Being imbued with President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings for transport soldiers: “Vehicles and petrol are people's sweat, tears, and blood. You have to take care of your vehicles, treat them like your children, and treasure petrol as your blood”, over the years, cadres, employees, and soldiers of the 651^st Transportion Regiment have always overcome difficulties to opportunely, sufficiently provide equipment and means of transport for Military Region 1’s successful fulfilment of all tasks.

The 651^st Transportation Regiment  (Military Region 1) is assigned to transport forces, weapons, technical equipment, and logistics materials for training, combat readiness, natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control, and other contingency tasks. Although all those tasks are very challenging, most of the Regiment’s vehicles have been in use for many years; spare parts are scarce; budget is limited; the operating area is large, and the traffic situation is complex. Moreover, the guidelines on building a “regular, adept, compact, strong” military transport force and the emulation movement titled “building regular, safe, effective transport units” have been imposing more demanding task requirements on the military transport branch in general, the Regiment in particular. Against that backdrop, the Regiment’s Party Committee and Command have considered the study and following of Uncle Ho’s teachings for transport soldiers as a central solution and incentive for the Regiment’s successful fulfilment of all assigned tasks.

Being imbued with President Ho Chi Minh’s teachings: “it is necessary to keep improving political and ideological level” of troops, the Regiment’s Party Committee and Command have focused on enhancing the work of political, ideological education to build troops’ political zeal and qualities as a core measure for making the Regiment politically strong. The Regiment has concentrated on well implementing the Project on “renewing political education within military units in the new period”. Emphasis has been placed on studying political topics, resolutions, and directives of the Party via diverse methods and forms in accordance with each group of troops. Currently, the entire Regiment is focusing on well implementing the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 847-NQ/QUTW, dated December 28^th, 2021 on “promoting the virtues of Uncle Ho’s Soldiers, resolutely fighting against individualism in the new situation” in tandem with the 13^th Politburo’s Conclusion 01-KL/TW, dated May 18^th, 2021 on “continuing to strengthen the study and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality, and lifestyle”. Doing so will enable all cadres, employees, and soldiers to be imbued with Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh Thought, and the Party’s guidelines, improve their revolutionary morality, remain vigilance against hostile forces’ “peaceful evolution” and plots of “depoliticising our Military”, and actively, proactively prevent and push back “self-evolution” and “self-transformation”. Besides, offices and units of the Regiment have built up their troops’ self-reliance, proactiveness, and creativity to overcome difficulties in repairing and maintaining vehicles, thereby deserving 16 golden words (in Vietnamese) given by Uncle Ho to the military vehicle branch: “loving vehicles like your children, treasuring petrol like your blood, surmounting all difficulties, fulfilling tasks”. At the same time, they have effectively taken steps of “anticipating, managing, orientating, and settling” troops’ ideology under the motto of staying close to soldiers, understanding, and trusting them in order to opportunely deal with and prevent ideological issues from negatively impacting on their task performance. Due regard has been paid to improving soldiers’ material and mental life and well implementing policies regarding military families to make all cadres, employees, and soldiers keep their mind on their work.

Consistently adhering to the goal of “building a safe transport unit”, the Regiment has attached special importance to raising its cadres, employees, and soldiers’ awareness of safety work during transport. It has disseminated the Law on Road Traffic, the Law on Inland Waterway Navigation, and the Government’s Decree 100/2019/NĐ-CP, dated December 30^th, 2019 on “sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of road traffic and railway” to all cadres, employees, and soldiers via training courses, panels, internal radio systems, forums, and knowledge contests so as to better its staff members’ knowledge of traffic safety and raise their law-abiding awareness. Consequently, over the years, the Regiment has recorded no violation of law, discipline, or traffic safety.

