Military force is one of the key affairs, holding a position of special importance directly linked to the task of building and strengthening the combat power of the military. Deeply aware of the assigned heavy responsibilities, the Department of Military Forces (DMF), under the General Staff, has promoted its glorious traditions, concentrated on implementing synchronised solutions to enhance comprehensive capabilities, deserving to be a strategic advisory and directive body in force organisation, meeting requirements of military building, national defence consolidation, and Homeland protection in the new era.

Immediately after success of the August Revolution, along with the establishment of the General Staff, the precursor organisations of the DMF were formed. Over 80 years of building, combat, and development, generations of officers, staff, and soldiers of the Department have remained united, ingenious, proactive, and creative, successfully performing the strategic advisory and directive function in terms of personnel management, organisational structure, and equipment. They have achieved many outstanding feats, making important contributions to the building and development of the People’s Armed Forces, the Viet Nam People’s Army (VPA), and to victories of the national liberation struggle and the cause of building and defending the Homeland.

During the two resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism, despite countless difficulties, limited manpower and rudimentary expertise, the corps of military personnel officers thoroughly grasped the Party’s guideline, closely followed realities of the battlefield, and actively conducted research and provided advice to the General Staff, the Central Military Party Committee (now the Central Military Commission (CMC)), and the Ministry of National Defence (MND) on policies and solutions for building military organisation and tri-component armed forces, meeting the evolving requirements of the people’s war and the protracted, all-people, all-aspect resistance war. Alongside effectively managing personnel, organisational structure, weapons, and equipment, and advising on adjusting and reinforcing forces across battlefields, the Military Force branch laid the foundation for developing and perfecting organisational structures and equipment across tactical, operational, and strategic units. These efforts contributed significantly to building a military that “grew stronger with every battle.” From initial platoons and companies armed with rudimentary weapons and organised into “independent companies and concentrated battalions,” the military evolved into regiments, divisions, mobile army corps, services and technical arms equipped with increasingly modern weapons, capable of conducting operations and strategic campaigns. Together with the entire people, the VPA created resounding victories that “shook the globe,” culminating in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign in 1954 and the Great Spring Victory of 1975, bringing the struggle for national liberation to a glorious conclusion.   

Entering the period when the entire country undertook the two strategic tasks, the DMF quickly consolidated its organisation, actively innovated, and raised the quality of its functions, ensuring that personnel work across the VPA became regularised and standardised. It provided advice on formulating and guiding effective implementation of resolutions, directives, conclusions, and many projects related to force organisation and procurement of weapons and equipment. This successfully fulfilled its strategic advisory role in the specialised field, making breakthroughs in force organisation, staffing, equipment, and mobilisation, thus substantially enhancing military and defence capabilities and combat power of the VPA, building a revolutionary, regular, elite, gradually modernised military with some services, arms, and units advancing straight to modernity to meet requirements of safeguarding the Fatherland in the new situation.

Lt. Gen. Le Van Huong announces the establishment of the Artillery and Missile Command

Notably, in recent years, the Department has taken the lead in coordinating functional agencies of the MND to research and advise the CMC on reviewing the Politburo’s Conclusion No. 16-KL/TW dated 7 July 2017 on the organisation of the VPA through 2021, and to submit proposals to the Politburo (13th tenure) to issue the Resolution No. 05-NQ/TW dated 17 January 2022 on the organisation of the VPA for the 2021 - 2030 period and beyond. Additionally, it coordinated formulation of the CMC’s Resolution No. 230-NQ/QUTW dated 2 April 2022, the MND’s Plan No. 1228/KH-BQP dated 25 April 2022, and the “Project on the organisation of the Viet Nam People’s Army for the 2021 - 2030 period and beyond,” together with guiding documents for implementation. With its active advisory, coordinating, and directive role, organisational adjustments, and force restructuring towards an “adept, compact, strong” model have been implemented in a serious and correct manner, achieving significant results and exceeding the set timeline by one year compared to Resolution No. 05-NQ/TW. Particularly, under the urgent requirements of restructuring the political system towards compactness and effectiveness, the Department promptly advised the CMC and the MND on developing and implementing the project to restructure local military organisations in line with the two-tier local government model, ensuring they are “adept, compact and strong” and responsive to new requirements. These results have contributed greatly to strengthening combat power and building a revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern military.

