To practically study and follow Uncle Ho’s ideology, morality and lifestyle under the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW, the provincial armed forces of Hung Yen have effectively carried out the movement entitled “the Military joins hands in building new-style rural area” in order to bolster the image of Uncle Ho’s soldiers in the new period.

To deserve to be a reliable political and combat force of the party committee, authority and people as well as the core force in performing the local military-defence work, Hung Yen Provincial Military Command (PMC) and its Party Committee have actively directed cadres and soldiers of the provincial armed forces to comprehensively, synchronously adopt various measures with a focus on the studying and following of Uncle Ho’s ideology and moral example, the Campaign “promote tradition, devote talent, deserve to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers”, and the Party building and rectification. All-level party committees and commands have flexibly employed models and approaches, taking the “studying” as the basis, “following” Uncle Ho’s example effectively, bringing about widespread effect within offices and units. With strong political determination, close leadership and direction, and flexible organization, the studying and following of Uncle Ho’s ideology and example have produced the encouraging results and directly contributed to improving the quality of cadres and party members, and building a pure, strong Military Party Committee and comprehensively strong provincial armed forces. In the process, there have appeared effective models and approaches, particularly the movement entitled “the Military joins hands in building new-style rural area”.

With 10 district-level administrative units, including 1 city and 9 districts, and a population of about 1.3 million, Hung Yen is located in the heart of the Red River Delta and in the Northern Key Economic Zone. Over the past years, the Party Committee and people of Hung Yen have ceaselessly strived to develop Hung Yen into an industrial province with rather rapid, robust, sustainable economic growth rate. However, a section of the people in the province still face economic difficulties. Some localities have slow economic growth; there remain issues on political security and social order that have yet to be completely settled. Meanwhile, hostile forces have been taking advantage of the issues on democracy and site clearance and compensation to step up their sabotage severely. Thus, the PMC and its Party Committee have determined to well conduct “the Military joins hands in building new-style rural area” movement as a basic criterion for the studying and following of Uncle Ho’s ideology and moral example, contributing to boosting socio-economic development, eradicating hunger, reducing poverty, improving the people’s life, changing the face of rural area in the province, preserving and bolstering the image of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers”- the people’s soldiers in the new period.

Grounded on directives and guiding documents, particularly the Provincial People’s Committee’s Plan 266/KH-UBND on the organization of the movement entitled “the whole country joins hands in building new-style rural area” in the 2016-2020 period, and the Plan 368/KH-CCT and the Guidance 369/HD-CCT by the Military Region 3’s Political Department, the PMC and its Party Committee have directed the formulation of the plan to execute this movement within the provincial armed forces. According to the plan, units have been required to adhere to criteria and targets set by the national program on new-style rural area and the content and task of building new-style rural area set by the Government and the movement entitled “the Military joins hands in building new-style rural area” launched by the Ministry of National Defence. They have been asked to focus on counselling, coordinating and directly taking part in the tasks of building socio-economic infrastructure, eradicating hunger, reducing poverty, building local political system, and consolidating defence and security. Grounded on the plan, units and offices at all levels have included the contents of the plan in the monthly, quarterly, yearly resolutions and formulated the action programs; commissars and commanders included these contents in their weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly working plans. Offices and units have made these contents a criterion for the implementation of the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05 with specific targets set for each collective and individual, while taking the results of this work as the basis for evaluating the task performance.

The PMC and its Party Committee have stepped up the work of propagation and education to raise cadres and troops’ awareness and responsibility. Combining regular education with topics-based propagation and promoting the strength of organizations, forces, and cultural institutions within the units as well as local and central press agencies, units have clarified the goals, contents, and basic requirements in the National Targeted Program and the Government’s criteria for new rural development together with cadres and soldiers’ responsibility for carrying out the movement “the Military joins hands in building new-style rural area”. In the process, significance has been attached to carrying out reviews, drawing lessons, rewarding typical examples, and multiplying effective approaches and models. Up to now, all cadres and troops of the provincial armed forces have been fully aware that conducting the movement is a political task and the sentiment and responsibility towards the people; they have been active in studying and training, improving the task performance, and assisting local party committees, authorities and people with the highest quality and effectiveness.