Vehicle and personnel of the Regiment deployed for Covid-19 prevention and control in Binh Duong province

In order to deal with the unevenness of competence amongst drivers, helmsmen, and repairmen as the basis for building a “regular, safe, effective transport unit”, the Regiment’s Party Committee and Command has focused on raising the quality of training. To that end, the Regiment has thoroughly grasped higher echelons’ resolutions and conclusions on improving the quality of training work to meet its task requirements. In the process, the Regiment has always abided by training-related viewpoints, principles, mottos, and connections, taken the training of cadres as the key, and considered technical and safety training as the centre. The Regiment has trained its staff members on transport staff and coordination for tasks, methods and forms of transport over various terrains, safety measures during transport, and skills in settling traffic incidents. With reference to methods of training, the Regiment has both dispatched its staff members to training facilities and organised on-the-spot refresher courses, while encouraging its cadres and employees’ self-study. The Regiment has held driving and steering training courses in tandem with the performance of transport tasks, particular for new drivers and helmsmen. Besides, the Regiment has required experienced repairmen to train their younger generations. At the same time, the Regiment has regularly organised technical contests and actively taken part in those kinds of contests held by the Military Region and the Ministry of National Defence. As a result, up to now, most of the Regiment’s cadres, drivers, helmsmen, and technicians have achieved great professional competence and workmanship.

Against the technical degradation of vehicles and vessels, with the determination to study and follow Uncle Ho’s example of coping with difficulties, the Regiment’s cadres, employees, and soldiers have devoted effort to opportunely, sufficiently providing equipment and means of transport for the Military Region’s successful fulfilment of all tasks. As for the task of combat readiness transport, the Regiment has stringently maintained duty regulations of its combat readiness vehicle detachments and the technical coefficient of its vehicles (k_t = 1), thereby meeting the requirements set by the task of combat manoeuvre and the transport of forces, equipment, and materials for natural disaster prevention and control as well as search and rescue. Following Uncle Ho’s teachings: “it is necessary to consider transport work as an important campaign”, under the spirit of “sacrificing for the people” and “serving the people”, during COVID-19 pandemic, the Regiment deployed 16 ambulances to Binh Duong province and 7 vehicles for transporting vaccines and medical materials to Military Region 1. Regarding routine transport, the Regiment has closely commanded, managed, and operated this work in a close, scientific, flexible manner. Prior to transport tasks, the Regiment has always developed detailed plans and projects to properly delegate responsibilities to each cadre, commander, and driver. In each route, there have been strict regulations on distance between vehicles, driver change, stop, and parking. For troop transport, the Regiment has used new, good vehicles to ensure the safety and health of troops. When transporting a large amount of complex goods in a long distance, affiliates of the Regiment have employed commanding cadres and drivers with great experience and professional competence; besides, they have enhanced the work of command and inspection in all steps of transport. As a result, over the years, the Regiment has excellently fulfilled all transport tasks assigned by its higher echelons. More specifically, it has provided transport support for A70 and B70 tasks; it has transported materials for the construction of fences of Mieu Mon airport, Vietnamese citizens from China back home during COVID-19 pandemic, and troops and equipment during exercises held by localities and units within the entire Military Region, thus being highly appreciated and rewarded by the Ministry of National Defence and the Military Region.

Following Uncle Ho’s teachings on saving petrol, the Regiment has directed its companies to properly use vehicles and vessels in each transport plan in order to increase productivity and reduce costs. At the same time, affiliates of the Regiment have been required to strictly implement regulations on vehicle and vessel maintenance via the “Technical Day”. Due attention has been paid to stepping up research and promoting technical initiatives to raise the quality and effectiveness of exploiting means of transport in a sustainable, safe, economic fashion.

The effectiveness of studying and following Uncle Ho’s teachings for the military transport branch produced by cadres, employees, and soldiers of the 651^st Transportation Regiment has laid a solid foundation for the Regiment to keep improving its task performance, making its Party Organisation typically pure and strong, and building a “regular, adept, compact, strong” unit capable of meeting its task requirements.

Sr. Col. PHAM DINH TUYEN, Political Commissar of the Regiment