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Artillery troop training for the games |
According to Senior Colonel Trinh Van Thang, Director of the Department of Military Training under the Staff of the Artillery Corps and Head of the team, when selecting personnel for the participating team, all artillery troops voiced their aspirations to participate in the games, even though they know the event is very challenging. All the team members have shown their determination to achieve the best results in the games.
The strong resolve mentioned by Colonel Thang comes from the 70-year glorious tradition of the artillery force. In wartime, artillery troops recorded glorious feats-of-arms in Lo River Victory in 1947, the Dien Bien Phu Campaign in 1954, and the Ho Chi Minh Campaign in 1975, contributing to the final victory of the resistance war for national salvation. In recent years, the force has effectively fulfilled all assigned mission. Troops of the Artillery Corps have maintained strong political stances and determination and effectively mastered weapons and military equipment.
Deputy Command and Chief of Staff of the Artillery Corps Senior Colonel Nguyen Huu Phuoc said that the team’s results at the Army Games 2020 will in part reflect the training and combat readiness capacities of the Vietnamese artillery force while the force’s participation will raise the position of the Vietnam People’s Army in the international arena.
The Vietnam People’s Army has sent its troops to the Army Games twice with encouraging results. Senior Colonel Phuoc said that those achievements are a driving force for the team as this is the first time they will have joined such a large international competition.
In Army Games 2020, the Artillery contingent will compete in the “Masters of Artillery Fire” event with three stages, namely individual race, night sprint, and relay race. Participating squads will go through a treadway lane through a minefield obstacle and a hill obstacle before firing at targets from a distance of 300-400m and 1,000-2,000m using assigned weapons and technical equipment, including a MT-LB light multi-purpose armored vehicle, a 2B11 120mm mortar, a 7.26mm PKT machinegun, and AK 74.
However, the problem is that most of the technical equipment of the Artillery Corps and the Vietnam People’s Army are different to the ones that will be used in the Russia-hosted competitions, and their training ground is also different from Russia’s terrain. To solve the problem and ensure efficiency in training work, the participating troops had to practice each stage before combining them all together. In addition, they actively learnt experiences from other teams and experts from military academies, schools, and research institutes to raise their capabilities and skills.
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Troops training hard for the event |
Phuoc believes that with their firm determination, the Vietnamese artillery troops will successfully complete the set mission.
Embracing the honor and great responsibility while joining such a big external defense relations event, the participating troops have exerted their utmost efforts to prepare for the games over the past two months.
Despite difficulties, Senior Lieutenant Ngo Hung Phong from Battalion 97 of the Artillery Corps affirmed the team’s burning determination and desire to achieve the best results possible at Army Games 2020.
Translated by Tran Hoai