Brigade 242 under Military Region 3 is tasked with training, maintaining combat readiness, and firmly protecting the northeastern seas and islands of the Fatherland. Its area of operation is a crucial strategic one which is both a forward defence line at sea and a space for economic development, trade, and foreign relations.

Due to the characteristics of the area and requirements of tasks, the Brigade's operational area is large, and its units are scattered on many offshore islands. They operate independently and face difficulties in communications, weather conditions, and daily life. Fully aware of this, over the years, the Party Committee and Command of the Brigade have deployed many comprehensive and decisive policies and solutions to promote its combined strength and enhance combat power, meeting the increasingly demanding requirements of tasks.

Leader of Military Region 3 checks preparation work before a search and rescue drill

1. Upholding the tradition of “Unity, steadfastness, and firm defence of the islands”, building a politically and organisationally strong unit.

Implementing this, first and foremost, the Brigade focuses on briefing to make its officers and soldiers firmly grasp the policies and viewpoints of the Party, the Central Military Commission, and the Ministry of National Defence on the task of protecting sea and island sovereignty; regulations, rules, and procedures on combat readiness. Regular information and propaganda are provided to ensure that troops have a correct understanding of the situation, the conspiracies and subversive tactics of reactionary forces and adversaries; the history and traditions of the Brigade, etc. In addition, it directed its agencies and units to strengthen measures to understand, manage, and orient ideology, especially for new recruits and soldiers with difficult circumstances; to thoroughly understand and strictly implement General Secretary To Lam's directive on “2 steadfasts, 2 intensifies, and 2 preventives”; thereby consolidating and building firm political resolve, high revolutionary vigilance, confidence in the tactics and weapons and equipment assigned, high determination and morale for its troops so that they will successfully complete all assigned tasks.

It is evident that wherever Party committees, commanders, especially the leading ones, fulfill their roles and responsibilities successfully, and set good examples, the role of cadres and Party members is enhanced, shines brightly, and earns respect, affection, trust, and support from everyone. Simultaneously, this motivates, encourages, and inspires officers and soldiers to follow suit, leading to the unit successful completion of all assigned tasks, and vice versa. Therefore, in recent times, the Brigade's Party Committee and Command have placed special emphasis on improving the leadership capacity of Party organisations and the effectiveness of management and command by cadres at all levels, considering this a key factor in building a strong unit in politics, ideology and organisation. Accordingly, along with focusing on building clean and strong Party committees and organisations, its Party Committee and Command require agencies and units to maintain and strictly implement the established norms and procedures for Party activities, and to strictly adhere to the principles of democratic centralism, self-criticism, and criticism; promote the exemplary role of cadres at all levels, especially those directly performing duties at sea and on islands; closely link the study and emulation of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, ethics, and style with the “Determined to Win” emulation movement and the task of sea and island defence. By doing this, the noble qualities of “Uncle Ho's soldiers” will be cultivated and maintained, creating a solid foundation for improving its overall quality and combat strength in the new situation.

Practice of air defence is conducted regularly

2. Breakthrough in intensive and area-based training, in the improvement of combat readiness level and the capability of victorious combat

In accordance with Resolution No. 396-NQ/DU, dated 22 March 2023, of the Military Region Party Committee on improving the quality of training in the period 2023-2030 and beyond, the Military-Defence Work Order of the Military Region Commander, and the guidance on implementing the combat training plan of the Military Region Staff, the Brigade focuses on building scientific and rigorous training plans, with sound and sufficient content and time as prescribed, and relevant to the characteristics of the task of protecting the sea and islands, the combat targets, and the unit's deployment area. To overcome difficulties in training, especially for a unit composing of different forces, branches, and specialties, the Brigade requires the unified understanding of the targets, combat methods, and mission requirements to make officers and soldiers in all branches and specialties fully understand their position and role, and uphold the spirit of cooperation, responsibility, and self-discipline.

During the implementation process, together with promoting innovation in training content and methods to closely reflect actual combat situations in the sea and islands, the Brigade focuses on “improving the quality of officers”. Based on the weekly and monthly training results of the units, the Brigade intensifies sudden inspections, especially of units on the islands, promptly identifying, correcting, and improving training content and methods that are weak or insufficient. At the same time, it commends and replicates effective training models and methods throughout the unit.