Being imbued with Uncle Ho’s teachings: “Staying close to the people is to earn the people’s faith and hearts; by doing so, we can manage to do everything”, following the motto: “living and working with the people” and “making the people understand and believe”, the provincial armed forces have actively taken part in the construction of socio-economic infrastructure and hunger eradication and poverty reduction. Since 2016, while advising local party committees and authorities on setting up major policies and applying technology to production, the provincial armed forces have persuaded cadres, soldiers, enterprises and philanthropists in the area to contribute money and labour to upgrading and building schools and cultural facilities under the criteria No.5 and No.6 for new rural development. As a result, teaching and learning equipment has been upgraded while 54 kindergartens and village cultural houses have been upgraded and built. Those constructions have been worth over 6 bn VND; cadres and soldiers have contributed over 1.6 bn VND and 1,050 working days while enterprises and philanthropists have donated nearly 4.5 bn VND. The PMC has cooperated with the Provincial Red Cross Society in providing free medical examination and medicine and giving presents worth 614.5 million VND to over 3,300 beneficiaries and victims of agent orange; coordinated and made donations to building 20 Houses of Affection (each house worth 70 million VND) for families of beneficiaries, revolutionary contributors and the poor; upgraded 2 Houses of Comradeship (each house worth 50 million VND).

Besides, the provincial armed forces have attached importance to consolidating and building local political system and safe area. The PMC and its Party Committee have counselled and cooperated with local party committees and authorities and other units in executing the Grass-Roots Level Democratic Regulations and the movements, namely “all people unite in building new-style rural area and civilized urban area” and “the whole country joins hands for the poor - no one left behind”. Under their leadership and direction, 100% of their affiliates have met the criteria for “cultural office and unit” while 100% of military families have satisfied the criteria for “cultural family”. At the same time, they have cooperated with the Public Security and other forces in maintaining political stability and social order and building safe units and areas.

Special importance has been attached to counselling, directing and coordinating the effective implementation of the Criterion No.19: Defence and Security in new rural development. Notably, units have advised local party committees and authorities on completing the planning of lands for military works in the provincial and district-level defensive zones; cooperated with competent offices in site compensation and clearance in the projects, namely the Centre for Defence and Security Education, the Reserve Force Training Centre, and the provincial Shooting Range in accordance with the regulations set by the General Staff. The system of documents and plans for mobilizing forces in command and staff exercises, provincial, district, and commune-level defensive zone exercises, and sectors and committees’ defence-security exercises have been regularly consolidated. Annually, the training work of the provincial armed forces has been strictly performed and fulfilled the stated targets; the training content has been relevant to reality. Due attention has been paid to building the militia and self-defence force. Up to now, the province has staffed 100% of commune-level militia units and self-defence units of offices, organizations and enterprises. The rate of party members within the militia and self-defence force has reached 19% while the rate of youth union members within this force has been 62%. All commune-level military party cells have operated in an orderly, effective manner. The provincial reserve force with the sufficient quantity and the ensured quality has performed its tasks under the regulations on an absolutely safe basis.

 Military offices at all levels have cooperated with committees, sectors and organizations in executing the annual military call-up work and particularly propagating the Military Service Law to encourage young people at the enlistment ages to join the Military. Yearly, the province has fulfiled the targets of military draft set by higher echelons. The PMC has advised the Provincial Defence and Security Education Council on providing defence and security education for groups of objects. It has cooperated with the Public Security in grasping the security situation in the rural areas, directly met the people to receive their opinions, correctly assessed the reasons for the incidents, and advised local party committees and authorities on sound remedial measures.

To sum up, the implementation of the movement entitled “the Military joins hands in building new-style rural area” by the provincial armed forces of Hung Yen has gained practical results, thereby translating the Politburo’s Directive 05 into life, earning the local party committees, authorities and people’s faith and hearts, and bolstering the image of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new period.

Sr. Col. Nguyen Anh Loc, Commissar of the PMC