Being founded on 22 August 1945, Artillery Brigade 45 (Artillery Corps) was the first towed artillery unit of the Vietnam People’s Army. Over the past 80 years of construction, combat, and maturity, in any tasks or circumstances, the Brigade has always heightened the spirit of “determination to fight and to win”, excellently fulfilling all assigned missions.

In the resistance wars against French colonialists and US imperialists, the Brigade engaged in many campaigns and hundreds of battles across the battlefields, building up its tradition of “unity, certain victory, good fighting, accurate shooting”, making great contributions to the heroic Artillery Force’s glorious feats of arms.

A gun salute task performed by the Brigade

In the period of national renovation, particularly in recent years, the Brigade has always grasped and implemented higher echelons’ resolutions and directives via creative, scientific, effective measures, gaining many accomplishments in training, combat readiness, and especially gun salute tasks, taking the lead in the Determined to Win Emulation Movement of the Corps and the Military Artillery Force. With its brilliant achievements, the Brigade and three affiliated units were given the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces. When performing its tasks, the Brigade has drawn a lot of valuable lessons as the basis for turning it into a revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern unit capable of meeting its task requirements in the new situation.

First of all, focusing on building a politically strong Brigade. During Dien Bien Phu Campaign, before the Campaign’s Party Committee and Command shifted their operational motto from “rapid fight, rapid victory” to “steady fight, steady advance”, the Brigade had experienced 9 arduous days and nights of hauling artillery into the battlefield; however, it was ordered to withdraw its weapon systems - a special situation that greatly impacted on troops’ ideology and morale. Against that backdrop, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command opportunely carried out ideological work, introducing new tasks to troops, enabling troops to clearly understand the situation and maintain their combat resolve. As a result, the Brigade was assigned to fire the first shot at Him Lam stronghold, commencing the Campaign; it resolutely held its combat positions, providing firepower for the infantry, completely suppressing the enemy’s artillery. Promoting those combat lessons, it has always focused on political education and ideological management, improving its troops’ political zeal and virtues of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers”, fostering the Artillery Force’s tradition of “bronze feet, iron shoulder, good combat, accurate shooting”, thereby enabling its cadres and soldiers to overcome all difficulties and accomplish all tasks. It has made many breakthroughs in realising Directive 2423-CT/QUTW, dated 9 November 2023, by the Central Military Commission Standing Board on renewing and improving political education in the new era. Units of the Brigade have diversified forms and methods of propagation and education, closely combining regular education with history education and task introduction, raising troops’ awareness, encouraging troops’ pride and a sense of responsibility for the unit which was named “Certain Victory” Regiment by Uncle Ho. Notably, the Brigade has required its cadres and party members to provide assistance for their subordinates and the masses, promoting its key cadres’ vanguard, example-setting roles in grasping troops’ ideological developments and helping their inferiors surmount difficulties and successfully fulfil all tasks. 

Specialised training for troops

Besides, the Brigade Party Committee has always concentrated on raising all-level party organisations’ leadership capacity and combativeness, regarding this as the key to building a politically strong Brigade. On a yearly basis, it has exercised its leadership and direction over the consolidation of all-level party organisations and the improved quality of meetings of party organisations, focusing on building “four-good party organisations and party cells”, developing a pool of cadres and party members with “five good things” as the core force in realising the goal of building a revolutionary, regular, elite, modern Brigade.

In the resistance war against US imperialists for national salvation, the Brigade was the “cradle” of the emulation movement entitled “All-round Artillerymen” as a breakthrough in increasing troops’ combat power. Notably, Company 806, with only 7 cadres and soldiers and 5 pieces of artillery only, destroyed a US company; ground mechanised artillery was used to fire at US warships during Quang Tri Campaign, forming a new combat method, enriching the Artillery Force’s combat art. Bringing into play that tradition, the Brigade has always renewed and improved training work as the basis for the building of an “elite, modern” unit. Grasping resolutions, directives, and orders on training and combat readiness, particularly Resolution 368-NQ/ĐU, dated 22 March 2023, by the Artillery Corps Party Committee on raising the quality of training in the period of 2023 - 2030 and beyond, the Brigade has issued its specialised resolution and action plans for training work. Emphasis has been placed on renewing leadership, direction, and management over training, decentralising authority in training work, and delegating specific duties for direction, inspection, guidance, and organisation in this work.