In the time to come, the tasks of military building and protection of the Fatherland are entering a new stage of development, facing both opportunities and challenges. This places heavy responsibilities, high goals, and demanding requirements on the Military Forces branch, directly the DMF. To fulfill these entrusted responsibilities, the Department will continue to promote its traditions, uphold courage and wisdom, accelerate reform, and synchronously implement solutions to comprehensively enhance its capabilities, worthy of being the strategic advisory and directive body on force organisation. The focus will be on the following main tasks.

First, it is important to closely follow practical realities, strengthen research capacity, and improve the quality of strategic advisory work on personnel affairs. The Department will continue to thoroughly implement the Party’s guideline on military building and protection of the Fatherland, resolutions and directives of the higher echelons, especially the policy on building an adept, compact, strong, and modern military while proactively assessing the situation, improving research capacity, and enhancing the quality of strategic advisory work in its specialised domain. The focus is on advising and directing the continued restructuring and building of the military into a revolutionary, regular, elite, and modern force to meet mission requirements in the new context. As the Standing Body, the Department will continue advising, proposing, and directing the entire military to review and streamline organisations and force structures with the determination to complete MND’s Plan No. 1228/KH-BQP for the 2026 - 2030 period. It will review, advise on, and issue clear definitions of functions, tasks, power, and working relations of departments and units, ensuring clarity of responsibilities. At the same time, it will proactively make good preparations for the preliminary summing-up of Politburo’s Resolution No. 05-NQ/TW and CMC’s Resolution No. 230-NQ/QUTW, objectively assessing achievements, shortcomings, causes, and lessons learned as the basis for leadership and guidance in the future. In addition, the Department enhances research and improvement of the Strategy to provide weapon and equipment support for the Viet Nam People’s Army through 2030 and beyond; develops plans for procurement, production, upgrading, modernisation, and synchronisation of technical weapons and equipment for all forces, within the capacity of state budget and the “Criteria for building a modern Viet Nam People’s Army in the new situation.” The Department will also work with relevant agencies to draft and revise laws such as the 2015 Law on Military Service, the Law on Professional Soldiers, Defence Workers and Officials, and the Law on the Reserve Force, along with related documents in order to resolve bottlenecks and inadequacies, meeting the requirements of force building, defence consolidation, and protection of the Fatherland in the new era.

Second, there is a need to strengthen collaboration, coordination, direction, inspection, and implementation of personnel affairs. This is a decisive factor for the increased quality of advisory work and results of military personnel work. Accordingly, the Department directs departments to regularly grasp their functions and tasks, proactively foster solidarity, coordination, and cooperation both internally and with the Central commissions and branches, local governments, and military units, especially departments of the General Staff, thereby creating a unified strength to fulfill tasks. In the face of heavy, urgent tasks, the Department will promote information sharing with relevant agencies and close coordination in research and advisory work to ensure timely, accurate proposals on new strategic issues related to organisation, equipment, personnel, policy, and reserves. In the coming time, the Department will continue directing agencies and the Military Forces branch to review, transfer, and balance forces, resolve surplus military personnel, and address imbalances, particularly in units undergoing division, merger, or dissolution under Plan No. 1228/KH-BQP while prioritising sufficient manpower for training and combat-ready units in strategic and key areas, and ensuring strict compliance with laws. Moreover, it will strengthen the building of peacetime and wartime organisational structures of departments and units, direct the reform and improvement of recruitment, conscription, and mobilisation, especially under the two-tier local government system, while strictly implementing the policy of recruitment linked to mobilisation areas. It will also improve recruitment and training programmes to meet the requirements of building a modern military.

