In more than 50 years of construction, combat, and maturity, Commando Brigade 113 has obtained a lot of resounding feats of arms, contributing to bolstering the heroic Commando Force’s tradition of “special fighting skills, courage, resourcefulness and boldness, striking key positions to win great victories”. Fully aware of their pride and great responsibility as an elite force ready for special missions, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have always drastically taken synchronised measures to build a politically elite Brigade as the basis for raising the unit’s synergy and combat power, meeting their task requirements in all situations.

Gen. Phan Van Giang, Minister of National Defence during his visit to the Brigade in April 2023

To that end, first of all, the Brigade has attached significance to propagation and education work, building its troops’ political steadfastness and absolute loyalty to the Party, Fatherland, and people, fostering its staff members’ resolve against all difficulties, hardships, and sacrifice, encouraging its cadres and soldiers to readily undertake and excellently fulfil any assigned tasks. This is a fundamental measure aimed at ensuring that the Brigade would always be a “vanguard force” of the Commando Corps in charge of “striking key positions to win great victories”. In addition to renewing and improving political education and ideological orientation under Directive 2423-CT/QUTW, dated 9 November 2023, by the Central Military Commission (CMC) Standing Board, on “renewing and improving political education in the new period”, the Brigade has actively executed Conclusion 21-KL/TW, dated 25 October 2021, by the Party Central Committee, on enhancing the building and rectification of the Party and political system, resolutely preventing, pushing back, and strictly handling degradation in political ideology, ethics, and lifestyle and signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” among its cadres and party members; it has also stepped up the CMC’s Resolution 847-NQ/QUTW, dated 28 December 2021, on “promoting the virtues of Uncle Ho’s Soldiers, resolutely fighting individualism in the new situation”. It has adopted various forms of propagation and education, such as political talk shows, topics-based political meetings, knowledge contests, and youth forums. It has focused on traditional history education, providing information and ideological orientation for its troops against complex, sensitive issues throughout the world and in the region, unmasking hostile forces’ plots and artifices, and studying the topic: “improving troops’ political steadfastness and faith in commando tactics”. This approach has enabled all cadres and soldiers to grasp situational developments, partners, opponents, tasks, and measures and transform their awareness into specific actions in practice.

A part from educational work, the Brigade has enhanced ideological management and orientation, grasping and resolutely combating wrong viewpoints, sustaining the “ideological foundation” right at grass-roots level. Under higher echelons’ directives and guidance, the Brigade has regularly carried out ideological work, closely combining “building” with “fighting”, actively renewing and making content and methods of ideological work more persuasive and effective. It has directed all-level party committees and commands to proactively grasp and forecast situational developments, opportunely handle emerging issues, ambiguity, and a lack of vigilance to avoid ideological passivity. It has promoted the role of political cadres, party cell secretaries, key cadres, Soldiers’ Councils, and Youth Unions in grasping troops’ ideological issues and aspirations and proposing remedial solutions. It has stepped up inspection and supervision of each individual and affiliate’s task performance to promptly detect and rectify wrongdoings and formalism. Besides, it has focused on building and encouraging Force 47 to resolutely, opportunely fight and prevent evil information in cyber space from negatively affecting troop ideology.

The Brigade Command inspects troops’ preparatory work prior to a mission

Commando troops’ combat operations are highly independent and frequently confronted with dangerous, complex situations. To accomplish all tasks, party committees, commanders, and political commissars play a role of utmost importance to the decision-making process in combat. Therefore, the Brigade Party Committee has attached great value to improving leadership capacity and combativeness of party organisations and key cadres at all levels. To that end, the Brigade has regularly consolidated all-level party committees and party organisations both qualitatively and quantitatively, with a focus on building “four-good” party cells and a corps of “cadres and party members with five exemplary things”. Since early 2025, the Brigade Party Committee has exercised its leadership over preparations, namely personnel, documents, and support work for all-level party congresses, creating prerequisites for successfully organising the Brigade Party Organisation’s 19^th Congress, ensuring and strengthening its leadership over all operations and missions. To raise the quality of leadership and direction in practice, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have taken measures to improve combativeness in party cells’ meetings, the quality of resolutions, and the execution of resolutions among all-level party organisations, adhering to democratic centralism, collective leadership, and individual accountability, strictly maintaining the Party’s regulations, heightening the “seven dares” spirit among cadres and party members. At the same time, the Brigade has raised the effectiveness and efficiency of inspection and supervision work under the motto “supervision must be expanded, inspection must be focalised”. As a result, on a yearly basis, all party organisations have fulfilled their tasks; 90% of them have successfully or excellently fulfilled their tasks; over 95% of party members have successfully or excellently accomplished their tasks. This is a deciding factor in the building of a politically elite Brigade.

