, the Brigade Party Committee and commanders have adopted many leadership solutions synchronously, in which enhancement of cadres’ and party members’ capacity and responsibility to set an example is regarded as a breakthrough in making the Brigade Party Committee pure, strong, and representative. The reason for this is because it provides a solid foundation for improving the Brigade’s overall quality and combat strength. Thus, the Brigade Party Committee has developed a plan to achieve this breakthrough and requested party committees and organisations at all levels to thoroughly grasp and realise this plan seriously, notably the following solutions:

First, stepping up education to raise cadres’ and party members’ awareness of their responsibility to set an example. This solution aims to achieve unity of ideology, awareness, and actions and train the corps of cadres and party members in scientific working style, self-awareness and responsibility to set an example of words and deeds, well-organisedness, and self-discipline. To successfully realise this solution, the Brigade Party Committee directs party committees and party organisations at all levels to accelerate propagation and education with a view to making cadres and party members deeply aware of position, role, significance, and importance of the responsibility to set an example, which is both an objective demand and a crucial guideline of our Party and State, both an immediate solution and a long-term, fundamental solution of Vietnamese revolution. The educational contents should focus on the Regulation No. 55-QD/TW, dated 19 December 2016 of the Politburo (12th tenure) on “Things that need to be done immediately to strengthen cadres’ and party members’ responsibility to set an example”; the Regulation No. 08-Qdi/TW, dated 25 October 2018 of the Party Central Committee (12th tenure) on “Cadres’ and party members’ responsibility to set an example, first and foremost members of the Politburo, members of the Party Central Committee Secretariat, members of the Party Central Committee”; the Conclusion No. 01-KL/TW, dated 18 May 2021 of the Politburo (13th tenure) on further implementation of the Directive No. 05-CT/TW, dated 15 May 2016 of the Politburo (12th tenure) on “Stepping up studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality, and style” and the Resolution No. 847-NQ/QUTW, dated 28 December 2021 of the Central Military Commission on “Bringing into play fine dignity of ‘Uncle Ho’s Soldiers’ to resolutely combat individualism in the new situation.” Thorough grasp and good study of the above-mentioned contents enable cadres and party members, especially the members of party committees and leading cadres at all levels, to perceive correctly their responsibility to set an example; to be imbued with President Ho Chi Minh’s teaching: “A living example is more valuable than one hundred remarks”; voluntarily set an example of work performance and life, particularly at difficult time. Cadres’ and party members’ responsibility to set an example must be associated with studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality, and style, emulation movements, and campaigns, which aims to create a far-reaching influence in units.

Commandant of the Brigade briefs the implementation of the 13th Resolution of the National Party Congress

Second, tapping into leading cadres’ role in fulfilling the responsibility to set an example. Our Party always attaches importance to cadres’ and party members’ responsibility to set an example, especially the leading cadres at all levels. When he was alive, President Ho Chi Minh used to recommend that the higher position a party member might hold the stricter he/she is about Party discipline, the more compulsory it is for him/her to exercise democracy.” Accordingly, the Brigade Party Committee and commanders request their leading cadres in departments and units to heighten their sense of responsibility for task performance; regularly cultivate revolutionary ethics; study and follow Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality, and style voluntarily. They must be the first to set an example of political ideology, morality, lifestyle, responsibility for work, self-criticism and criticism, close relationship with the masses, and matching words with deeds in work performance. A match between words and deeds is manifested in not only results of specific jobs but also leading cadres’ responsibility to set an example, honesty, and purity. Moreover, leading cadres’ example of words and deeds is a wordless command to persuade their juniors and soldiers to imitate. Every year, the Brigade Party Committee requests departments and units to direct their cadres and part members to make commitments to implementation of directives and resolution, including those relating to fulfilment of cadres’ and party members’ responsibility to set an example. Currently, 100 per cent of cadres and party members always possess political steadfastness and are in the vanguard of successful accomplishment of their tasks.