At the same time, the Department will direct strict management of weapons and equipment, review and phase out obsolete or unplanned assets, and guide localities and units to rigorously maintain registration and management of reservists and technical reserve assets. It will also adjust targets for building, mobilising, and receiving reserve forces in line with the dissolution, merger, or division of units under Plan No. 1228/KH-BQP and with administrative boundary adjustments at the provincial level, ensuring responsiveness to new requirements. During implementation, the Department will strengthen supervision and inspection, promptly identifying difficulties, shortcomings, and limitations in order to propose timely, practical solutions to the General Staff, the CMC, and the MND.

Lt. Gen. Le Van Huong in a visit to Factory Z131 in 2025

Third, emphasis is placed on building the DMF and the Military Forces branch into comprehensively strong, exemplary models commensurate with their missions. The Department will continue consolidating the organisational system of the branch from strategic to grassroots levels in accordance with regulations, with attention to departments and units undergoing restructuring or mergers. It will strengthen political, ideological education, professional training, and capacity building for officers and staff, fostering a contingent of personnel who are both politically loyal and professionally competent. To meet both immediate and long-term requirements, the Department will strengthen planning, training, and management of personnel, ensuring sufficient quantity, balanced structure, appropriate age and specialties, and standardised quality as per regulations. It will rigorously enforce procedures for screening and selecting officers to ensure political standards, comprehensive capability, diligent working style, rich practical experience, sharp military thinking, and strong analytical and advisory skills to handle strategic-level issues in its domain, meeting the demands of a strategic, confidential, and vital agency.

Additionally, the Department will accelerate standardisation in military personnel work, improve the quality of advisory and directive documents, promote the application of science, technology, and digital transformation in its operations, maintain discipline and work routines, strengthen internal political protection, secrecy, security, and safety, and resolutely combat manifestations of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation.” Special emphasis will be placed on building a clean and strong Party organisation within the Department and military personnel agencies at all levels, ensuring firm political, ideological, moral, organisational, and leadership capacity. This will ensure comprehensive, unified leadership over all military personnel work. On that basis, leadership, direction, and coordination will be renewed, adhering to the principle of “clear people, clear tasks, clear content, clear results, clear timelines,” linking the responsibility of Party committees, key cadres, and individuals with task outcomes, with determination to achieve comprehensive, solid improvements in the branch’s operations.

Fourth, increased investment in modernising equipment, acceleration of digital transformation, and application of digital technologies in professional activities. This is an urgent requirement and a breakthrough solution for building a regular, modern Military Forces branch, capable of meeting new mission demands. The Department will continue to thoroughly implement the resolutions, directives, and projects of the Party, the State, the CMC, and the MND on making breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, and building e-Government. On that basis, it will jointly advise and direct the implementation of digital transformation projects in the General Staff, particularly its own digital transformation plan. It will advise higher authorities on mobilising resources for modernising equipment and infrastructure, especially IT systems, and developing AI-based applications to support professional activities, thereby creating a technical foundation for accelerating digital transformation and enhancing the branch’s capabilities. In the immediate term, it will direct military force agencies at all levels to actively implement the “Digital Literacy Movement,” encouraging self-study and self-research among officers and staff to improve digital skills, ensuring effective utilisation of equipment and technologies in professional tasks. Priority will be given to implementing the “Project on Building a Unified Data Management System for the Military Forces branch,” accelerating the digitisation of documents and records to establish a centralised database hub. At the same time, digital transformation will be promoted in leadership, command, management, and professional exchanges, especially in the receipt and circulation of classified documents within the Department and across the military.

Proud of its glorious traditions and fully aware of the responsibilities entrusted, the DMF under the General Staff will continue to demonstrate steadfastness, intellect, unity, dynamism, and creativity, while closely working with departments and units to excellently fulfill all assigned tasks, deserving to be the strategic advisory body regarding force organisation, contributing to military building, strengthening of national defence, and firm protection of the Fatherland in the new era.

Lieutenant General LE VAN HUONG, Director General of the Department of Military Forces