On 28 November 2024, the 15th National Assembly passed the Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People’s Army, which was effective from 1 December 2024. This important milestone reflects the special attention of the Party and Government toward the Military; reaffirming the prestige, role, and position of the officer corps; and marking a new phase in building a revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern military to meet the demands of safeguarding the Fatherland in the new situation. In order for the Law to promptly take effect, it requires party committees and commanders at all levels to focus on leading, directing, thoroughly grasping, and implementing seriously, closely, and effectively.

Officers of the Vietnam People’s Army are cadres of the Communist Party of Vietnam, serving as the core component and primary force of the military’s cadre corps, undertaking leadership, command, and management positions or directly performing specific tasks to ensure the military’s combat readiness and fulfillment of assigned missions. Therefore, to build a corps of officers capable of meeting the demands of military construction and national defence, the 10th National Assembly enacted the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People’s Army (1999), which took effect on 1 April 2000; this law was amended and supplemented twice, in 2008 and 2014 (hereinafter referred to as the Officers Law).

Recognising the significance and role of the Officers Law, the Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defence, the General Political Department, and party committees and organisations at all levels have paid attention to leading, directing, thoroughly implementing, seriously and synchronously implementing the Officers Law and its subordinate legal documents; employing various forms and measures to propagate, educate, and raise awareness among cadres and soldiers throughout the military while proactively coordinating propaganda and education to all levels, sectors, localities and people to raise awareness and sense of compliance with the Law. Party committees and commanders at agencies and units have studied, applied, concretised and organised the implementation of the legal documents on officers, ensuring alignment and consistency with Party resolutions, directives, and regulations concerning personnel work and cadre corps.

However, since the implementation of the Officers Law, several Party guidelines, government policies, and legal regulations have been issued that directly or indirectly affect the officer corps, making certain contents of the Law incompatible with the guidelines and current legal framework. Additionally, practical implementation has revealed several shortcomings and issues, such as incomplete regulations on basic positions of officers; the maximum age limit for officers to serve in the army has not effectively utilised human resources; the consideration of early salary increase; payment for days not taken off annually; regimes and policies for retired officers under the Social Insurance Law. Furthermore, some units have undergone adjustments and expansion in terms of organisational scale, added functions and duties, adjusted positions and titles that are not yet specified in the Law; certain contents have not been assigned to competent authorities for detailed regulations; some regimes and policies concerning social insurance, housing, land allocation, healthcare; and the responsibilities of various ministries, sectors, and localities,... remain insufficiently regulated, resulting in less effective implementation of the Law.

General Phan Van Giang, Minister of National Defence and other deputies of the 14th National Assembly press the button to pass the Law amending Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army at the 8th session (Photo: qdnd.vn).

From the political, legal, and practical basis, the urgent need to amend and supplement the Officers Law has been clearly identified. In response to this necessity, the Ministry of National Defence proposed that the Government report to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly to request the National Assembly to amend and supplement certain articles of the Officers Law through simplified procedures and processes in one session. On that basis, with a high level of political determination and an expedited, decisive spirit, the Ministry of National Defence took the lead, coordinating with relevant committees, ministries, sectors, and agencies to develop and finalise the Draft Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Officers Law of the Vietnam People’s Army and the draft was approved by the 15th National Assembly during the 8th Session with a very high number of votes in favour. The Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Officers Law of the Vietnam People’s Army (2024) was built upon the foundation of inheriting existing relevant articles of the Officers Law; simultaneously, it introduced adjustments and supplements to several important contents, reflecting the deep attention of the Party, the Government, and the People to continuously enhance the quality of the officer corps, meeting the requirements for building the Army in the new situation.

Currently, the missions of building the Army, strengthening national defence, and safeguarding the Fatherland have undergone supplementation and development, posing numerous difficulties and complexities. The process of implementing the Party’s resolutions and strategies on safeguarding the Fatherland, adjusting the Army’s organisational structure, and developing the national defence and security industry are demanding increasingly higher standards for the officer corps. The Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Officers Law of the Vietnam People’s Army (2024) serves as a crucial legal foundation for developing an officer corps capable of meeting the requirements and tasks in the new context. However, in order for the Law to quickly demonstrate its effectiveness and efficiency, the entire Army must endeavor to address a substantial workload comprehensively; in which, focusing on implementing several key measures and priorities:

1. Intensify propaganda and education to raise awareness, responsibility, and consensus among party committees, party organisations, officers, cadres, and soldiers across the entire military, as well as among various levels, sectors, and social classes regarding the Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Officers Law of the Vietnam People’s Army (2024). Military agencies, units, and academies thoroughly grasp and organise study sessions; integrate into these activities with political education programmes, resolution studies, legal dissemination and education, national defence and security education, traditional education, unit meetings, and cultural and artistic activities; focus on researching, compiling and incorporating new provisions of the Law in accordance with the objectives and programmes of officer training. Promoting the role of press and media agencies within and beyond the Army, as well as digital platforms and social networks to build specialised pages, columns, and publications for widespread dissemination of the Law. Additionally, proactively coordinate with party organisations, government agencies, localities to promote the dissemination of the Law in the political system and among all classes of people. The content of propaganda and education must be comprehensive and systematic; focus on clarifying theoretical and practical foundations; the necessity for enacting the Law; the new contents; the significance and value of each amended and supplemented content in addressing the shortcomings and limitations of the Officers Law amended and supplemented in 2008 and 2014, as well as their impact on developing the officer corps. During the propaganda process, it is crucial to resolutely counter and refute false viewpoints, distortions, and sabotage rhetoric from hostile forces. Therefore, helping various levels, sectors, the entire political system, and social classes to clearly understand that building the Army in general, and the officer corps in particular, is a responsibility of the entire Party, the entire people, and the entire military; at the same time, seeing the attention of the Party, the Government, and the Army to the officer corps; rights and responsibilities of officers, creating motivation among officers to work enthusiastically and dedicate themselves to the cause of building the Army and safeguarding the Fatherland; encouraging and attracting citizens,  high-quality personnel to study, train, and become officers, contributing to building a revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern Vietnam People’s Army that meets the requirements and tasks in the new situation.

