To keep pace with new developments in the Military build-up, national defence consolidation, and the Homeland protection, the entire Military continues making a breakthrough in raising the quality of training and combat readiness to contribute to increasing its synergy and combat strength.

In 2021, the whole Military performed training work amidst a lot of impacts. The situation in the region and the world had complex developments. Major powers accelerated adjustments in their strategies. The East Sea witnessed destabilising factors. Domestically, hostile forces continued enhancing their “peaceful evolution” strategy and plots of promoting “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” and “depoliticising” our Military. Several units were experiencing adjustments in their organisational structure. There was a lack of training grounds. Besides, COVID-19 pandemic seriously impacted on training work across the Military. However, under timely, close leadership and direction from the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the Ministry of National Defence (MND), all-level party committees and commands actively, proactively implemented training work comprehensively, synchronously, and effectively. Adhering to basic training programmes and contents, units made innovations in training work in accordance with combat projects and combined military training with political education and physical training. In response to the need for training grounds, competent offices opportunely advised the MND to promulgate Circular 28/2021/TT-BQP, dated March 1^st, 2021 on Regulations for managing investment and operating the use of shooting ranges and training grounds. Offices, units, and schools performed training work according to each degree of COVID-19 and organised training courses for absentees, thereby both raising the quality of training and facilitating pandemic prevention and control. Units and localities organised general exercises, live-fire tactical exercises, and defensive zone exercises in a serious, close, safe manner. The quality of training across the Military continued to be improved to meet the requirements set by combat readiness, firmly protect the Homeland, and maintain a peaceful, stable environment for national construction and development.

In 2022, although peace, cooperation, and development will still be the mainstream, the situation on a global and regional scale will continue witnessing complex, unpredictable developments. Domestically, hostile forces will keep enhancing their sabotage strategy against our Party, State, and Military via cunning artifices. Non-traditional and traditional security challenges, such as climate change, natural disasters, and epidemics will be on the rise. The entire Military will continue executing the Resolutions of the 13^th National Party Congress and the 11^th Military Party Congress and building a compact, strong Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) towards modernity. In addition to focusing their leadership and direction on consolidating their organisational structure and making themselves “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong, offices and units across the Military should continue making a breakthrough in raising the quality of training and combat readiness, with a focus on several basic tasks and measures as follows.

First of all, renew and improve training leadership, direction, management, and operation. This is a matter of principle and paramount importance to performing training work in the right direction. Thus, military offices, units, and schools should keep grasping higher echelons’ resolutions and directives on training work, particularly the 11^th Party Central Committee’s Resolution 28-NQ/TW, dated October 25^th, 2013 on the Strategy for the Homeland Protection in the New Situation, the CMC’s Conclusion 60-KL/QUTW, dated January 18^th, 2019 on continuing executing the CMC’s Resolution 765-NQ/QUTW on raising the quality of training in the period of 2013-2020 and beyond, Military-Defence Work Directives by Chief of the General Staff, and competent offices’ guiding documents. All-level party committees should concretise those above-mentioned documents into their resolutions on training work with specific guidelines and measures in accordance with the Party’s new thinking on military-defence work and the Military build-up in the new situation. They should concentrate on realising action plans/programmes for their resolutions. Importance should be attached to renewing mechanisms for training management in a “focalised, uniform, synchronous, effective” fashion, clearly assigning responsibilities for training work, and promoting offices’ role in counselling, guiding, and coordinating training work. It is necessary to perform training work scientifically and in accordance with units’ task requirements and operational areas, consider combat training in hi-tech warfare as the environment for troops’ self-improvement, and take the protection of the Homeland, the socialist regime, and the people’s life and assets as the training goal. Offices, units, and schools across the VPA should actively renew forms and methods of inspecting and re-inspecting training outcome, decentralise inspection work, conduct more contingency inspections, completely deal with all signs of negligence or the lowering of training targets and requirements, and resolutely combat ostentation, formalism, and merit-driven practices in the training process.

