Signal Brigade 601 (Military Region 1) is principally tasked with ensuring communications for the entire Military Region and assisting the Military Region Command in directing agencies and units to perform military and defence missions. This is a highly demanding task that requires the maintenance of a seamless communications “lifeline” under any circumstances.

When performing its tasks, the Brigade encounters numerous difficulties due to the dispersion of its forces across a large area, including the provinces of Lang Son, Cao Bang, Thai Nguyen, and Bac Ninh. Harsh weather conditions, natural disasters, and severe floods directly affect the safety, stability, and quality of communications networks. The professional qualifications of cadres and employees remain uneven, and to some extent have yet to keep pace with the rapid development of technical equipment. With a deep awareness of its duties, the Brigade has overcome all difficulties to successfully fulfil its assigned tasks, ensure timely, accurate, confidential, safe, reliable, seamless communications across networks and directions, and provide communications for the Military Region’s regular and irregular missions. From the outcomes of its task performance, the Brigade has drawn several lessons as follows.

Soldiers of the Brigade consolidate communications systems prior to their training season (photo: qdnd.vn)

First of all, enhancing education work to raise awareness and a sense of responsibility among cadres and soldiers towards their tasks. Signal Corps is a specialised force that always “moves first and returns last”, operating across a wide area and at a high intensity. Its duties require strict, continuous monitoring and maintenance of technical equipment around the clock, with many teams and stations operating in a dispersed manner and with a high degree of independence. Hence, enabling cadres, employees, and soldiers to remain political steadfastness, fully comply with orders and discipline, and maintain readiness for surmounting difficulties and successfully fulfilling all assigned tasks is of utmost importance. To that end, the Brigade has focused on effectively conducting political and ideological education work to foster resolve, a sense of responsibility, and political steadfastness among its troops. Emphasis has been placed on rendering troops fully aware of the functions, tasks, and traditions of the Signal Corps, the Military Region, and the Brigade itself, studying higher echelons’ resolutions, directives, and regulations on training and combat readiness, carrying out law dissemination and education, introducing regulations on safe, secret, timely, accurate information transmission.

Over the years, the Brigade has directed its agencies and units to implement Directive 2423-CT/QUTW, dated 09 November 2023, by the Central Military Commission Standing Board on “renewing and improving political education in the new period”, strictly observe the Grass-roots Democracy Regulations, intensify inspection and supervision, and maintain a firm grasp of troops’ ideological situation to resolve emerging issues and avoid passivity, especially among personnel at remote, isolated stations. Notably, it has applied various appropriate measures to build pure, strong party organisations and “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong units, encourage the exemplary role of its cadres and party members, and enhance the Movement on “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s Soldiers in the new era”, the Determined to Win Emulation Movement, and other campaigns. As a result, 100% of the Brigade’s cadres, employees, and soldiers have kept their mind on their work, displaying a strong sense of responsibility, readily undertaking and successfully accomplishing all assigned missions.

Second, proactively renewing and improving training quality, strictly maintaining duty routines and combat readiness at all levels. The Brigade has grasped and concretised resolutions, directives, and guidance from higher echelons, while leading and directing its affiliates to raise their training quality for target groups under the motto: “skilled in traditional communications, expert in mobile communications, fully mastering hi-tech communications equipment”. Despite the fact that the Brigade has to train multiple groups on various types of equipment and perform both training and communications support tasks simultaneously with dispersed forces, it has directed its affiliates to elaborately prepare training plans, schedules, grounds, and models. Great value has been attached to holding refresher courses to improve the professional competence and methodology of cadres, especially platoon-level, company-level cadres and new graduates, considering the training and development of cadres as the key factor, and regarding the training of specialised staff members as the centre.

In the training process, the Brigade has adhered to the guiding principle of “basics, practicality, solidity” and focused on synchronous, specialised training relevant to its tasks and operational areas. All-level cadres have been trained to master combat and training staff work, closely manage and operate communications, and fully grasp the principles and methods of ensuring communications for various forms of warfare, particularly joint operations in hi-tech warfare. Meanwhile, units have been trained to proficiently operate their assigned communications equipment, especially new, modern systems, enhance their mobility and ability to interconnect communications networks, deploy stations under complex weather conditions, and maintain communications under enemy electronic suppression. In addition, the Brigade has attached great importance to raising the effectiveness of training management and direction in a “centralised, unified, synchronised, efficient” manner without any overlaps, while promoting decentralisation and delegation of authority in training work. It has actively applied science and technology, especially simulation software, in specialised training to increase visualisation and methodology. Besides, the Brigade has enhanced inspection to strictly handle violations of training regulations. As a result, the Brigade has been awarded the “Excellent Training Unit” Flag by the Ministry of National Defence for many consecutive years.

