Training new soldiers represents an important, routine task of Air Defence Division 375. In 2025, the Division was assigned to train 1,000 new soldiers for itself and Air Force Officer College by Air Defence - Air Force Service. In spite of hot weather condition, limited training facilities, and major changes in its contingent of core cadres, under close, timely leadership and direction of party committees and commands at all levels, the Division remained unity and devoted efforts to overcoming difficulties and successfully fulfilling this important task. Within 3 months, it accomplished all political education, military training, logistics and technical support training programs for new soldiers under regulations. A majority of soldiers had a solid grasp of the combat characteristics, structure, functions, and operating principles of the weapons, explosives, explosive devices, and grenades in service, mastering shooting techniques, knowing how to assemble explosive devices, pack explosives, and use them to destroy targets both in daytime and night-time, and throw grenades accurately over long distance.

Conference to review combat training, regularity building, and discipline management in 2024 by the Division (photo: qdnd.vn)

The Division also conducted sectional live-fire drills, combined live-fire exercises, and grenade throwing with live explosives, as well as practical evaluations of the three required detonations for new soldiers under regulations, with absolute safety. All training sections were rated good, 85% of them were rated very good or excellent; troop health was improved; all new soldiers strictly observed discipline and kept their mind on their work; the Division ensured absolute safety and was given a Certificate of Merit by the Service.

When managing and training new soldiers over the years, the Division has drawn several lessons which could be seen as measures as follows.

First, focusing leadership and direction on closely, effectively performing the task of training new soldiers. Following directives and guidance by the Ministry of National Defence and the Service, the Division Party Committee issues a specialised resolution on new soldier training, identifies measures of leadership and direction properly, and assigns duties to its members according to their functions and assigned tasks. It leads and directs party committees and commands of units in charge of training new soldiers to release their own specialised resolutions and design action plans/programs closely. Great value is attached to concretising the content and targets of the Resolution of the Division Party Committee into measures of leadership and implementation relevant to units’ task requirements with specific targets, and aligning the responsibility of party committees and commands with the training outcome of their units.

Offices and units well carry out education work, foster awareness, resolve, and a sense of responsibility among cadres and soldiers, mobilise all resources, and bring into play synergy of forces and organisations in training tasks. Coordination between offices and units is closely maintained; the role of offices in inspecting, guiding, and assisting units is upheld. Units frequently adhere to their higher echelons’ directions and promote their cadres’ role in giving flexible advice, proposing proper measures to raise the quality of training, and taking drastic action in training tasks. Inspection work at all levels is intensified to evaluate each piece of work, opportunely draw lessons, adjust measures, and completely settle weaknesses of each individual and level right in the training process. As a result, leaderships and commands at all levels as well as organisations and forces operate uniformly, flexibly, and effectively right from the first days of receiving and training new soldiers.

Second, proactively making comprehensive preparations. Fully aware that human resources, especially cadres play a decisive role, the Division attaches special importance to selecting and training all-level cadres to improve their knowledge and competence. As many cadres are selected from different units, take part in training new soldiers for the first time, and lack skills in grasping troop ideology, the Division focuses on holding refresher courses to improve their methods of management and command and their skills in organising training work, providing standard movements for soldiers, and holding revision courses in an accurate, scientific, and proper manner. After refresher courses, it organises tests according to each group of cadres to correctly evaluate its cadres’ theoretical knowledge and practical performance, especially regarding line-up regulation, shooting, explosive charging, grenade throwing, methods of training and commanding troops and units as the basis for deploying cadres according to training tasks. As a result, the quality of cadres at all levels improves significantly; all cadres are capable of training work at their levels, 80% of them are rated very good or excellent. While the Division proactively designs plans, its offices and units actively make preparations for receiving and training new soldiers. Due attention is paid to repairing and upgrading barracks, constructing and adjusting training grounds, supplementing facilities and training equipment, developing new auxiliary training models, and proactively working with friendly units within the stationed areas to ensure sufficient training grounds, swimming pools, and classrooms.