A training course by cadres and soldiers of Brigade 962 (photo: qdnd.vn)

Second, actively, proactively renew contents, organisation, and methods of training. This measure plays a decisive role in the quality of training as a reform in contents, organisation, and methods of training will help achieve a major breakthrough in improving the quality of training within each office and unit. Grounded on the motto of “basics, practicality, and solidity,” 3 viewpoints, 8 rules, and 6 connections for training work, units across the VPA should proactively carry out a reform in training work synchronously, closely, scientifically. In the process, it is necessary to combine technical training with tactical training, increase field, night-time, tasks-based, and situations-based training relevant to combat reality, and improve combat coordination between forces so as to satisfy the requirements of combat in the air, on the ground, and at sea. Due attention should be paid to taking the training of cadres as the key, improving tactical-level cadres’ capabilities in managing, commanding, and operating training courses, and actively organising refresher courses to better all-level cadres’ capacity. Great value should be attached to improving knowledge of cadres in charge of training work, newly-appointed cadres, and new graduates. As for the training of tactical-level units, it is essential to ensure basics and solidity from low to high. Significance should be attached to raising the quality of tactical exercises, general tactical exercises, live-fire tactical exercises, joint combat exercises, defensive zone exercises, and other exercises prepared in a short period of time. At the same time, it is important to closely combine technical training with tactical and physical training, strictly maintain military standard order, heighten discipline, and ensure troops’ resilience and adaptability to all terrain and weather conditions. Offices and units across the Military should opportunely adjust their training contents, programmes, and plans in accordance with COVID-19 prevention and control and organise training courses for absent troops due to contingency missions in a close, safe way.

Third, enhance the work of propagation and education to raise troops’ awareness of this important task. In order to build troops’ political zeal, absolute loyalty to the Party’s guidelines and leadership, and faith in weapons, technical equipment, and Vietnam’s combat method and military art, increase troops’ revolutionary vigilance, fight to foil all plots and artifices of hostile forces, and encourage troops to readily undertake and successfully fulfil all assigned missions even in the most dangerous, complex situations, offices and units within the VPA should concentrate on political and ideological education, raise troops’ awareness, and create a huge positive change in training task in the new situation. The entire Military should be fully aware of the importance of raising the quality of training to meet the requirements set by combat readiness, the defence of national independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity, and the protection of our Party, State, people, and socialist regime in the new situation. Besides, in the current period, training work must be aimed at flexibly, effectively responding to non-traditional challenges, while training courses must be organised in tandem with natural disaster and epidemic prevention and control. To that end, emphasis should be placed on renewing contents, forms, and methods of training in accordance with educational background of each group of troops and task requirements of each unit, particularly units tasked with combat readiness or stationed in extremely difficult areas. Offices and units across the VPA should improve the quality of political education under annual education programmes in accordance with new normal, closely combine military training with political and ideological education and discipline management, raise the quality and effectiveness of party and political work, and enhance the Determination to Win Emulation Movement in the training process.

Fourth, renew and improve training contests, make more investments in manufacture and procurement, and consolidate training facilities and materials. Training contests act as an effective, necessary measure to encourage troops’ responsibility and activeness in training, while helping detect good training methods and models for timely commendation and multiplication, draw lessons, quickly overcome weaknesses, and raise the quality of training. Therefore, offices and units across the Military should continue well organising training contests at all levels in appropriate forms. In the process, it is important to closely, scientifically, practically, effectively hold training contests and focus on important contents and shortcomings. Due attention should be paid to conducting objective evaluations, opportunely drawing lessons, multiplying effective training methods and models, and completely dealing with merit-driven practices during training contests.

Furthermore, offices and units across the VPA should ensure facilities for training work, particularly for intensive, specialised training courses and general exercises. Consideration should be given to grasping and seriously implementing the MND’s Circular 28/2021/TT-BQP, opportunely adjusting construction planning, accelerating the construction of shooting ranges and training grounds in a focalised, effective manner, taking advantage of all resources, actively, sufficiently acquiring training materials, innovating and manufacturing training equipment, and applying information technology and simulation technology to training work in order to keep raising the quality of training, ensuring a high level of combat readiness in any situation, and enabling the VPA to well perform its core role in firmly protecting national independence, sovereignty, unification, and territorial integrity.

Maj. Gen. THAI VAN MINH, Director of the Department of Military-Political Training