In order to ensure the communications “lifeline”, the Brigade has strictly maintained duty routines at all levels, especially at the main signal station supporting the Military Region Headquarters, under the principle of “maintaining equipment and stations at all times and in all places”, providing timely troubleshooting. It has rigorously upheld standard procedures and discipline in communications assurance, decisively preventing errors, leaks, or delays, strengthening the management of its personnel, weapons, equipment, and means according to the chain of command. It has promptly reviewed, adjusted, and supplemented its documentation system according to the Military Region’s operational resolution, reallocating, supplementing, and prioritising forces and technical means for units in charge of combat readiness, disaster response, and search and rescue, as well as for general stations, teams and stations in the key directions, and mobile communication units. It has proactively, closely collaborated with local party committees, authorities, and telecoms enterprises to grasp telecoms infrastructures, develop bypassing communications projects, and enhance strong, reliable, seamless communications in all situations.

Third, enhancing the capability to master and effectively use modern technical equipment. As the force being built straight to modernity and provided with many advanced equipment systems, mastering and effectively operating such equipment is a decisive requirement. Therefore, the Brigade has directed its affiliates to select qualified cadres and technical employees to attend refresher courses on transfer of new technologies, such as operational-level mobile television system and VSM3 radio reconnaissance system, so as to build a core force in managing, operating, and repairing technical equipment. It has established specialised teams in charge of compiling training materials and holding professional “standardisation” programs for all staff members, from Brigade Command to offices and units. Seniors have been required to train juniors; offices have been asked to provide guidance for units; highly skilled employees have been requested to mentor new ones, especially radio operators. After each training phase, the Brigade has seriously carried out assessments and testing to opportunely correct shortcomings and draw lessons. At the same time, it has created favourable conditions for its staff members to pursue self-study and continuously improve their professional competence. With those scientific, appropriate measures, the Brigade has mastered, operated, and effectively utilised all modern equipment in service.

Fourth, effectively conducting support work, especially technical support, as a deciding factor in the quality, stability, and reliability of the communications system. Accordingly, the Brigade has directed its affiliates to foster the spirit of “good maintenance, durable use, safety, thrift” among their cadres, employees, and soldiers, strictly maintain the registration, management, and documentation of equipment’s technical status, maintenance, and repair, ensure maintenance services for stations, cable routes, and technical equipment, and replace outdated, damaged, or expired equipment. It has directed its technical units and forces to increase inspection along key directions and routes to detect and fix faults, restore technical conditions, ensure seamless communications networks, and stockpile sufficient technical equipment for rapid replacement in case of major breakdowns. It has regularly upgraded its repair workshops, improving the storage and minor repair capabilities of its affiliates, prioritising the use of mobile repair teams for incident response. It has well implemented the Campaign entitled “managing and exploiting weapons and technical equipment effectively, durably, safely, economically, and ensuring traffic safety”, promoting technical initiatives and innovations, applying science and technology in equipment use, maintenance, and repair, considering this an important criterion for assessing emulation work.

A part from technical support, the Brigade has directed its agencies and units to ensure logistics support and step up crop and animal husbandry to improve soldiers’ meals. It has focused on raising the quality of healthcare to sustain a high rate of healthy personnel (over 99%). Special attention has been paid to providing logistics support for combat readiness, disaster response, and search and rescue as well as for small, remote, and isolated stations and posts.

The achievements mentioned above not only demonstrate the tireless efforts and strong sense of responsibility of the Brigade’s cadres, employees, and soldiers, but also lay a solid foundation for the Brigade to keep maintaining the communications “lifeline” for Military Region 1’s successful fulfilment of all assigned missions.

Sr. Col. NGUYEN BA VINH

Commander of the Brigade