Giving guidance on arranging personal military kit to new soldiers (photo: qdnd.vn)

From squad to battalion levels, units actively upgrade, renew, and standardise boards, signs, frames, and administrative records, receive and distribute sufficient training documents and materials. The Division requires its cadres to proactively study and design training documents and lesson plans in a correct, sufficient, uniform fashion under regulations. It carefully, formally organises the reception of new soldiers and strictly maintains regulations right from the first days.

Third, maintaining flexible in management and operation, actively renewing content and methods of training new soldiers. Staff work, documentation system, and devolution in training are provided sufficiently, uniformly, synchronously from the Division to its battalions, appropriate to the training of new soldiers. Based on higher echelons’ plans and guidance as well as units’ particularities and task requirements, all-level leaderships and commands flexibly manage training work and conduct training rotations in accordance with weather and training ground conditions.

In the training process, units across the Division adhere to mottos, viewpoints, principles, connections, and programs for new soldier training, and develop plans scientifically and properly. Great weight is added to ensuring safety in all areas, aligning training with regularity building and discipline management, and closely combining military training with political education, ideological orientation, and physical training. Consideration is given to stringently maintaining regulations on training work, holding training courses from basic to advanced levels, associating theoretical knowledge with practice, rotating practice sessions, and organising practical and extracurricular training activities. Emphasis is placed on promoting the role of all-level cadres, especially squad commanders in guiding and maintaining practice.

After each training section, subject, or module, units organise tests to evaluate the outcome of training, opportunely draw lessons, and improve the quality of subsequent training sessions. After the first week or first month of training, units organise contests to assess their detachments’ performance and each soldier’s training outcome as the basis for standardising training content and classifying troops into specific groups. Content of training, tests, and contests is developed into detailed videos for cadres and soldiers to review, draw lessons, and seek new measures to promote their strong points and settle their weaknesses. At the end of a training course, battalions design plans and hold contests between their units to comprehensively assess the training quality of all subjects, cadres’ commanding and operational capacity, and soldiers’ practical skills, thereby drawing lessons for enhancing the quality of training new soldiers in the subsequent years.

Fourth, bringing into play the effectiveness of party and political work in the training of new soldiers. Plans on party and political work in the training of new soldiers are developed proactively and implemented seriously by units. In order to encourage cadres and soldiers to successfully fulfil their tasks, right at the outset, the Division launches emulation movements, such as “Lightning speed - determination to win” and “Youths of Division 375 demonstrate courage and aspirations, play a pioneering, creative role, and bolster tradition”. Via political and history education, units attach importance to rendering troops fully aware of their tasks, building political steadfastness, and stimulating the pride in becoming “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” to perform the sacred duty of Fatherland protection. Units always pay regard to boosting troop morale on the training ground via diverse, creative forms integrated with party and political work so as to reduce pressure and sustain troops’ motivations.

New soldiers of the Division come from many provinces and cities stretching from the Central Coast to the Southeast and Southwest regions, with differences in their customs and educational background. Under the motto “units are home, cadres and soldiers are brothers”, the Division requires its cadres to “eat with, live with, and work with” soldiers, understand each soldier’s psychological characteristics, regularly keep in touch with soldiers’ families and localities to grasp troops’ ideology and social relationships and encourage troops to step by step adapt to units’ regulations. Due regard is paid to giving encouragements to soldiers in difficulty to enable them to keep their mind on their work.

Affiliates of the Division collaborate with friendly units, local youth unions, and twinned units to develop plans for recreation in days off and rest hours, effectively organise activities, such as sport competitions, practice of 5 group dances, cultural festival “Singing and dances of privates”, and forum “Youths of Division 375 display ideological steadfastness and abide by the State’s law and the Military’s discipline”, and take part in extracurricular activities, with a view to enabling new soldiers to keep their mind on their work and acquire memorable experiences during their military service.

Those recorded results and lessons provide a solid foundation for the Division to continue renewing and improving the training of new soldiers in the years to come.

Sr. Col. DAO HONG PHUONG

Commander of the Division