Over the past 5 years of implementing the Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW by the Central Military Commission (CMC) on enhancing the training quality in the 2013-2020 period and beyond”, the training work in the whole Military has made a positive, comprehensive change and attained the encouraging results. That has provided an important basis for the entire Military to continue to renew and promote the quality of combat training, meeting the requirements set by the task of Military build-up and Homeland protection in the new situation.

Recently, the Ministry of National Defence (MND) has held a conference on reviewing the 5-year implementation of the CMC’s Resolution 765, in which it has clearly pointed out the results and weaknesses as well as drawn lessons to provide the basis for the improved quality of training work in the upcoming years. With their resolve, military units have opportunely grasped and concretized targets and guidelines set by the CMC on the training work into their resolutions and action plans, thereby making a positive, comprehensive transformation in the process.

Sr. Lt. Gen. Phan Van Giang presents awards to individuals and collectives at a regiment and brigade-level contest in 2018 (photo: qdnd.vn)

Notably, military staff’s awareness and responsibility for the training task have been raised considerably. The role of party committees and commands at all levels has been encouraged. There have been reforms in the work of training direction, management and operation in accordance with the task of each group of troops, unit and area. The content, programs, and methods of training, exercises, exams, and competitions have been ceaselessly renewed and kept pace with the development of military science, technology and arts, meeting the requirements set by the Military build-up and the Homeland defence in the new situation. Due attention has been paid to the work of training support, especially to preparing shooting ranges and training grounds. During the training course, units have always adhered to the motto of “basics, practicality, and thorough grasp”, set store by training troops to master materiel, particularly new one, combined training with regularity building and troop management as well as training with the performance of other tasks, such as combat readiness, sea and border patrol, natural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue. Military regions, corps, services and arms have well held strategic, campaign-level, and defensive zone exercises while combining the exercises with combat projects and plans in strategic directions and areas. It is worth noting that the MND directed and successfully held many large-scale joint exercises proving the strength and combat readiness and combat capability of the Military, being highly appreciated by leaders of the Party and the State.

Nevertheless, in addition to the recorded achievements, there have remained weaknesses in training leadership, direction, operation and organization. Several party committees and commands’ awareness of the training task has yet to be full; there has been a dearth of uniformity at all levels in the work of training direction and operation. The reform in training method has yet to be comprehensive while the application of science and technology to the training work has yet to be really effective. The training quality has yet to meet the requirements, particularly for training the reserve force and training troops to use new-generation materiel. The training support work has yet to fully meet the demands for the training task; there have been still safety violations during training and violations of the Military discipline and the State’s law. Those weaknesses have been clearly pointed out by the CMC, the MND and all units. Therefore, remedial measures and actions must be taken opportunely by all-level party committees and commands within the Military.

In the foreseeable future, it is predicted that the situation in the world and the region will continue to be complex; the cause of Military build-up and Homeland defence will impose new higher requirements on the Military. To further raise combat readiness capacity and effectively deal with all situations to continue promoting our Military’s tradition of “invincibility”, the entire Military must seriously adopt measures to renew and improve the training quality in order to create a breakthrough in the Military’s synergy and combat strength and build a “compact and strong” Military, with a focus on the following ones.

First, to strengthen all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction over the training task. Military offices and units, first and foremost the all-level party committees and commands should continue to grasp the Party’s military-defence guidelines, the National Defence Strategy, the Military Strategy, the Strategy for Homeland protection in cyber space, and the Strategy for National Border Protection as well as resolutions and directives by the CMC and the MND on the training work, particularly the Resolution 765. Accordingly, it is necessary to step up the work of political, ideological education to further raise cadres and soldiers’ awareness and responsibility towards the training task. Military staff must be fully aware that training is a central political task of routine and the basis for improving the armed forces’ combat readiness capacity and combat strength. Training not only meets the requirements set by the task of maintaining readiness to protect national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also aims to fulfil the functions of the Military in peacetime to readily respond to non-traditional security challenges. Therefore, the improved quality of training is the responsibility of all units and military staff members.

Besides, military units should step up the implementation of the Resolution of the Party Central Committee’s 4^th Plenum on the Party building and rectification, while building pure, strong military party committees and organizations as the basis for the enhanced effectiveness and efficiency of leadership and direction over the training work. Based on the results of the 5-year implementation of the Resolution 765, party committees and commands should continue to renew their leadership and direction over the training work, actively review and supplement the targets and measures in their plans to execute the Resolution in accordance with reality. Focuses should be placed on new, central points and weaknesses; on resolutely fighting against the signs of unleashed leadership, conservationism, fearfulness of hardships, and “achievement disease” during training. Besides, units should improve the quality of the party and political work during training so as to encourage cadres and soldiers to strive to fulfil the training goals and targets.

