Operating in the Central region which is highly prone to extreme weather conditions, in recent years, together with improving the quality of training and combat readiness, the Party Committee and Command of Engineer Brigade 414 of Military Region 4 have paid special attention to the tasks of defence work construction, post-war UXO clearance, disaster prevention, control and relief, search and rescue – the “peacetime combat task”, which has been highly appreciated by the Head of the Military Region Command, local Party Committees, authorities and People.

To achieve that result, first of all, the Brigade focuses on improving the leadership capacity of party committees and organisations at all levels, promoting the exemplary role of cadres and Party members, especially those who are responsible for the implementation of this important task. When carrying out "peacetime combat task", its units operate independently, in the absence of direct leadership and direction of the Brigade Command while their tasks are difficult, arduous, dangerous, time-critical, requiring very high safety requirements. Therefore, the leadership capacity, combat strength of the party committees, party organisations and the exemplary role of the cadres are critical, ensuring unity of will and action, promoting solidarity, gathering strength, and deciding the successful completion of the mission. Bearing that in mind, the Brigade Party Committee has deployed several policies and measures to build clean and strong party organisations; improve the leadership capacity of party committees and party cells at all levels; strengthen the management and training of cadres and party members, etc. In order to make it highly effective, along with promoting the construction of "4-good Party cells, 4-good grassroots Party organisations" according to Directive No. 732-CT/DU, dated 12 December 2022 of the Standing Committee of the MR4’s Party Committee, the Brigade Party Committee has strengthened the review and supplementation of working regulations and leadership regulations, especially for important, special, difficult and arduous tasks; promoted process innovation, improved capacity to build, disseminate and implement resolutions at all levels, especially at the grassroots level; resolutely overcome the weaknesses and weak points. On the other hand, the Brigade focuses on perfecting the Party Committees and Party organisations in conjunction with the development of leading cadres at all levels; promoting inspection, supervision and enforcement of Party discipline, promptly detecting and correcting deviations to prevent possible violations, etc.

Conducting UXO clearance in Tam Hop commune, Nghe An province

To promote the exemplary role of cadres and party members, especially key cadres at all levels, the Brigade adheres to the motto of "Cadre-training prior to troop-training", requiring that in difficult and dangerous tasks, cadres and commanders at all levels must be exemplary for their subordinates to follow; and they must educate and persuade subordinates through their words, actions, and responsibility. In particular, the Brigade applies decentralisation and empowerment to make commanding cadres of units, especially those operate independently "be decisive, dare to think, dare to do, dare to take responsibility". By means of those measures, the leadership capacity and combat strength of Party committees and organisations at all levels have significantly improved, and the exemplary role of Party members has been enhanced. In the 2020 - 2025 term, the Brigade Party Committee was rated as excellently completing its tasks for three years; the Brigade was rated as all-strong, "exemplary and typical". Every year, over 95% of its party organisations reach the level of successfully completion of their tasks and over 90% of its party members and cadres complete their tasks well and excellently.

Given the diverse, complex and dangerous nature of "combat task in peacetime", it is required that its officers and soldiers are equipped with adequate qualification, skills and professionalism to meet the requirements of the mission. Therefore, the Brigade pays special attention to career training and professional development, especially linking training with task performance, taking "the construction site as a training ground". In particular, it focuses on training its soldiers to proficiently use equipment and means; familiarising them with the actual tasks; strengthening training so that the squads can grasp and skillfully deploy the plans that have been developed, and skillfully handle situations, especially complex and unexpected ones happening at night or in harsh weather conditions, etc. To make training highly effective, the Brigade requires its agencies and units to make all-round preparation carefully prior to training; focus on innovating training methods towards visual and vivid direction with priority being given to practice. Accordingly, for the squads conducting project construction and UXO clearance, it focuses on equipment training and situation handling. Practical contents are trained right at the construction sites. In particular, for difficult contents, it requires its units to build mock models and works similar to real situations so that soldiers can practice and handle them proficiently. For the squads specialised in search and rescue, it focuses on the basic contents of search and rescue methods, specialised equipment, and physical training to improve their physical strength, courage, levels, and skills to perform tasks in all weather conditions, on different terrains.a

In addition, the Brigade strengthens training and practice for its officers and soldiers to master command drills, coordination in situation handling, methods of rescue and evacuation, etc. Besides, it regularly holds drills and exercises on natural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue, and participates in competitions and sports events at all levels to improve the mettle, qualifications and skills of officers and soldiers. Notably, in 2022, it excellently completed the task of training and participating in the joint rescue exercise between the armed forces of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia held in Laos, which was highly appreciated by the Military Region, the Ministry of National Defence and our counterparts. At the same time, it completed the construction of dozens of military projects; cleared hundreds of hectares of land for military and economic development purposes.

Participating in forest fire fighting in Thien Nhan commune, Nghe An province

Recently, due to the impact of global climate change, natural disasters, floods, forest fires, etc. in the area tend to become more complicated, frequent, severe and unpredictable. In order not to be made passive and surprised in all situations, the Brigade has proactively anticipated scenarios and situations, developed plans and made careful preparation in personnel, equipment, means, logistics and technical materials; built and perfected the rescue teams so that they are ready to perform tasks when ordered. At the same time; it strictly maintains the regimes of command and duty, especially at the peak season of rain and storm; proactively grasps the developments of natural disasters and weather, closely coordinates with local Party committees and authorities, promptly suggests effective solutions in case of incidents, thereby, affirming its pioneering and core role in disaster relief, search and rescue. Since 2019 to date, it has deployed thousands of officers and soldiers to participate in controlling dozens of forest fires, overcoming the consequences of floods in the provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, etc. Notably, its officers and soldiers participated in search and rescue after the landslides at the Rao Trang 3 Hydropower Plant (Hue City) and the Defence and Economic Corp 337 (Quang Tri) in 2020. Most recently, in mid-August 2025, it promptly deployed nearly 100 officers and soldiers to extinguish the forest fire in Thien Nhan commune (Nghe An), which was highly appreciated by the Military Region and local Party Committee, government and People.

The tasks of construction, bomb and mine clearance, search and rescue, etc. are highly risky which may cause severe consequences in a moment of negligence. Fully aware of this, the Brigade attaches special importance to safety procedures during task performance. Implementing the motto of "absolute safety, accuracy, efficiency, speed", besides asking the unit commanders to regularly grasp, promptly detect, prevent, and handle unsafe situations, the Brigade requires that before implementing each task, units thoroughly brief the safety regulations, risks and unsafe situations that may occur, and practice responsive actions to deal with actual situations effectively. More importantly, its cadres at all levels always carefully check the preparation in material and equipment of their troops to discover all possible risks of unsafety before they perform their tasks; observe and command their troops during their implementation of task to promptly handle situations that arise. With this approach, the Brigade always ensures absolute safety in personnel, weapons, and equipment in carrying out all tasks.

Proud of the achievements, Engineer Brigade 414 will continue to innovate, improve the quality of work, and better complete the “combat task in peacetime”, contributing to further embellishing the tradition of “Absolute Loyalty – Ceaseless Advance - Loved by the people, Trusted by the Party - Overcoming all difficulties – Making way for victory", worthy of the heroic Hai Van Engineer Corps in the homeland of respectful Uncle Ho.

Senior Colonel NGUYEN QUOC LONG, Brigade Commander