In these late summer days in the Russian city of Vladivostok, it is foggy in the morning, scorching hot at noon, and rainy in the afternoon, making the air sultry and stifling. Meanwhile, at Zolotoy Rog (or the Golden Horn) Bay in Vladivostok city, the sea is sometimes rough with high and rolling waves.
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Members of the Search and Rescue team in training |
Despite the erratic weather, troops of the Search and Rescue team, with high resolve, have crossed 14 nautical miles every day from the anchorage position to their training ground. All 13 troops are in military uniforms, carrying equipment with typical badges of the Vietnamese team. In a short period of time, they have familiarized themselves with training models and equipment, and quickly practiced exercises in line with the organizers’ regulations. Their intensive training has caught the eyes of local people and received their admiration.
Lieutenant (junior grade) Nguyen Khac Quan, captain of the team, said that all troops have shown their strong will and high determination when entering the new period of training. They have embraced the competition regulations and contents as well as solutions to possibly-emerging situations so that they could boost their smooth coordination, create comprehensive strength, quickly deal with situations and complete training contents to meet the requirements at the highest levels. In fact, the sequence of rescue actions places very high requirements on each team member; therefore, they must smoothly coordinate with each other and complete the actions in the shortest period of time to get high points.
Actually, Vietnamese troops have faced various difficulties during training. In the scorching sun on the training ground, when hearing the sounds of the whistle, troops quickly hold and jerk the first aid bags and don the rescue suits in the shortest time. It looks quite simple, but requires each team member good physical strength, quick and accurate actions, and close coordination with other members. A penalty point is charged for each violation of the rule. After wearing rescue suits, rescuers will jump into the water and swim to the raft which is some 25 meters from the departure line. When the last member boards the raft, all members try to row the raft using standard paddles and even hands to the departure line to complete their exercise.
In the scorching sun and sudden rains, members of the Vietnamese Search and Rescue team have kept practicing hard. In the water, they are like fishermen in heavy and cumbersome rescue suits bravely gliding the water surface. For them, what has encouraged them is cheers from other teammates and announcement of the set time reached. After each training session, lessons are drawn to fix shortcomings and seek the most effective solutions.
With high resolve and confidence, Vietnamese naval troops will do their utmost to achieve the highest results, bringing glory to the Fatherland.
Reported by the People’s Army Newspaper’s reporters from Vladivostok city, Russia
Translated by Mai Huong