Second, to complete and renew the mechanisms for training direction, management and operation. Advisory agencies at all levels, particularly the Department of Military Training should stay close to reality, actively give advice to the CMC and the MND, and direct units to further renew the training work under the Party’s new thought on defence-military missions and the Homeland protection requirements in the new situation. It is vital to continue to develop and complete the mechanisms for training management, direction and operation under the CMC’s Resolution 765, ensuring “focalization, uniformity, synchronicity, effectiveness” and “clear assignment of responsibility in strategic and campaign-level offices”. Due regard should be paid to consolidating and encouraging the role of staff, operation and training offices, particularly at regiment and division levels, in counselling the training task. Besides, it is necessary to apply information technology to training management, operation and organization; to actively renew the method to organize training examinations and inspections in order to ensure the practicality during training.

Third, to further study and renew the content, organization and method of training and exercises to meet the requirements of Military build-up in the new situation. First and foremost, it is necessary to focus on developing the theories about Vietnamese military arts, particularly the combat method, in accord with the developments of the objects of struggle and our Military’s organizational structure and materiel under the conditions of the highly developed people’s war for Homeland defence as the basis for the reforms in training content. Grasping the Resolution 765, the entire Military should continue to follow the training motto of “basics, practicality, and thorough grasp”; take the protection of the Homeland, political regime, and people’s lives and property as the basis for formulating training programs; take hi-tech warfare as the environment to train our troops. Offices and units should grasp the situation, particularly combat artifices and methods and new materiel of the objects of struggle as well as the particularities of the area and our organizational structure and materiel to adjust, supplement, complete and standardize the training programs and projects for troops. In the process, it is important to take infantry training as the centre and the land operation as the core, and set the goals of annihilating the enemy at sea and in the air and winning the war on land. During campaign-level training, it is essential to render campaign and strategic-level commands and staff offices fully aware of the enemy’s new combat plots and methods, our campaign and strategic-level military arts, the Regulations on the staff and operation work, the method to organize and operate combat preparation and practice. As for combat training, emphasis should be placed on synchronous and specialized training in accordance with reality, task, combat project and area, and objects of struggle, particularly on defensive operation and border, sea, and island protection. At the same time, great value should be attached to enhancing each force’s manoeuvrability and capability to deal with the situations as well as training natural disaster prevention and control and search and rescue. In the process, importance should be attached to well performing technical, tactical, specialized training, exploiting new materiel, closely combining military training with political education, education-training with combat training, and combat training with physical training in accordance with the requirements of modern warfare.

As the reserve force and the self-defence and militia force, competent offices, units, and localities should study to formulate the uniform mechanisms and methods for training organization and management in accordance with reality of units and areas. In this regard, due attention should be paid to improving the command and staff capability of Frame-B cadres and grass-roots military cadres and the mobile, regular, arms, coastal militia forces’ skills, tactics and capability in coordination with other forces in the defensive zone. In addition, the entire Military should further organize exercises at all levels; combine campaign and strategic-level exercises with tactical drills; actively hold live-firing, aggregate, combat, and joint exercises in line with operations in the defensive zones.

Fourth, to actively mobilize resources in training support. In fact, there is a growing demand for training support while the budget is limited. Thus, offices, units and schools should continue to renew the work of training support in a timely, comprehensive, focalized manner, effectively manage and use the budget allocated by higher echelons while promoting the internal resources in the work of training support. In medium term, the Department of Military Training should cooperate with competent offices, units, and localities in adjusting and completing the planning of shooting range and training centre system in the whole Military; in accelerating the progress of constructions at all levels, with priority given to full-strength units, those tasked with sea and island sovereignty protection, and those being built to move forward to modernity. It is essential to study, supplement and complete the system of training documents for all forces, particularly those intended for new materiel, new types of warfare and newly-founded forces. Amidst the rapid development of science and technology, particularly the 4^th industrial revolution, offices and units, especially the General Department of Defence Industry, research centres and factories should actively study, design, trial and manufacture models, aids and stimulation devices for training and exercises at all levels. Offices, units and schools should further step up the movement to promote initiatives and technical innovations applied to training aids and models, while resolutely removing old-fashioned training models and equipment.

Training is a central, routine task and provides the basis for improving our Military’s combat readiness capacity and combat strength. Grasping the CMC’s guidelines and promoting the attained results, the entire Military will ceaselessly strive to overcome all difficulties and further renew and improve the training quality, contributing to building a “revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modern” Vietnam People’s Army, meeting the Homeland protection requirements in the new situation. 

Sr. Lt. Gen. Phan Van Giang, Member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Member of the CMC, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, Deputy Minister of National Defence