As a main unit stationed the key strategic area of Central Highlands, the Army Corps 3 has always actively performed its function as “an army ready for combat and for work,” kept improving its synergy and combat strength, and successfully fulfilled its assigned task, thereby contributing to maintaining political security in the area.

An army ready for combat

Grasping higher echelons’ resolutions and directives, the Corps’ Party Committee and Command have always been fully aware that raising the combat readiness capability and training quality is a central, routine political task which should be conducted via synchronous, effective measures. Based on the commands, directives, guiding documents, and regulations by the Ministry of National Defence on combat readiness, the Corps has proactively studied the areas, formulated, adjusted, and supplemented its combat readiness projects, assigned the tasks to its affiliates, and approved combat projects and coordination plans so that commanders of its offices and units could comprehend their task and adjust the projects on the field. It has also closely combined training and exercises with the training of combat readiness states and projects. At the same time, great value has been attached to renewing the method of training and exercises and combining the shift of combat readiness states during campaign-level exercises and training with the movement of troops and means to evacuation and concentration zones so as to correctly assess commanders, offices, and units’ commanding and operational capacity as well as troops and means’ manoeuvrability. The Corps has proactively consolidated its strength, weapons, and equipment for the combat projects and strictly maintained the order for combat readiness duty, particularly on national holidays and in major political events to avoid passivity and unexpected situations. It has closely cooperated with local authorities and forces stationed in the area in dealing with the situations to make contributions to maintaining political security and social safety and building the postures of national defence and security, while actively taking part in natural disaster prevention and mitigation as well as in search and rescue. Consequently, the Corps’ combat readiness capacity has been raised to meet the task requirements. Yearly, grounded on the Directive on the military-defence work by Chief of the General Staff and the reality, the Corps issues the training command, proactively adjusts its organizational structure, and directs its offices and units to develop the training plans and organize the training work closely. It has attached significance to making cadres and soldiers, particularly the all-level party committee members and key cadres, fully understand the role and importance of the training work, while considering it as a central, routine political task in peacetime which is placed under the leadership of party committees and directly managed, operated, and organized by commanders. Due attention has been paid to resolutely settling the “achievement disease” in training, the fearfulness for difficulties and hardships, and the truncation of strength and training content, program, and duration.

Prior to each training season, party committees at all levels issue specialized resolutions on this work, introduce the task to their troops, build up troops’ determination, consolidate the organizational structure, and hold refresher courses for cadres. In the training process, units have always adhered to the motto of “basics, practicality, and thorough grasp” and attached significance to providing and making synchronous and specialized training relevant to reality, operational area, and existing materiel. After each training session and year, units at all levels review the training work and use the training results as a criterion for assessing party committees, offices and units’ task performance and cadres’ reward and appointment.

To put the training work in order and make it effective, the Corps has actively built and completed the mechanisms for training management and operation in a “focalized, uniformed, synchronous, effective” manner, clearly assigned responsibility to each office and unit, and asked them to “stay close to training grounds and lecture halls for the sake of the training quality.” A focus has been placed on reviewing, supplementing, adjusting, and completing the training programs from grass roots to campaign levels in accordance with each group of troops. Units have been required to maintain the order for the staff work in training, particularly the order for report, registration, statics, summation, regular and unexpected inspection and investigation, which has greatly contributed to overcoming weaknesses in training. With a sense of unity and self-reliance, the Corps has provided training courses for all troops, the training quality has been considerably raised, and many affiliates have been given the title of “Good Training Unit.”

An army ready for work

The Corps is stationed in the country’s key strategic area where the hostile forces have been taking advantage of the issues on ethnicity and religion to incite violence and undermine the great national unity block. Thus, in addition to the training and combat readiness task, the Corps has attached special importance to performing the function as “an army ready for work” so as to translate our Party and State’s viewpoints, guidelines, and policies on ethnicity and religion into life, build strong politico-social bases, and cement the ethnic minorities’ faith in the Party, regime, Military, and local party committees and authorities. Moreover, performing its function as “an army ready for work” is the way cadres and soldiers of the Corps show gratitude for the support and sheltering of the ethnic people of Central Highlands in the war against America in the past and today’s task of building units.

Therefore, over the years, the Corps has focused its leadership and direction on the work of education and propagation to heighten the significance and importance of the mass mobilization and special propaganda work and the building of local political bases as well as raise its cadres and soldiers’ awareness and responsibility. The mass mobilization and special propaganda work has become a regular part of leadership resolutions by the all-level party committees, being concretized into goals and specific targets in the Determination to Win Emulation Movement. The Corps Party Committee and each affiliated party committee assign one member to the mass mobilization work. Quarterly, semi-annually, and yearly, party committees at all levels assess the performance of the mass mobilization work associated with evaluating the task performance of each party committee, party cell, key cadre, and cadre in charge of this work. In the process, the Corps has proactively cooperated with local authorities and competent offices and other units in the area in studying and grasping the situation as the basis for properly developing the plans/programs for the mass mobilization and special propaganda work, with emphasis placed on handling the people’s difficulties and each locality’s socio-economic, defence and security issues.

With specific measures relevant to each area’s situation and via various practical forms, such as military training march associated with mass mobilization, military call-up, search and rescue, natural disaster mitigation, participation in localities’ emulation movements and socio-economic development programs, and twinning activities, cadres and soldiers of the Corps have lived, worked, and shared with locals in the remote, isolated border areas and overcome all difficulties to carry out the mass mobilization work and take part in building local political bases. Offices and units have actively cooperated with local authorities in organizing conferences to exchange experiences in initiating new members into the Youth Union and the Party and building a contingent of cadres for localities. During working visits to communes, villages, and hamlets, the Corps’ cadres and soldiers have always played a core role in promoting the role of the Youth Union, Women’s Union, Veterans’ Association, and local sectors and unions in political activities. During the work of propagation, the Corps has directed its affiliates to flexibly employ methods of propagation, raise the people’s awareness of the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy, particularly on ethnicity and religion, and make them clearly understand the hostile forces’ plots and artifices. Cadres and soldiers of the Corps have persistently persuaded locals to strictly observe the law and not to obey the hostile forces’ enticement and incitement.

In addition, the Corps has required offices and units to proactively closely cooperate with local party committees and authorities in grasping and taking part in executing local socio-economic development programs for each year and period. Thanks to the work of propagation and their specific actions to help the people, cadres and soldiers of the Corps have actively disseminated the guidelines and policies by the Party, State, and localities on hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and socio-economic, cultural development, making them clearly understand, support, study, and follow these guidelines and policies. Between 2018 and 2019, via twinning activities between units and localities, military training marches associated with the mass mobilization work, the Corps’ affiliates organized propagation sessions for nearly 60,000 locals and took part in developing local socio-economic infrastructure and building new-style countryside with more than 40,000 working days each year. Units of the Corps have also provided medical service for the people and participated in protecting environment, implementing social policies, building new cultural lifestyle, and helping locals to change the method of production, apply technology to agriculture, and deal with hunger and poverty. Doing so has contributed to gradually repelling poverty and backwardness, helping locals to improve their material and spiritual life, and reducing superstitions and depraved customs.

The Army Corps 3’s achievements in performing its function as “an army ready for combat and for work” have contributed to fostering localities’ socio-economic development, maintaining political security and social safety, and bolstering the qualities of “Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the heart and mind of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands.

Maj. Gen. Bui Huy Biet, Commissar of the Corps