Due to its large area of operation and high independence, the Brigade attaches special importance to combining training with regularity building, discipline and combat readiness adherence. Implement this content, along with regularly conducting training and practicing combat readiness plans with basic and advanced scenarios, each agency and unit of the Brigade focus on improving the organisational and command skills, coordination capabilities, and situational response abilities of officers at all levels. In particular, to enhance proactive response to situations both on land, at sea, and in the air, it resolutely implements the construction of a “Sustainable Air Defence Dome” according to the plan and guidance of the Military Region. At the same time, it strictly maintains the combat readiness duty, command duty, and combat duty regimes to ensure smooth communication and that all forces and equipment are always ready for deployment. As a result, in the 2025, 100% of its officers were able to conduct training according to their rank, with 81% of battalion-level officers and 76.65% of company and platoon-level officers and above were rated good or excellent in training (35.65% excellent). All tested contents met the requirements, with 77.2% being rated good or excellent (51.6% excellent), and the Brigade itself was ranked “Excellent Training Unit”.

Conducting outreach to neighbourhood

3. Regularly coordinating closely with local Party committees, authorities, and other forces to firmly protect the sacred sea and islands of the Fatherland.

Deeply understanding the viewpoints of the Party, State, and Army on building a national defence posture, the Brigade regularly reviews and supplements regulations and plans for coordination with local Party committees, authorities, and forces stationed in the area, ensuring uniformity, synchronicity, clear responsibilities, and clear mechanisms for handling each specific situation. Strengthening coordination in gathering, exchanging, and forecasting the situation is considered a key step to proactively prevent and avoid being caught off guard. The focus is on closely coordinating with Air Defence - Air Force, Navy, and Border Guard units in monitoring and managing the situation in the air and at sea; The brigade promptly receives and processes information related to the activities of ships and aircraft, and any signs of violations of sovereignty and security in the assigned airspace, sea areas, and islands. During field exercises and civilian outreach activities, the brigade proactively assigns officers to directly monitor the local situation, provide support and guidance, and educate and mobilize the people to strictly abide by the Party's guidelines and policies, and the State's laws, especially regulations on marine resource exploitation and the protection of sovereignty and security in the sea and islands. At the same time, it deploys forces to assist localities in socio-economic development, disaster prevention and control, and search and rescue operations, especially in areas facing many difficulties.

4. Ensuring flexible and robust logistics and technical support, enhancing mobility and sustained combat capabilities.

As most of its units are stationed on offshore islands in harsh climate and weather conditions, barren land, etc., the Brigade actively promotes agricultural production, land improvement combined with water resource improvement and storage; selects crops suitable for the climate and soil on the islands. This is coupled with the expansion of the area of ​​agricultural production, the leverage of the 05 centralised processing stations, and the regular supply of materials through monthly deliveries to battalions on the islands. Moreover, it proactively coordinates with the Production Department under the Military Supply Department to develop new agricultural models, ensuring clean and good products, contributing to improving the soldiers' living standards.

Because the Brigade performs its tasks in a strategic area, managing a large volume of weapons, technical equipment, and ammunition, with a high intensity of use, while the existing storage and reserve system has yet to meet mission requirements..., on a yearly basis, it conducts thorough reviews and proactively repairs storage facilities to ensure their effective and safe operation and use. Coordinates with factories and repair workshops of the Military Region to repair weapons and equipment according to its authority. At the same time, it advises, develops, and maintains sufficient logistical and technical supplies, especially ammunition reserves, to meet combat readiness tasks in all situations. In addition, to enhance mobility and sustain long-term combat capabilities, the Brigade develops and practices plans for troop and vehicle movement in complex weather conditions; conducts training on survival skills and self-sufficiency to maintain combat readiness in all situations.

Building on the achievements gained, in the coming period, Brigade 242 will continue to implement comprehensive solutions to enhance its overall strength, manage, and firmly protect the sovereignty of the Northeastern seas and islands of the Fatherland.

Senior Colonel PHAM TUAN ANH, Brigade Commander