Furthermore, the Brigade has regularly concentrated on building a diverse, healthy cultural environment. Under directives by the Brigade Party Committee, units of the Brigade have widely, deeply implemented models and movements, such as “learning one teaching of Uncle Ho on a daily basis” and “doing one good thing as instructed by Uncle Ho on a daily basis”. Youth unions have organised talk shows, forums, and knowledge contests, such as “youths of the Brigade study and follow Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics, and lifestyle” and “youths of the Brigade follow Uncle Ho’s teachings”. Consequently, youth union members and young soldiers have been motivated to improve their political steadfastness, sense of responsibility, morality, lifestyle, military knowledge, work style, fitness, and self-discipline; they have fostered internal unity and a close-knit bond with the people.

Fully aware that the building of a politically elite unit can’t be detached from the training of troops, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have enhanced the training of troops via practical activities in a bid to build troops’ political steadfastness and combat morale and improve troops’ task performance, courage, resourcefulness, loyalty, and readiness to sacrifice for the Fatherland. To that end, the Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have combined military training with political education, discipline management, and troop morality and military courtesy training. Notably, in order to foster troops’ willpower, a part from training programs under regulations, over the years, the Brigade has developed and realised new training initiatives with high, comprehensive requirements, such as survival skills in harsh wildlife conditions, airborne landing, and operations in mountainous, urban, plain, sea, and island areas. As a result, cadres and soldiers have gained experiences close to combat realities as the basis for improving their willpower, sense of discipline, and flexible response to every difficult, complex situation. Besides, the Brigade has assigned specific tasks to its cadres in emulation models and group activities; it has delegated its young cadres to be in charge of working teams and groups, with a view to creating a vibrant emulation atmosphere, positive pressure, and a yardstick for personnel evaluation and planning work.

In addition to those above-mentioned measures, the Brigade has paid due regard to well carrying out policy work, bettering its troops’ material and mental life, enabling its cadres and soldiers to dedicate themselves to their work. The Brigade’s Party Committee and Command have strictly ensured sufficient policies and entitlements for in-service soldiers, demobilised soldiers, and retired cadres under regulations. The Brigade has always promoted democracy, openness, and transparency in guaranteeing individual benefits and public housing policies. It has cooperated with local authorities and organisations in executing policies regarding military families. “Paying debt of gratitude” activities and programs to construct “houses of great unity”, “houses of comradeship”, and “charity houses” have been closely, opportunely carried out; consequently, spiritual motivations have been created to encourage all troops to overcome all difficulties and build an “exemplarily, typically” comprehensively strong and really politically elite Brigade.

Thanks to its drastic, synchronised measures, over the past 5 years, the Brigade has always successfully accomplished its assigned missions; it has always taken the lead in the Commando Corps’ Determined to Win Emulation Movement; it has been given the Flag of “Good Training Unit” by the Ministry of National Defence and the Corps. In 2022, it was honoured with First-Class Fatherland Protection Order. In 2024, it took part in making preparations and ensuring absolute safety for Vietnam International Defence Expo and other activities on occasion of the 80^th Founding Anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army.

Bringing into play those recorded results, Brigade 113 will continue devoting efforts to building an increasingly politically elite unit, boosting its synergy and combat power, readily undertaking and excellently accomplishing all assigned tasks, contributing to bolstering the heroic Commando Corps’ glorious tradition.

Sr. Col. NGUYEN VAN PHA

Political Commissar of the Brigade