In the training process, the Brigade has adhered to the motto of “basics, practicality, solidity”, holding synchronised, comprehensive, but focalised training courses, taking the building of an “elite, modern” unit as the goal of training work. As for commands and offices, in addition to improving their knowledge of military art and fire command capacity, the Brigade has conducted job rotations among its affiliates, especially at company level to increase their capabilities in managing, organising, inspecting, and guiding artillery-based training. Regarding its units, the Brigade has actively held contests, stepping up the emulation movement entitled “All-round Artillerymen”, actively carrying out training rotations to enable troops to master various combat positions and train troops in individual and battery movements as the basis for organising joint training at company and battalion levels and for improving combat coordination between forces (artillerymen, reconnaissance, accountants, signal, and drivers). With reference to the ceremonial artillery force, the Brigade has carefully selected members of this force and organised intensive training courses under harsh weather conditions to increase their accuracy, discipline, and manoeuvrability in all situations. To meet the requirements of modern warfare, the Brigade has intensified training courses on movement during night-time and under complex weather and terrain conditions, camouflage, rapid deployment and withdrawal of artillery, combat preparation in a short period of time, and methods of manual and automated calculation and firing data identification, thereby improving its combat capacity in hi-tech warfare. As a result, its training quality and combat readiness capacity have been considerably raised; it was given Good Training Unit Flag for 4 consecutive years (2021 - 2024) by the Ministry of National Defence.

Discipline constitutes the Military’s strength. That has been tested and affirmed by the Brigade in the process of construction, combat, and maturity. Bringing into play that valuable lesson, the Brigade has always strictly maintained regularity building regulations in all operations. Offices and units across the Brigade have “worked according to their functions and acted in compliance with the Military’s troop management regulations”, intensifying measures for managing weapons, equipment, and troops, building military etiquettes, forging troops’ courage and confidence in performing their tasks. Moreover, it has heightened a sense of responsibility among its key cadres and required cadres at all levels to stay close to troops, particularly those working independently or performing important missions. It has stringently maintained regulations on grass-roots democracy and dialogues between commanders and soldiers, thereby opportunely grasping and settling emerging issues right at grass-roots level, and building strong unity and consensus within itself. 

As a strategic reserve unit of the Ministry of National Defence provided with many types of weapons and technical equipment for “manoeuvre when being ordered”, the Brigade has attached importance to streamlining its organisational structure and enhancing its logistics - technical support capacity. A part from force adjustment in its offices and units in an “adept, compact, strong” manner, the Brigade has merged its logistics office with its technical office in a close, uniform way, adjusting, supplementing, and perfecting logistics - technical documents, transferring logistics - technical materials at all levels. To raise its support capacity, it has stepped up regularity building within the logistics - technical force in line with the Campaign on managing and exploiting weapons and technical equipment effectively, sustainably, safely, economically and ensuring traffic safety and the emulation movement entitled “Military Logistics Sector follows Uncle Ho’s teachings”. At the same time, it has actively renewed methods of logistics - technical support relevant to its organisational structure and tasks, closely combining on-the-spot support with mobile support, aligning routine support with tasks-based support. Prior to important missions, it has directed its logistics - technical office to proactively design plans for organising forces, ensuring logistics - technical materials, and forecasting repair and recovery scenarios. Consequently, it has always effectively performed logistics - technical support work and well maintained the technical coefficient of its weapons and equipment for all missions, especially during exercises and gun salute tasks.

The glorious tradition and great achievements in the past 80 years have laid a solid foundation for Artillery Brigade 45 to continue building itself into a revolutionary, regular, elite, modern unit, worthy of a strategic reserve unit ready to manoeuvre, combat, and firmly protect the Fatherland in any situations.

Sr. Col. NGUYEN HUY THAI

Commander of the Brigade