As the Northernmost border province of Vietnam, Ha Giang has a large area and holds a position of special importance in terms of defence, security, and diplomacy to Military Region 2 and the whole country. Grasping the Party’s viewpoints and lines on Fatherland construction and protection, over the years, the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People’s Committee have formulated various lines and measures for socio-economic development and military - defence work. Due attention has been paid to building a strong, extensive militia and self-defence force (MSF) capable of playing a crucial, vanguard role in performing military - defence tasks, building strong all-people national defence and defensive zones, responding to natural disasters and epidemics, conducting search and rescue operations, maintaining political security, and ensuring social order and safety at grass-roots level.

Combat readiness training for a militia company

First of all, the province has attached significance to raising the efficiency and effectiveness of all-level party committees and authorities’ leadership and direction over MSF building. Under the Party’s resolutions and directives, the Law on MSF, and Military Region 2’s commands, plans, and guidance, the Provincial Military Command (PMC) has cooperated with departments and sectors to assist the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People’s Council, and the Provincial People’s Committee in designing and issuing documents on MSF building in accordance with the province’s conditions and capacity. In light of the Provincial People’s Council’s Resolution 22/NQ-HĐND, dated 15 July 2022, approving the Project on MSF organisation, training, and operations, ensuring entitlements and policies for this force in the period of 2022 - 2025, the PMC has directed and instructed sectors, departments, and localities to take drastic measures for MSF building in accordance with their particularities and practical conditions. It has played a core role in propagation and dissemination work to raise awareness and a sense of responsibility among cadres and party members, especially the key ones towards MSF building, instructing offices, units, and localities to implement the Project, conducting inspections, opportunely detecting and settling drawbacks in the process. Since 2020, the province has organised 34 refresher courses; its districts and cities have organised 64 courses on the Law on MSF and legal normative documents regarding this force, with the participation of 16,348 cadres. Thanks to those efforts, the province has achieved uniformity in awareness and action, encouraging the involvement of the entire political system and people in this important task.

Under the motto “wherever there are residents and party organisations, there are MSF units”, the province has attached great value to building this force with proper quantity and structure and increasingly great synergy in each area. The province has focused on leading and directing local party committees and authorities, first and foremost military agencies to review and closely manage citizens at the registration age for joining the MSF as the basis for giving advice to party committees and authorities at the same level on selecting and initiating citizens into the MSF, discharging members from the MSF in an open, democratic, equal, close manner right from villages, and building a MSF with proper structure and increasingly high quality, particularly standing militia and mobile militia units in border areas. The province has focused its leadership and direction on raising the MSF’s political quality and reliability; localities and units have well conducted the work of task introduction and political - ideological education to render members of the MSF fully aware of their functions, tasks, pride, and duties. A part from propagation and education, the province has concentrated on improving commune-level military party cells’ leadership capacity and efficiency and developing new party members and youth union members within the MSF. Up to now, the province has built 193 militia units, 79 self-defence units, and 5 standing militia squads in border communes; members of the MSF have accounted for about 1.96% of the province’s population; the province has also established and well maintained 193 commune-level military party cells; the rate of party members within the MSF has been 30.5%.

Coordination between forces to protect border areas

The MSF’s operational effectiveness great depends on the quality of military cadres at grass-roots level. Thus, the province has actively selected and deployed typical individuals for further training as the basis for building a pool of cadres within commune-level military commands both qualitatively and quantitatively, with priority given to ethnic minorities and persons with great capacity and prestige. It has also maintained refresher courses for cadres of commune-level military commands, offices, and organisations. Emphasis has been placed on raising those cadres’ capacity to give advice to party committees and authorities on local military - defence work and improving their capabilities in organising training and exercises and commanding the MSF to coordinate with other forces in performing tasks, particularly in political security protection, patrol, and border management. At the same time, the province has frequently renewed forms and methods of training and included extra-curricular activities and visits to defensive zone and civil defence drills in training courses. Thanks to those practical, effective measures, up to now, nearly 40% of commune-level military command cadres have held Bachelor’s degree or Associate’s degree. They have been promoting their role and well performing their functions and assigned tasks; many of them have been appointed to higher positions.

The MSF represents the vanguard, direct, quickest, most opportune, and most effective force in dealing with defence - security situations at grass-roots level; more importantly, at the onset of a forest fire, flood, or landslide in isolated, remote villages, it is extremely difficult for rescue forces to seek rapid access. Thus, the province has frequently added great weight to improving the MSF’s training quality and operational effectiveness. Under directives, guidance, and the motto of “basics, practicality, quality”, the province has required offices and localities to renew forms and methods of training relevant to weapons, equipment, tasks, and practical conditions, decentralise training work, closely combine military training with political education, law dissemination, and defence and security education. In the process, great value has been attached to training the MSF to grasp infantry tactics and skills, exploit weapons, equipment, and supporting tools, master on-the-spot combat projects, plans on coordination with other forces in maintaining political security, ensuring social order and safety, and conducting patrols along the border, and well execute search and rescue projects. On a yearly basis, prior to the training season, the province has directed localities to review the MSF’s organisational structure, well prepare personnel, facilities, training grounds, and training equipment, and organise refresher courses for cadres at all levels. To deal with difficulties in ensuring the MSF’s strength for training work due to poor traffic infrastructure and scattered population, the province has directed all-level military agencies to design plans and promptly inform localities of the assembly time to enable localities to proactively arrange training schedules. Full-time training courses within district-level military commands have been organised for first-year members of the MSF, mobile militias, and specialised militias. The PMC has assigned its Staff Office to directly hold training courses for air defence militia and self-defence companies; other components of the MSF have been trained within communes. To bring the MSF closer to combat realities, the province has increased training courses and contests on combat projects for area protection and projects for coordination with other forces in settling defence - security situations at grass-roots level. At the same time, the province has practised mobilising the MSF in defensive zone, civil defence, and flood and forest fire response exercises. As a result, on an annual basis, all units of the MSF have accomplished their training programs, with the attendance rate standing at 95%; 75% - 80% of the units have been rated good in training work.

In addition to raising the quality of training, the province has promoted the MSF’s role in encouraging the people to adhere to the Party’s lines and the State’s laws and policies and take part in natural disaster prevention and mitigation, new-style rural area construction, removal of temporary and dilapidated houses, forest protection, economic development, hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and defence - security consolidation, especially in isolated, remote, key areas. The MSF has been encouraged to coordinate with other forces in conducting patrols to maintain political security, ensure social order and safety, and protect border safety. Since 2023, the MSF has carried out 5,759 troop deployments for joint patrols with the Border Guard Force along the border; it has also conducted 3,863 troop deployments in response to floods, landslides, and forest fires; its members have spent thousands of working days on building new-style rural areas and removing temporary and dilapidated houses.

A part from those above-mentioned measures, the province has frequently paid due regard to ensuring policies and entitlements for the MSF. Despite its economic difficulties, the province has always given top priorities to defence tasks; its departments, sectors, and localities have proactively mobilised resources under statutory regulations to provide sufficient policies, entitlements, materials, and equipment for the MSF, thereby opportunely encouraging the MSF to overcome hardships and successfully fulfil all assigned tasks.

With the participation of the entire political system, Ha Giang province has succeeded in building a strong, extensive MSF capable of an important role in performing military defence tasks, protecting border security, maintaining political security, and ensuring social order and safety, worthy of a reliable force of local party committees, authorities, and citizens.

Sr. Col. LAI TIEN GIANG

Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Board

Commander of the PMC