In response to the requirements of Military building, strengthening national defence, and Fatherland protection, the tasks of the entire Military in general, and those of Military Region 9, in particular, have become more demanding in recent years. Accordingly, the need for technical supply for military and defence tasks has surged while the  structure of the Logistical and Technical sector has yet to be mature; the capacity of the warehouse system and technical facilities at all levels has yet to meet the requirements; the number of weapons and technical equipment under its authority is large. They are diverse in types, and assigned to localities and units. Most of them have been in use for years; hence they are not synchronised, degraded, and short of spare parts, etc.

Leader of Military Region 9 checks preservation work at Warehouse 301

To cope with this reality, the Logistics - Technical Department has synchronously deployed solutions to improve the quality and efficiency of technical work, identified this as an urgent and long-term goal, and achieved positive results. The management, preservation, maintenance and repair of weapons and technical equipment have seen many innovations with improved quality; the synchronisation, improvement and upgradation of weapons and equipment have achieved good results; the technical coefficient has always been kept at high levels; safety work in the exploitation and use of weapons and technical equipment, as well as labour safety and traffic safety have been remarkably improved; the movement of scientific research, technical innovation and improvement have been promoted, effectively solving many practical problems, saving billions of dong, and meeting the requirements and tasks of military and national defence, building a strong all-people national defence in the Military Region.

The above results were attributed to, first of all, the fact that, the Department has given good advice to the Party Committee and Command of the Military Region on leading and directing the comprehensive implementation of all aspects of technical work, focusing on implementing Resolution No. 1656-NQ/QUTW, dated 20 December 2022 of the Central Military Commission on leading technical work until 2030 and the following years, and the campaign "Managing and exploiting weapons and technical equipment effectively, durably, safely, economically and Traffic safety". To achieve the set goals, the Party Committee and the leaders of the Department have attached importance to advising, promoting responsibility, strengthening the leadership and direction of Party committees and commanders of units and localities for technical work; reviewing, supplementing and perfecting the system of regulations; improving the effectiveness of information technology application and digital transformation in accordance with practical capabilities and situations, etc. At the same time, it has also had sound advice on making the unified planning of the system of warehouse, stations and workshops from the Military Region level to the grassroots units, making it easy for the construction and consolidation of technical facilities towards “regularity, unity and safety” direction, thereby minimising the adverse impact of climate and weather conditions on the quality of weapons and equipment. The Party Committee and the Command of the Department have paid attention to directing and guiding agencies, units and localities to innovate methods for technical supply; plan for using and synchronising the existing weapons and equipment in accordance with the organisation of forces, the planning of defensive areas, the requirements of socio-economic development associated with national defence and security tasks in the area; mobilising and exploiting local sources to increase budget for technical work. As a result, technical supply for the operations of the Military Region's armed forces has always been done well and beyond expectations. In particular, technical supply for live-fire exercises and the collection, handling, and deploy of ammunition, supplies, and equipment are done with absolute safety.

Identifying human resources as the key factor, the Party Committee and the Board of Directors of the Department pay regular attention to building a team of high calibre technical staff. The Department has coordinated with the functional agencies to employ and make the best use of its technical staff. On a yearly basis, it conducts review and evaluation of the quantity and quality of this staff at all levels, as a basis for adjustments and rearrangements in accordance with the organisation and requirements of the task. To improve the capability of this staff, together with sending them to attend training courses held by academies and schools, the Department also directs units to hold in-service technical training linked with combat training, fire prevention and fighting, disaster prevention and control. In training, it requires units to adhere to the motto of "basic, practical, thorough"; combine comprehensive and specialised training; conduct professional training through the implementation of tasks. As a result, its technical staff has gradually been supplemented and significantly improved in ability and skills.

Leader of the Logistical and Technical Department speaks at the review of logistical and technical work of 2024

To maintain and restore the functionality of weapons and equipment, the Department has advised the Command of the Military Region and directed technical agencies at all levels to focus on improving the quality of maintenance work. In particular, emphasis is placed on innovating methods, processes, content, and the use of new material technology in preserving, maintaining, and storing weapons and equipment in accordance with regulations, especially for special weapons and technical equipment. It requires technical agencies and units to conduct repair work thoroughly and ensure the synchronisation of weapons and equipment according to hierarchy. For the past 5 years, the Military Region's Technical Sector has raised hundreds of billions from local funds for technical assurance work. Thereby, the warehouses, garages, and technical areas have been built and upgraded, improving the capacity of preservation and repair. The Military Region's Technical Sector has been able to produce some materials and spare parts, and restore a number of highly detail technical clusters. With the above work, the Military Region's armed forces have always kept absolute safety for their warehouses and technical equipment, without any loss and incident, ensuring adequate and timely technical equipment for tasks.

In order to improve productivity and working efficiency, the Department directs agencies, units and the entire sector to promote technical initiatives and innovation. Based on the advice of the Department, the Party Committee and the Command of the Military Region have deployed many policies and measures to effectively lead and direct the movement of technical initiative promotion. The units are encouraged to promote scientific research activities. These activities are linked with the implementation of the Campaign “Management and exploitation of weapon and technical equipment in a good, durable, safe, economical manner and traffic-safety”. During the implementation, the Party Committees and commanders of units regularly focus on educating and building a staff of technical cadres and employees with sound awareness of the meaning and importance of scientific and technological tasks, and technical improvements. As a result, the registered initiatives and improvements are diverse in fields and professions, involving different forces, ranging from unit commanders, engineers, specialised assistants, to workers who work directly with machines in factories night and day. Since 2020 to date, the Technical of the Military Region has completed 24 scientific and technological projects; 646 technical initiatives and improvements have been accepted and applied in practice. Many initiatives have been applied in production, repair, and maintenance permanently, contributing to saving the budget and increasing labour productivity by 10% - 15%, meeting well the requirements and tasks of technical supply. Notably, the Military Region's Technical Department has had 03 initiatives awarded at the “Military-wide Creative Youth” Contest; 09 technical initiatives and improvements have been accepted and put into use effectively in practice, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of technical assurance, meeting the requirements of military and defence tasks of the Military Region's armed forces.

The achievements and experiences gained are the basis for the Logistical and Technical sector to continue to innovate, further improve the quality and efficiency of work, ensuring that the armed forces of the Military Region always successfully complete all assigned tasks.

Senior Colonel PHAM HONG  THANG, Chief Logistical and Technical Officer of the Military Region