To meet the more demanding requirements set by the Homeland protection, the district of Cam Thuy has been focusing on raising the effectiveness of the military-defence work to make contributions to maintaining political security and social order and safety as the basis for boosting economic development and improving the people’s material and mental life.

Cam Thuy is a mountainous, midland district holding a position of importance to defence, diplomacy, and regional connection both inside and outside the province of Thanh Hoa. Fully aware of the district’s important position, the District Party Committee and People’s Committee have grasped the guidelines, resolutions, directives and guiding documents on the military-defence work by the Party, the Provincial Party Committee, and the Provincial People’s Committee, comprehensively carried out this work, and achieved significant results. Notably, the district’s Party Organisation, authorities, armed forces, and citizens have adopted various measures synchronously, creatively, effectively to perform the military-defence work. As a result, cadres, party members, soldiers, and citizens’ awareness of the military-defence work has been gradually raised. Defence and security education has been maintained strictly. Socio-economic development has been closely combined with defence-security consolidation and the building of a strong district. Great value has been attached to conducting the military call-up work and building the defensive zone. The armed forces’ synergy and combat strength have been enhanced to firmly protect the district.

However, a section of cadres and party members within the district’s offices, committees and sectors still think that the military-defence work is responsibility of military offices. Meanwhile, crime of various types, narcotic trafficking, and illegal missionary work have yet to be controlled. Thus, in the upcoming time, to respond to the complex developments of the situation, especially hostile forces’ sabotage scheme and to firmly protect the district’s area, it is necessary that the district’s Party Organisation, authorities, armed forces, and people should heighten a sense of unity and well perform the military-defence work.

Grounded on resolutions, directives and guiding documents by the Party, the State, the Military, the Military Region 4, and the Provincial Military Command as well as advice given by offices, committees, and sectors, particularly the district’s military offices, the District Party Committee and People’s Committee have issued resolutions, directives, and plans on the military-defence work in accordance with local practical conditions. The district has concentrated on taking drastic measures to improve the effectiveness of the military-defence work, with greater importance attached to raising the awareness and responsibility of party committee members, commanders, and heads of offices, units, and localities towards this important work. At the same time, consideration has been given to consolidating the organisational structure of the Fatherland Front, the Veterans’ Association, the Military Service Council, and the Defensive Zone Supply Council. The district has directed its offices, committees and sectors to enhance the quality of the staff work and the military-defence work, opportunely deal with defence-security situations, and align the performance of the military-defence work with the task performance of party committees, commanders and heads of offices, units, and localities.

A training course held by the district’s armed forces

Advocating the policy on combining socio-economic development with defence-security consolidation, the District Party Committee and People’s Committee have focused their leadership and direction on executing socio-economic development plans associated with the building of the defensive zone. The district has required competent offices to submit socio-economic development plans and projects to military and public security offices for appraisal to ensure their dual use. Priority has been given to implementing such projects in the communes of Cam Lien, Cam Thanh, and Cam Yen so as to develop infrastructure, eradicate hunger, reduce poverty, and guarantee the equal development between regions. In spite of economic difficulties, the district has mobilised all possible resources and combined budget allocated by higher echelons with local funding to gradually upgrade and construct defence works within the defensive zone, such as training ground, shooting range, trench, and fortification for the armed forces’ training, combat readiness, and exercises in combat bases.

Besides, due attention has been paid to the work of defence and security education. The District Party Committee and People’s Committee have directed the District Defence and Security Education Council to grasp and strictly execute the Directive 14-CT/TU, dated February 25^th, 2008 by the Provincial Party Committee on strengthening party organisations’ leadership over defence and security education in the new situation. At the same time, they have required the all-level defence and security education councils to synchronously carry out the work of propagation to render cadres, party members, the armed forces, and the people fully aware of the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy on building the all-people national defence and the posture of all-people national defence associated with the people’s security and the posture of people’s security, the Law on the Militia and Self-Defence Force, the Military Service Law, and the National Defence Law as well as to maintain their revolutionary vigilance against the hostile forces’ plots and artifices. To improve the quality of defence and security education, the district has directed military offices to draw up the list of cadres of the 2^nd and 3^rd group for training courses held by higher echelons, develop plans to provide defence and security education for cadres of the 4^th group, religious dignitaries, and heads of houses, inspect and assist 3 high schools’ defence and security education for students. Military offices have also been asked to cooperate with the District Centre for Culture and Information and the commune-level radio system in disseminating the knowledge of national defence and security to raise the awareness and responsibility of citizens towards the protection of political security and social order and safety.

In addition, the district has attached significance to making the local armed forces strong and capable of playing a core role in performing the military-defence work. To that end, the district has focused on building politically strong armed forces as the basis for raising the quality of the staff work and the military-defence work. It has required offices, units, and localities to well conduct the work of political and ideological education to improve cadres and soldiers’ political zeal and determination to surmount all difficulties and successfully fulfil all assigned missions. Emphasis has been placed on making military and public security offices at district and commune levels comprehensively strong, “exemplary and typical,” with a high level of combat readiness. The reserve force has been made “powerful” and “ready for mobilisation,” closely managed, and gradually sufficiently staffed. The militia and self-defence force has been built in a “strong, extensive” manner and consolidated both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Furthermore, the district has directed military offices, committees, and sectors to enhance the quality of training, combat readiness, and exercises. In this regard, the training work has been closely organised while the entire training programme for all groups of troops has been completed. In the training process, due attention has been paid to stringently adhering to the training motto for each group of troops and making training courses relevant to combat reality, objects of struggle, and local conditions. All forces have been trained to master the existing weapons and technical equipment in accordance with their combat method and strengths. As for combat readiness, the district has asked military and public security offices and other ones for internal affairs to exchange information to give advice to the District Party Committee and People’s Committee on opportunely dealing with defence-security situations, taking part in natural disaster, fire, explosion and epidemic prevention and control, protecting the district’s area, and avoiding passivity. In the upcoming tenure, the district will organise a defensive zone exercise and direct all communes to hold defensive combat drills in order to improve party committees’ leadership and authorities’ management at all levels as well as the advisory capacity and coordination of the local armed forces and sectors in settling defence-security situations.

Moreover, the district has asked the Military Service Council and the military office to closely, publicly, democratically conduct the work of military call-up and military university entrance examination under the Military Service Law and regulations to create a favourable condition for all citizens to join the Military or enrol on military schools. The District Party Committee and People’s Committee have also directed offices, units, and localities to well implement policies for the armed forces and military families, ensure sufficient policies and entitlements for beneficiaries, take care of Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, build charity houses, and give financial assistance to soldiers in difficulty. Doing so has helped better beneficiaries’ mental and material life, cement the people’s faith in local party committees and authorities, and build a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds.”

With the sound guidelines and effective approaches, hopefully, the military-defence work performed by the district of Cam Thuy will make great contributions to maintaining political security and social order and safety as the basis for building a prosperous, cultural, politically strong, and powerful district.

PHAM VIET HOAI, Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee

Chairman of the District People’s Committee