2. Party committees, party organisations, leaders, commanders, political agencies, and political officers at all levels focus on leading, directing, thoroughly grasping, and guiding the serious, strict, and effective implementation of the Law. Agencies under the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence, according to their respective functions and duties, effectively provide advisory on the construction and promulgation of documents as a basis for leaders at all levels to direct and lead the implementation. Party committees and party organisations must propose policies and measures to lead the implementation of the Law in alignment with the functions, tasks, and specific conditions of their respective agencies and units; paying attention to address the limitations identified during the summary of the implementation of the Officers Law at all levels. Party committees and key leaders at all levels uphold their responsibilities, strengthen supervision and inspection during organising the implementation of the Law, promptly identify and resolve challenges, inadequacies, and emerging issues; strictly adhere to the Party’s resolutions, directives, conclusions, regulations, and rules concerning personnel work and the cadre corps. Concentrate on leading and directing the improvement of the quality of the officer corps, especially in terms of moral qualities, professional competence, skills, and work methodology, in alignment with building “exemplary, typical” comprehensive strong units, enhancing the leadership capacity and combat strength of party committees and organisations at all levels.

3. Closely integrate the implementation of the Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Officers Law of the Vietnam People’s Army with the work of preparing personnel for party congresses at all levels, toward the 14th National Congress of the Party. Thoroughly grasp and strictly implement Directive No. 35-CT/TW dated 14 June 2024, by the Political Bureau, and Directive No. 2960-CT/QUTW dated 18 July 2024, by the Standing Committee of the Central Military Commission on party congresses at all levels leading up to the 14th National Congress of the Party; regulations on the standards for party committee members; Resolutions of the Political Bureau and the Central Military Commission on organising the Vietnam People’s Army for the period 2021–2030 and the following years; with the spirit of the “revolution” in reforming the apparatus under the principle of “elite, compact, strong, effective, efficient, and impactful”. On this basis, effectively conduct planning and propose personnel for reappointment and participation in party committees at all levels, particularly local party committees, in accordance with the principles, rules, and regulations of the Party and the laws of the Government; ensure the process is synchronous, rigorous, democratic, scientific, objective, impartial, transparent, and accountable; foster high unity and consensus; incorporate inheritance, innovation and development. Emphasise thorough review and prioritise quality to meet all criteria; ensure new personnel are truly exemplary in political courage, intellect, qualities, ethics, lifestyle, capability, and reputation; party committees serve as centres of unity, cleanliness, strength, and high combat power, with a visionary outlook and innovative thinking, meeting the mission requirements.

4. Closely integrate ideological, organisational, and policy work in the implementation of the Law. Party committees and commanders at all levels must proactively address ideological work for each subject, agency, and unit; paying attention to understand and grasp the thoughts, emotions, and aspirations of officers affected by the regulation on extending active service age; promptly motivate and resolve ideological issues right from the grassroots level. At the same time, ensure effective work of planning, training, evaluating, reviewing, and utilising; integrate planning with training and utilising, integrate building of the officer corps with building Party members corps, develop leadership cadre with develop party committees. Synchronously implement measures to address personnel numbers, appointments, rotations, transfers, extensions of active service, promotions, rank advancements, and salary increments, ensuring strict compliance with regulations. Conduct research and propose the issuance and proper implementation of policies for officers and military rears, particularly the newly amended policies incorporated into the Law with focus on critical areas such as salary, housing, and other policies to attract and retain talent for the military. Paying special attention to improving the material and spiritual well-being of active officers, especially those stationed in remote, isolated, or disadvantaged areas, and officers with difficult family circumstances. Thoroughly grasp and implement policies for officers who will not be reappointed to the party committee for the 2025–2030 period, those stopping working, transitioning to other roles or retiring in accordance with regulations.

5. Effectively implement government management concerning officers; promptly propose competent authorities to issue and guide the implementation of legal documents, and draft plans for developing the officer corps; direct and organise the work of training, educating, managing, deploying, and utilising officers, alongside policies and regimes for the officer corps. Effectively perform the work of career-oriented propaganda and officer training programmes. Prioritise inspection, supervision, review, and summary evaluations to ensure the effective and practical application of the Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Officers Law. 

Thoroughly grasping, implementing and ensuring the Law amending and supplementing certain articles of the Officers Law of the Vietnam People’s Army comes into practice as soon as possible is a political responsibility of all levels, sectors, and the political system, particularly the agencies and units across the entire military, contributes to building a strong officer corps that truly serves as the core force in building the People’s Army with comprehensive quality and increasingly combat strength, together with the Party and the whole people to firmly protect the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, maintaining a peaceful and stable environment, and confidently advancing into the nation’s era of progress and development.

Senior Lieutenant General TRINH VAN QUYET, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Member of the Standing Committee of the Central Military Commission, Chief of the General Political Department of the Vietnam People’s Army