To meet the development of the three-category artillery force, on June 13^th 1979, the Technical Bureau (the forerunner of the Technical Department) was founded and tasked with advising the Artillery Corps’ Party Committee and Command on the technical work, directing the technical work of the reserve artillery force comprehensively, and grasping the technical work of the artillery force within the whole Military. Over the past 40 years of construction and development, the Technical Branch’s staff members have always heightened self-reliance to overcome all hardships and difficulties, fulfil the assigned task, and make great contributions to the Artillery Corps’ glorious achievements. In recent years, the technical work has witnessed new developments while the Artillery Corps’ materiel has been used for ages and degraded, and its demand for repair and synchronization has been great. However, technical staff’s capacity in some specialities has yet to meet the requirements; facilities and technical equipment have been limited; the annual budget is small; units in need of technical support are scattered all over the country; the supply of spare parts and materials is limited. Against that backdrop, the Technical Department has determined to perform its task comprehensively, improve the quality of technical work as the centre, implement 3 breakthroughs as the key, and provide technical support for training, combat readiness, and exercises. As a result, the Corps’ technical work has achieved many reforms, and its quality and effectiveness have kept improving. The Branch has always well maintained the technical condition of materiel and fulfiled many targets of the projects for materiel synchronization, upgradation, and innovation, thereby greatly contributing to raising the Corps’ combat strength and building the Corps comprehensively strong.

A training course on technical inspection of the R17E missile system

To achieve those results, first of all, the Branch has attached importance to fulfilling its advisory function and promoting its core role in directing and performing the technical work. Grasping the directives and resolutions on the technical work, particularly the Central Military Commission’s Resolution 382/NQ-ĐUQSTW, the Branch has counselled all-level party committees and commands to strengthen direction and leadership over implementing the measures to improve the quality of technical work, particularly the Campaign 50, thereby ensuring technical support for training and combat readiness. At the same time, it has advised the Corps’ Command and the General Technical Department on exercising leadership over the technical support for training and combat readiness and the building of the artillery force within the whole Military. In this regard, focuses have been placed on materiel planning, use, transfer, liquidation and acquisition as well as on development and implementation of the projects for materiel innovation and upgradation. In addition, the Branch has attached significance to building and completing the regulations and procedures for materiel management and exploitation; to maintaining the order for technical work to ensure the synchronicity and effectiveness within offices and units. Technical offices at all levels have actively performed the work of maintenance and repair, particularly technical maintenance after training. At the same time, they have provided sufficient technical support for combat readiness, closely managed depots, maintained the regulations on safety for materiel during training and traffic safety, and opportunely overcome weaknesses. Besides, the Branch has cooperated with offices and units in stepping up the propagation and introduction of the technical work’s position and importance to the Artillery Corps’ improved combat strength and units’ fulfilment of political task. Doing so has helped raise cadres and soldiers’ awareness and responsibility, encourage the participation of a large number of cadres and soldiers, and create the synergy in performing the technical work.

To improve the quality of the technical work and proactively make the plans on modernizing the artillery materiel, the Branch has focused on consolidating its organizational structure and building high-quality technical personnel. To do so, the Department has counselled the Corps’ Command to make adjustments in the manpower between offices and units; to attach importance to staffing the newly-founded units; and to prepare the human resources and build a contingent of cadres and technical employees with sufficient quantity and proper structure. The Corps has taken various measures to build a contingent of cadres and technical employees with political zeal and standard professional competence in each position, with priority given to top cadres and technicians at stations, workshops, and grass-roots level units. At the same time, it has directed offices and units to diversify forms of training, combine on-spot training with intensive training, and strictly maintain the order for the technical training work on a yearly basis. The Branch has adhered to the training motto of “basics, practicality, thorough grasp, and relevance to units’ reality” and further provided in-service training courses for technical staff, particularly graduate cadres, ensuring that each staff member is “good at one position and knows how to be in charge of many other positions”. At the same time, it has required offices and units to combine detachment-level technical training with training to exploit materiel and maintain the order for monthly training courses, with a focus on specialized contents with high requirements and particularly the work of maintaining the innovated or newly supplemented equipment. To do so, the Branch has combined the training courses with practice of maintaining and repairing materiel and encouraged its staff to heighten self-study and self-improvement via their daily work. Most notably, the Department has required technical staff to stay close to inferior units and soldiers to inspect and train them, rectify their weaknesses, and gradually standardize the technical work. Up to now, 100% of the Corps’ technical cadres have been Bachelor holders; 13 of them have held master degree and doctorate; its technicians have been capable of the assigned task.

Maintaining weapons and equipment

Currently, most of the weapons and technical equipment of the reserve artillery units in charge training and combat readiness have been used intensively in harsh climate condition; therefore, they have degraded, and their lifespan has been shortened. As a result, the Branch has always attached great value to improving the quality of maintaining materiel’s technical condition. To do so, the Department has directed all-level technical offices to stringently maintain the order for the technical work, raise the quality of “Technical Day”, and closely manage the quality of materiel. In the process, the Branch has set store by improving the quality of maintenance and repair at units and encouraging technical staff to further undertake researches and apply new technologies to repairing laser, infrared equipment, missile details, and electric-electronic equipment as well as manufacturing and restoring spare parts that have been no longer available in the market. At the same time, it has advised the Corps on making investments in comprehensively upgrading technical establishments under the Corps’ management in order to provide technical support at each level; on bringing into play the stations, workshops, and modern equipment to implement the projects to synchronize materiel and extend its lifespan. Besides, the Branch has directed units to play the core role in promoting technical initiatives and innovations to maintain, repair and preserve materiel. As a result, the targets of the Corps’ technical work have always been achieved; the Corps’ materiel’s technical condition has always been maintained and ready for all tasks.

Weapons and equipment under the Corps’ management are large and diverse with a lot of devices. To closely manage the number and quality of weapons and equipment, the Branch has attached importance to raising the quality of technical management and standard order building. First of all, the Branch has built a uniformed system of records, actively applied information technology to managing materiel, strictly maintained the order for inventory and the procedures for transferring materiel, particularly the ammo, frequently updated the system of records, and inter-appraised data among sectors and units at all levels. Moreover, the Branch has decentralized materiel management and use and endowed collectives and individuals with responsibility for this work. Notably, the Branch has directed units to actively build standard order at technical establishments, renew their staff’s working style, and improve their attitude towards their work. To make it effective, the Branch has built role-model units alternately and intensified the organization of contests for materiel, technical zones, depots, stations, workshops, missiles, and specialized military hardware, thereby raising units’ responsibility and quality of technical work. In addition to the above-mentioned measures, the Branch has actively promoted its core role in implementing the Campaign 50, advised the Corps to combine the Campaign with the Determined to Win emulation movement, and considered this as a central point in the implementation of the 12^th Politburo’s Directive 05-CT/TW on the studying and following of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, ethics and lifestyle, and the Campaign entitled “promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers”. Doing so has contributed to encouraging the strength of all collectives and individuals to achieve the technical work’s targets and raising the quality of this work.

The recorded results provide a foundation for the Artillery Corps’ Technical Branch to continue promoting their capability in performing the technical work, bolstering its tradition of “proactiveness, creativity, and self-reliance”, and making the Artillery Corps “revolutionary, regular, seasoned, gradually modern”.

Sr. Col. Pham Hong Sinh, Head of the Corps’ Technical Department