Third, bringing into play the role of the Brigade’s Military Personnel Council and mass organisations in supervision and criticism. Leverage of mass organisations’ supervision and criticism to cadres and party members in general, leading cadres in particular is a vital measure, which needs to be carried out seriously in any conditions. Successful implementation of this solution will enable cadres and party members to fulfil their responsibility to set an example voluntarily. To ensure substantive outcomes, the Brigade Party Committee and commanders direct departments and units to focus on raising cadres’ and party members’ awareness of the role and significance of social supervision and criticism, especially in Party building and development of cadres and party members. Attention must be paid to profound grasp of instruction of the 2nd Military Region Party Committee’s Standing Board on strictly implementing the Regulation on grassroots democracy; leverage of the role and responsibility of the Military Personnel Council and mass organisations in Party building, supervision, management, and training of cadres and party members. Accordingly, contents of supervision and criticism need to concentrate on compliance with resolutions, directives, and regulations of the Party, State, departments, and units; morality, lifestyle, and relationships. In addition, party committees and organisations at all levels attach importance to development and realisation of plans to enable the Military Personnel Council and mass organisations to share their ideas about cadres and party members with the aim of timely detecting and preventing cadres’, party members’, and leading cadres’ signs of degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle. Criticisms must be appreciated and openly presented at meetings of party cells to facilitate cadres’, party members’, and leading cadres’ understanding and rectification. Leading cadres of departments and units must be responsible for clarifying incorrect opinions and queries fully and timely. Mass organisations’ supervision and criticism must be coordinated closely and regularly to exchange information and practice democracy in debates and discussion about the most effective solutions. It is necessary to put interests of the Party, organisations, and units higher than those of individuals during implementation process. Subjective opinions must not be mixed with organisations’ opinions with the aim of distorting, exaggerating or attaching a label to someone because this will sow division and undermine prestige and honour of party organisations, cadres, and party members.

Fourth, strengthening the Party’s inspection, supervision, and discipline to ensure the role and responsibility to set an example. In fact, where party committees and organisations do this work well, awareness and responsibility to set an example of cadres, party members, and leading cadres are increased and bring about practical outcomes. Conversely, where inspection, supervision, and evaluation are conducted perfunctorily, there will be many limitations in cadres’ and party members’ awareness and responsibility to set an example. Therefore, the Brigade Party Committee directs party committees to strengthen inspection and supervision and resolutely punish cadres and party members in breach of regulations on responsibility to set an example; successfully realise the motto of aligning “building” with “combat,” in which “building” is fundamental and “combat” must be drastic and effective. The contents of the Party’s inspection, supervision, and discipline are comprehensive under the motto: where there is the Party’s leadership, there is inspection. Nevertheless, inspection and supervision are first concentrated on cadres and party member with signs of violation, degradation, “self-transformation,” and “self-transformation” within the Party; saying, writing, doing, implementing resolutions, directives, regulations, conclusions of the Party, State law, directives and resolutions of party committees and party organisations at all levels; compliance with the principle of democratic centralism and the Regulation on grassroots democracy, thereby not only timely preventing manifestations of violation but also ensuring cadres’ and party members’ good implementation of contents relating to their responsibility to set an example.

Thanks to synchronous, drastic implementation of the above-mentioned contents and solutions, responsibility of the corps of cadres and party members, most notably the leading cadres, is ceaselessly enhanced. They have successfully brought into play their exemplary role in training; wholeheartedly devoted themselves to missions of their units; dared to think, dared to say, dared to do, dare to take responsibility, dared to reform, dared to cope with difficulties and challenges, dared to take actions for the sake of common interests, thus contributing to building of a pure, strong Brigade Party Committee and a comprehensively robust, “exemplary, representative” Brigade for many consecutive years. This is both a result and valuable experience for the 297th Air Defence Brigade to further improve quality and effectiveness of “Enhancing cadres’ and party members’ competence and responsibility to set an example” in the coming time.

Senior Colonel LE ANH LONG, Brigade Commissar